Latest news with #PIAAIndividualWrestlingChampionships
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Grove City wrestling ends 72-year drought in historic season
GROVE CITY, Pa (WKBN) – Grove City wrestling is coming off a historic 2024-2025 season with multiple school records and PIAA State Tournament medals. Watch above for an in-depth interview with Grove City head wrestling coach Wes Phipps and school-record-holder senior Cody Hamilton. 'Whenever you have really good kids that compete the right way and the act the right way, I think that just has a really positive impact on that youth program,' said Phipps. Five Eagles qualified for the 2025 PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships in Hershey at the GIANT Center in early March. 'Right now, the cool thing to do in Grove City is to be a wrestler and to go chase state titles and and state medals,' said Phipps. The Eagles sent five wrestlers to states this season which broke the previous record of four state qualifiers. 'It's probably been the most successful season we've had in winning tournaments,' said Phipps. Grove City took fourth place in the State with four wrestlers earning individual medals. Four wrestlers bringing home medals is now a record for the most medals in school history. Freshman Chase Karenbauer took third place in the 107 Weight Class. Freshman Ian Sterns got on the podium at eighth place in the 114 Weight Class. Junior Hudson Hohman was the state runner-up in the 145 Weight Class. Senior Cody Hamilton earned sixth place in the 152 Weight Class. The Eagles made school history with a District 10 Region 1 title, the first conference championship in 72 years. The Eagles shared the conference title with Reynolds and Hickory. Senior Cody Hamilton now has the all-time record in wins at Grove City with 157. He beat out Coach Phipps who held the record for 13 years after he graduated from Grove City. 'It was pretty cool it kind of felt like passing the torch to me, it was all good vibes,' said Hamilton. 'But this is especially cool knowing that my record is not going to last long at all. It's going to be broken most likely next year, and then the following year it can be broken.' Hamilton held the single-season record for wins but the record was broken twice by two of his teammates this season. 'That's probably one of the best feelings showing them that it's possible,' said Hamilton. 'If I can do it, they can do it too. They're already all catching up to me.' The Grove City wrestler now boasts three state medals, three Region Titles, three District Titles, and two Section Titles. 'I hope everyone just remembers me as a positive, hardworking guy,' said Hamilton. 'I always try to bring a positive attitude into the room, even when wrestling gets super hard. I always just try to find the things that make you happy.' Hamilton will continue his wrestling and academic careers at Clarion University. 'It just makes me super happy knowing that all the hard work I put in wasn't for nothing,' said Hamilton. 'It worked out for me.' Coach Phipps said Hamilton will graduate as one of the most decorated wrestlers in Grove City's history. The Eagles ended this season with an overall record of (14-6) and (5-1) in league play. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bishop McCort hunting history in PIAA Wrestling Championships
HERSHEY, Pa. (WTAJ) – Arguably no team competing in the 2025 PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships in Hershey has higher expectations than Bishop McCort. Last year, the Crushers scored the third-most team points ever but finished in second place behind nationally No. 1 ranked Faith Christian. PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships preview After the tournament, Bishop McCort phenom Bo Bassett said that he and his teammates were hungry for more. In the week leading up to the event, the 2024 PIAA Champion says that hasn't changed. 'Obviously the goal is to always win the tournament but if we can set records and go down in history, that's one step above,' Bassett said. 'That's what we're shooting for, and we've got an awesome team race that's going to go down this weekend.' Faith Christian has been the one hurdle that Bishop McCort hasn't been able to leap over in the past few seasons. To go along with winning the team race in the 2024 PIAA Individual Championships, the Lions have defeated the Crushers in the finals of back-to-back PIAA Team Championships. 'We've won every single tournament we've been at this year except Ironman where they were at and then the (state championship) duel with them,' Bishop McCort junior Jax Forrest said. The postseason shortcomings have given Bishop McCort plenty of motivation to get over the hump this season. Some members of the Crushers have been practicing upwards of four times a day to try and close the gap. 'It just keeps that fire burning inside and it just motivates the team and makes us better at the end of the day,' Bishop McCort senior Devon Magro said. Bishop McCort is hitting its stride at the right time this year as they crushed three regional records last weekend. Plus, the Crushers had 12 wrestlers qualify for the PIAA Championships, which is more than Faith Christian. 'If we wrestle like we did last weekend, I know we'll beat them,' Forrest said. There is also more star power on the team this season with Penn State commit Sam Herring returning from an injury that held him out of the postseason last year to go along with his younger brother Eli and Bo's younger brother Keegan. 'Our confidence is really high already, but some of those guys who wrestled really well, I think their confidence is probably higher right now and that's something that they needed,' Sam Herring said. Chestnut Ridge's Dom Deputy looking to get over PIAA Championships hump 'I like to think that we have the upper hand at this point going in but again, you never know what's going to happen this weekend,' Bo Bassett said. A first-place team finish would mean even more to them than just being the best in Pennsylvania. 'For that one it would mean that we're the best in the country,' Sam Herring said. 'So, that's even cooler.' After day one, the Crushers are currently leading all teams with 58.5 team points. Faith Christian trails them by four points. If Bishop McCort brings the first-place team trophy back to Johnstown, they will be the first team within WTAJ's viewing area to have won the team title in the PIAA Individual Championships since Bald Eagle Area did so back in 1999. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chestnut Ridge's Dom Deputy looking to get over PIAA Championships hump
FISHERTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) – The PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships are underway on Thursday, where plenty of Central Pennsylvania kids will be chasing their lifelong dream of winning a gold medal. Among that group is Chestnut Ridge junior Dom Deputy. 'It's a big stage,' Deputy said. 'You get used to it, but it's definitely a cool stage to be on.' PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships preview The NC State commit has made it to the finals each of the past two years but fell short of taking home the title. Even before he wrestles at Hershey, he'll have to bounce back from a loss to Bald Eagle's Tanner Guenot in the Southwest Regional Finals. 'I'm taking it one match at a time,' Deputy said. If Deputy finishes first, he will join an illustrious Lions group to win a PIAA Championship, which includes his childhood idols Justin McCoy and Jared McGill. 'Being a little kid (with) my dad being the high school coach (I would see) the high school kids I look up to go down there,' Deputy said. 'I just always wanted to fill their shoes and get that state gold. So, I got second twice but this year, hopefully we can get it done.' Eight total Chestnut Ridge wrestlers will be competing in the Giant Center, which includes 2024 girls champion Violette Lasure and 2024 fourth-place finisher Easton Mull. The other Lions participating are Aaron Ickes, Garrett Weyandt, and Jayden Imler, as well as Juliet Alt and Kalea Day on the girl's side. Brackets can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships preview
HERSHEY, Pa. (WTAJ) — To most people, Chocolate World in Hershey is the sweetest place on Earth. To high school wrestlers in Pennsylvania, winning a state medal in the Giant Center is just a little bit sweeter. The 2025 PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships begin Thursday, March 6 and run through Saturday, March 8. In 2024, nine Central PA wrestlers took home gold medals and it's shaping up that more can stand at the top of the podium this year. Bo Knows Commitment! No. 1 wrestling recruit Bo Bassett heading to Iowa Here are some local headlines to monitor: Last year, Bishop McCort broke plenty of postseason records heading into the state championship. The Crushers ultimately scored the third-most team points ever but came in second place in the team race behind rival Faith Christian. In 2025, Bishop McCort is looking to get over the hump. 'We're having a ton of people get success, but a couple of guys are (really) close to busting through and that keeps me hungry,' Bishop McCort phenom Bo Bassett said last year after taking first individually. 'I want to push these guys and we want everyone in the finals. That's the main goal.' 'We'll see (in 2025).' Faith Christian defeated Bishop McCort once again at this year's PIAA Team Wrestling Championships, but the Crushers are hitting their stride at the right time. In the PIAA Southwest Regional, Bishop McCort broke the region record for champions, medalists and team points. This year, 12 Crushers qualified for the state championships, which is three more boys wrestlers than last year. The best potential matchup this weekend involves Bishop McCort junior Jax Forrest at 133-pounds. The Oklahoma State commit is set to face off against North Lebanon's Aaron Seidel, who owns the most wins in PIAA history with 203. Forrest, who won the 127-pound title last year, defeated the three-time state champion at the Mid-Winter Mayhem tournament back in January. Seidel is a Virginia Tech commit. Girls wrestling made its debut to the PIAA and the championships last season and returns to the Giant Center once again this year. Out of the four Central Pa. girls that won gold last year, Punxsutawney's Jael Miller and Chestnut Ridge's Violette Lasure will be back competing. Brackets for the tournament will be released later this week. A full list of the event schedule can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
