Warriors Take 2nd At District IV Duals

By: Chris Manning  |  February 6, 2023  /  Photo: Chris Manning

Canton held on to take second at the District IV Duals Championships, making history in the process with their first finals appearance and their first trip to Hershey for the PIAA Championships.

Last year Canton took third to get into the tournament, but lost in a wrestle in to the eventual state champions.

“Wow,” Canton coach Lyle Wesneski said. “What a wild and crazy day today way. The ebbs and flows of wrestling.”

The Warriors opened with a 48-20 win over Towanda in the quarterfinals, then upset Benton 32-31 in the semifinals to reach the championship match. The ran into a buzzsaw of a Warrior Run team there, losing 32-30, but bounced back to beat Montoursville in the true second place match, 32-31, to punch their ticket to states.

Mason Nelson (285) got them going in their quarterfinal win over Towanda, beating Audy Vanderpool in the first bout 1-0 with a second period escape.

Lyle Vermilya then got a fall at 107 to put them up 9-0. After Towanda cut it to 9-6 Cohen Landis rallied from a 2-0 first period deficit to win 10-5 at 121. Carson Rockwell (127) followed with a fall to put them up 18-6.

Towanda got back to back wins at 133 and 139 to cut it to 18-14 but Canton got three straight falls from Hayden Ward (145), Hudson Ward (152), and Brenen Taylor (160) to go up 36-14.

After a Towanda win at 172 cut it to 36-20 falls from Riley Parker (189) and Michael Davis (215) secured the win.

Against Benton Canton forfeited at 107 as Vermilya led things off by bumping up to 114 and getting an 11-4 win, followed by Landis securing another close decision, this one 4-1, at 121 to knot things up at 6-6.

Rockwell (127) then got a forfeit to see his team take a 12-6 lead. At 133 Holden Ward kept his loss to a major decision, though Canton was docked a team point, making it 11-10 Warriors.

Benton won the next two matches by fall to go up 22-11, but Canton answered with falls from Hayden Ward (152) and Hudson Ward (160) to put them up 23-22.

A Benton decision at 172 briefly gave them a 25-23 lead, but at 189 Parker ended their hopes of a win with a 5-0 win, scoring all of his points in the opening period.

Up 26-25 with two weights left Davis took care of business with a fall at 215, allowing the Warriors to forfeit at 285.

They got a good start against Warrior Run as Landis held on for a 7-5 at 121, however, back to back decisions by Warrior Run at 127 and 133 saw them take a 6-3 lead.

Their momentum really got going with a fall at 139, then at 145 Kaden Milheim edged out Hayden Ward 5-2 to put them up 15-6.

A Warrior Run fall at 152 saw them take a 21-6 lead, and they pretty much sealed it with at 160 with Cameron Milheim’s tech fall over Hudson Ward, giving them a 26-3.

They got a fall at 172, and held Parker (189) to a decision win, allowing them to forfeit the final our weights.

In the true second place match Montoursville opened with a fall, but Holden Ward (133) got those points back with a pin of his own.

Montoursville followed with a 14-0 win at 139, and another pin at 145 to take a 16-6 lead, but that’s when Canton’s rally started.

Hayden Ward (152) kicked things off with a fall, followed by Hudson Ward (160) earning a tech to put them up 17-16.

Taylor kept it going with a 9-4 decision at 172. Up 6-4 going into the third, he got an escape and a takedown in the final period to secure the win.

Parker (189) followed with a fall, while Davis (215) and Nelson (285) had decisions. Davis was able to turn Cole Yonkin in the second to go up 3-0, then scored a third period takedown to secure the win.

At 107 Bobotas scored two first period takedowns, then got two near fall points to start the second, though Vermilya countered with a reversal to make it 6-3. Bobotas would get a third period takedown to go up 8-3, but a penalty point for Vermilya cut it to 8-4, and he kept off his back the rest of the way to get his team the win.