(From Facebook)
D-9 champs
3 state medals for Dalton Wenner
Dalton Wenner looks for the takedown during a match this season. (Photo by Richard Sayer)
Dalton and dad and coach Dustin pose with the medal.
As it turns out, Cranberry's Dalton Wenner faced a tough draw: he got the eventual state champion at his weight, 127, in the quarterfinals of the PIAA 3A wrestling tournament.
Keanu Dillard comes from the most prolific program in the state right now -- the Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks, 3A dual meet champions who also claimed the team title at states.
Dillard won the match, 7-0, sending Wenner to the losers' bracket, which he fought through to earn the seventh-place medal -- the third straight state medal of his career. The first two came in 2A before the Cranberry/Oil City co-op was moved up to 3A this season.
After Dillard, Wenner was matched against Noah Fenner of Easton, and beat him by tech fall in the blood round to clinch the medal. Now it was a matter of which one -- third through eighth.
He dropped a 3-2 decision to Trinity's Dominick Canale -- a surprise and, pardon the cliche, probably a tough pill to swallow since Wenner majored Canale, 10-2, in the West regional just last week.
But Wenner rebounded again -- this time to blank Abington Heights sophomore Mason Whitney, 4-0, for seventh.
Meanwhile, Canale would go on to finish fifth and Butler's Santino Sloboda, who beat Wenner for the West regional title last week, wound up with the third place medal.
Before taking on Wenner, Whitney was beaten by Sloboda, 7-1. Wenner lost to Sloboda in the West finals, 10-0. He also lost to Sloboda last season, 7-4.
Dillard's title came over another northeastern Pa. wrestler, Gabriel Ballard of Northampton, 8-2. The state crown was the third for Dillard, a junior who previously won at 107 and 121. His career record now stands at 100-7.
Districts 9 and 10 (virtually all of northwestern Pa.) had only three state medalists (no champs) -- Wenner and two others from DuBois. District 10 had 14 medalists in 2A, but zero state champs. Grove City's Hudson Hohman, a junior 145-pounder, reached the finals where he faced the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the country -- Bo Bassett of Johnstown Bishop McCort, an Iowa commit. Hohman was pinned in the first period.
Wenner, also a junior, finished the season with a 42-8 record. The Clarion commit, according to PA-wrestling.com, is 115-20 for his career.
Franklin's Gary Kiselka, junior 215-pounder, made his state tournament debut. He didn't place but he posted a 2-2 record in 2A. He was 35-12 this season, and is 79-16 for his career.
Landen Carter drives around 6-3, 283-pound Tony Perrota in Rocky Grove's 64-39 loss to Neshannock Saturday at Oil City High School in a PIAA 2A first-round game. Carter led the Orioles with 19 points. Matt Sopko (four 3s) came off the bench to score 16 for Neshannock, matching Perrota, who worked at will inside. The Derrick/News-Herald reported that Perrotta is a Duquesne football recruit. (Photo by Christy Fackler.)
STATE PLAYOFFS
CLASS 3A GIRLS
Friday
Shady Side Academy 51, Cranberry 23
Karns City 44, Ellwood City 31
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CLASS 3A BOYS
Saturday
South Allegheny 75, Cranberry 37
Mercer 65, Ellwood City 50
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CLASS 2A BOYS
Saturday
Neshannock 64, Rocky Grove 39
Lakeview 49, Chartiers Houston 45
Jeannette 61, Mercyhurst Prep 54
Clarion 57, Muncy 42
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CLASS 4A Girls
Saturday
Blackhawk 58, Franklin 16
Oakland Catholic 80, Slippery Rock 29
Elizabeth Forward 44, Fairview 35
Harbor Creek 44, South Park 43 OT
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CLASS 5A Boys
Friday
Meadville 63, Uniontown 55 (double forfeit)
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CLASS 4A BOYS
Friday
Sharon 82, Avonworth 74
North Catholic 72, Hickory 56
Belle Vernon 75, Farrell 63
Grove City 71, Clearfield 70
Cathedral Prep 70, Knoch 57
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CLASS 6A BOYS
Saturday
McDowell 72, Pittsburgh Central Catholic 40
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...and now
there are none
Cranberry, Grove boys, Franklin girls bounced
Saturday in playoffs
Wow. And to think at 25 points the Rocky Grove-Neshannock game was the closest of the four losses suffered Friday and Saturday by Venango County teams in the first round of the PIAA playoffs.
Reviewing the tales of woe:
Friday
Shady Side Academy 51, Cranberry girls 23
Saturday
Blackhawk 58, Franklin girls 16
South Allegheny 75, Cranberry boys 37
Neshannock 64, Rocky Grove boys 39
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Funny thing is, there are some "what could have beens" mixed in there.
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For instance, Mercer moved on in 3A boys with a 65-50 victory over Ellwood City. Last time out, Cranberry lost to the Mustangs on Mercer's homecourt, 53-51.
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Top-seeded Rocky Grove had a six-point lead in the third quarter against Lakeview in the D-10 championship game before yielding 40 points over the last 10 minutes and losing, 72-53. While the Orioles went home, the Sailors survived and advanced Saturday against Chartiers Houston, the last seed from the WPIAL, 49-45.
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Or even the Oil City boys, who couldn't protect slim leads against Farrell in the battle for fifth place in D-10. The Steelers gave WPIAL champion Belle Vernon a run Friday, taking a two-point lead into the fourth quarter before falling by 12.
As for the girls, neither Franklin nor Cranberry could hold their own against WPIAL powerhouses -- and in Frankln's case a reigning state champion -- and the best from their own districts, BUT D-9 champ Karns CIty advanced as did D-10 champ Harbor Creek. And, oh by the way, take a look at that Oakland Catholic-Slippery Rock score. Not pretty.
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Still, there was much to be delighted about for the six (of the eight) county teams that were in the playoffs:
A region title for the Grove boys -- those are always nice; first winning season since 2020 for the Cranberry girls (and that includes an 0-22 four years ago); winningest season since 2015 for the Berry boys; best four-year stretch since 2003-06 for the Oil City boys; "The Shot" plus four straight winning seasons for the Franklin girls who were 0-22 just six years ago; strong finish after sagging middle by the rebuilding Franklin boys...Just sayin'
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So it's all over except for all-stars, who will be announced whenever. Cranberry's KSAC picks were announced last month and can be found here, in case you missed them. State swimming this weekend at Bucknell.
Final stats (games through 3.9.25)
DULY NOTED: Katie Boal's 507 points is No. 5 on the Franklin girls single season list. She finished with 892 career points (Camdon Bashor had 899)...With 501 points Noah Baughman is the fourth Rocky Grove boy to score 500 in a season. Dylan Gravatt had 648 and 614 in 2010 and 2011 and Troy Winslow netted 522 in 1989...
Junior Dalton Wenner and family pose with a banner for his 100 career wrestling victories. The milestone came in the Fred Bell tournament semifinals. Wenner won his weight for the third straight year.
Junior Gary Kiselka posted a 2-2 record at 215 pounds in the 2A state tournament. He finished the season with a 37-14 record and is 79-36 in his career. (Photo by Richard Sayer)
Brosius, Dane Wenner
1-2 on Berry wins list
Their seasons ended sooner than they hoped or expected, but Cranberry's Elijah Brosius and Dane Wenner will graduate on top of the school's wins list in wrestling.
Brosius (right) was 139-41 in his career, while Wenner went 137-44. They also currently stand second and fourth on District 9's all-time list. (Clearfield's Brady Collins is No. 1 at 159-16.)
Dalton Wenner, the Berries' lone entry in the 3A state tournament, is No. 9 in D-9 at 112-18 (before states). And he's only a junior.
Wenner is a three-time state place-winner, the first two in 2A. He is a Clarion recruit.
A District 9 champion as a freshman, Brosius is a three-time regional third-place finisher and a two-time state place-winner.
Dane Wenner won regionals last season and was seeking his third straight trip to states. He lost by injury default at regionals last week, and was forced to forfeit his next match.
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(Kelly Malek)
Winslow claims D-10 title
Stumpf breaks Frederick's Franklin record in 500 free
(Christy Fackler)
Franklin's Kye Winslow won the 50 free in the District 10 2A meet Feb. 28 at the Spire Center in Geneva, Ohio, and also qualified for the state meet after posting a personal best 55.32 for fifth place in the backstroke the next day. That time is the fourth best on Franklin's all-time list.
But the big name March 1 was Jordan Stumpf, who broke Shawn Frederick's school record with a 4:49.47 for third in the 500 free. That met the qualifying time for states, which are Thursday through Saturday at Bucknell.
Winslow was seeded second in the 50 free, and won in 21.72, which has him seeded third for the state meet. He's also No. 3 on Franklin's all-time list.
Another state qualifier for Franklin after events on Day 2 was Dani Erdley in the 500 (5:29.07). She qualified Friday in the 200.
Two Franklin relays are headed to states: the 400 of Winslow, Stumpf, Jacksen Clark and Quintin Boozell (fifth in 3:27.72) and the same four in the 200, which took fourth on Friday. Also on the first day, Stumpf was runnerup and Erdley fourth in the open 200.
The girls 400 relay of Erdley, Ellie Coyer, Ally Wilson and Lexi Anthony finished seventh. Coyer was 10th in the 500.
For Oil City on Day 2, Gabi Schiffer was fourth in the back and seventh in the 100 free. She is at least an alternate for the state meet in the freestyle. Madyson Kissell was fifth in the 500 at 5:30.49, taking almost 14 seconds off her previous best time.
Freshman Ayla Hall turned in the best showing for Oil City on Day 1, placing seventh in the IM.
Getting back to Day 2 at districts, Jackson Dilks was eighth and Cale Thompson 10th in the back; Elijah Collins, 12th breast; and Abbey McCain, 18th, breast. Thompson, Martin Sharrar, Collins and Dilks were eighth in the 400 free relay (3:32.43), dropping 12 seconds off their previous best.
The Franklin boys were seventh and the girls ninth in the team standings. The Oil City boys were 11th.
(Richard Sayer)