HERSHEY — Bellefonte’s Brock Port made it to the finals of the PIAA Class AAA Championships on March 11 at Hershey’s Giant Center, something most high school wrestlers in the state can only dream of doing.
That fact, though, didn’t take the sting out of his finals loss.
After maneuvering his way through the tournament with some close wins at 145 pounds, including a 4-2 overtime win over Kiski Area’s Joey Blumer in the quarterfinals and a 2-1 victory over North Allegheny’s Jake Hinson in the semifinal, Port ran into a buzz saw in the finals.
Hempfield’s Jarod Verkleeren rolled to a 16-5 major decision over Port in the finals. It was Port’s first loss of the season.
“It tells you the caliber of kid it takes to beat Brock Port,” Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said. “(Verkleeren) is a world champion, so it isn’t just anyone who can beat Brock Port. He got some points early on that kind of made us a little desperate.
“He made the state finals of Pennsylvania wrestling,” Maney said. “It’s one of the best, if not the best, states for high school wrestling. It’s a great accomplishment in itself, and I know he’s disappointed, but as time goes on and he reflects a little bit, he’ll realize what a great accomplishment it is to make the state finals.”
“He’s pretty good,” Port said of Verkleeren. “I’ve wrestled some pretty tough kids. Last year, (Penn Trafford three-time champion) Cam Coy was pretty tough. I’ve wrestled A.C. Headlee, who is pretty tough.”
Port, a seventh-place medalist last year who finished 39-1 this season, reached the finals by avenging a previous loss to Hinkson.
“I think I did pretty well,” Port said. “The finals, obviously, didn’t go the way I wanted. The semifinals was a rematch from my sophomore year. I lost 3-2 then, so that was good to get a little revenge, I guess. But it still wasn’t the tournament I wanted.”
“He beat a Penn State recruit in the quarters,” Maney said, “and I think 145 is, if not the toughest, then one of the toughest weight classes here. It’s a credit again of making the state finals in that bracket.
“It was a great season,” Maney said. “He had one loss, and it was to a world champion. Certainly, he should be proud.”
Port will continue his wrestling career at Lock Haven University.
“I’m looking forward to getting in the room and scrapping with the guys,” Port said. “I just want to keep getting better.”
URBAS, KOLENO, MCCLENEHAN PLACE
State College’s breakout sophomore star Cole Urbas finished third at 182 pounds. His only loss of the tournament, and for this season, was to Bethel Park’s Nino Bonaccorsi, 7-0, in the semifinals. Bonaccorsi then lost to Nazareth’s Travis Stefanik, 4-3, in the finals.
After the loss, Urbas recorded two shutouts, 7-0, over Penn Trafford’s Matt McGillick in the consolation semifinals and 4-0 over Chambersburg’s Drew Peck in the third-place bout. Urbas, who finished with a 32-1 record, had three shutouts in the tournament.
“I couldn’t be prouder,” State College coach Ryan Cummins said. “He did a phenomenal job. He wrestled the best of his whole year here, and I’m really proud. He’s got plenty of time to come back and win it a couple times. Next year, there will be a target on his back.”
Bald Eagle Area had two place winners in junior Seth Koleno and freshman star Gage McClenahan. Koleno took fifth at 138, while McClenehan was seventh at 145.
Koleno (34-5) made it to the semifinals with decisions of 9-3 and 13-10, but he was beaten by Nazareth’s eventual champ Sammy Sasso by technical fall, 18-3 in 6:00, in the semis.
He was beaten by Upper Darby’s eventual third-place finisher Collin Cronin, 13-3, in the consolation semifinals, but he finished out the tournament with an 8-6 victory over Hempfield’s second-seeded Luke Kemerer in the fifth-place bout.
McClenahan (33-7) opened with a 4-2 win over Big Spring’s Southcentral Regional champion Tucker Brough, but he was beaten by Verkleeren, 18-5, in the quarterfinals. He made it to the medal round with a 7-3 win over Garden Spot’s Connor Finkey, but he lost to Scranton’s William Evanitsky, 4-2, dropping him into the seventh-place bout. McClenahan won by forfeit over Penncrest’s Ryan Stocku for seventh.
State College junior Ian Barr (160) went 1-2, while senior teammate Pete Haffner (220) and BEA junior Garrett Rigg (126) went 0-2.
DOWLING FOURTH, SHUNK SEVENTH
In the Class AA tournament, St. Joseph’s Academy’s freshman star Caleb Dowling (132) took fourth, and Penns Valley sophomore Baylor Shunk (106) finished seventh.
Dowling (39-8) had two losses in the tournament, and they were both to Pequea Valley’s Gabe Miller, 5-3 in overtime, in the quarterfinals and 8-2 in the third-place bout. Dowling got a big win in the consolation semifinals, 7-4, over Bishop McCort’s Carnell Andrews, who beat Dowling in the District 6 Tournament finals and Southwest Regional finals.
Shunk went 4-2 in the tournament, opening with a 14-1 win over Noah Hunt of Warrior Run and then an 8-7 loss to Bishop McDevitt’s Nate Smith. He won two consolation bouts to make the medal round, and then he dropped a 5-4 decision to Wilson’s Elijah Bundro. Shunk beat Muncy’s second-seeded Jacob Blair, 5-2, in the seventh-place bout.
“I feel pretty good,” Shunk said. “I knew it was a possibility coming in, but I knew it would be a long road and a lot of tough matches. But, I just kept my composure throughout the weekend and wrestled the best that I could.”
“He’s a kid who works his butt off,” Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker said. “It’s hard for me to see how many kids can work as hard as him, so for him to get what he got, he earned every bit of it. You just love seeing a kid like him get what he got.”
Penns Valley seniors Darren Yearick (120) and Jared Hurd (145) went 1-2 in the tournament. St. Joseph’s freshman Ethan Kauffman (106) and sophomore Jacob Powers (120), a Southwest Regional champion, went 0-2.
