Photos by Tim Weight
By BRIAN CARSON

ALTOONA—On day two of the Northwest Regional Class 3A championships on Saturday, four Mifflin County wrestlers took the ultimate step on the tournament trail by punching a ticket to Hershey.

Hunter Johnson (121), Avery Aurand (172), and Peyton Kearns (285) finished second, and Parker Kearns (152) took third to qualify for the PIAA Championships in two weeks at the Giant Center in Hershey.

It will be Johnson’s second trip to the Giant Center. For the others, this will be their first time. Johnson is a senior, Parker Kearns is a junior, and Aurand and Peyton Kearns are sophomores.

“Four is a great number. There are a lot of teams out there would like to have four guys going to Hershey,” Mifflin County coach Kirby Martin said. “I’m super proud of them. I’m very thankful for this group and how they’ve stayed the course and worked really hard to get to this position.”

Junior Blake Aumiller just missed joining his teammates after finishing fourth at 133. The top three in each weight advanced.

Styers Oden (114), Kamden Everly (127), Jake Cunningham (145), Deakon Schaeffer (160), Gavin Mickey (189), and Truitt Davis (215) suffered losses in the consolations and saw their seasons end.

Johnson (19-3) earned his second trip to Chocolatetown with a 5-0 win over Erie Prep’s Keegan Oler in the semifinals. He forfeited to Williamsport’s Cael Nasdeo in the finals after re-injuring a hurt ankle in the semis.

Aurand (24-12) beat Jacob Weaver of Central Mountain 3-2 in the semifinals. It was his fourth win over Weaver this season. The Husky sophomore dropped a tough 3-1 loss to State College’s Carter Weaverling in the finals. Weaverling countered an Aurand shot for the decisive takedown in the first period.

Peyton Kearns (10-5) continued his improbable run with a fall in 7:40 of the ultimate tiebreaker against Jack Sroka of Erie McDowell. The Husky hit a modified Peterson and got the fall over Sroka.

Despite popping out his shoulder in the semis, Peyton gave it a go in the finals and lost by fall to second-ranked Nick Pavlechko of State College in 1:56.

Parker Kearns (32-6) bounced back from his semifinal loss to Artis Simmons of McDowell with a 10-4 victory over Central Mountain’s Braylen Corter. The third-place match was the most exciting of the day, with Parker getting a reversal with only two seconds on the clock to defeat Meadville’s Brighton Anderson 9-8.

Anderson opened with a takedown, but the Huskie junior reversed him to make it 2-2 after one. The Meadville junior escaped and scored the first takedown before Parker escaped to set the score at 5-3 after two.

The third period alone was worth the price of admission. Parker chose down and got his second reversal to even it up at 5-5. Anderson escaped for one before Parker scored his first takedown to take a 7-6 lead with 1:16 left in regulation.

Anderson hit a picture-perfect switch with nine seconds on the clock for the 8-7 advantage. The Husky junior kept his composure and scored his third reversal of the match, near the edge, with just two ticks on the clock.

Exhausted from the effort, Kearns embraced assistant coach Tyler Bedelyon and celebrated his accomplishment.

Aumiller (26-12) used his patented headlock to pin Javarie Blue of Erie McDowell in the consolation quarters. He followed up with a 7-4 win over Brady Moyer of Columbia Montour Vo-Tech in the consi semis.

The Husky lost a heartbreaker to Shikellamy’s Isaac McGregor for third by a 2-1 score. A takedown in the second period was the clincher for McGregor.

“He put together a good tournament. He’s wrestled McGregor before, and it wasn’t close. This one was close. He wrestled outstanding. He just couldn’t get that takedown,” Martin said.

Mifflin County finished fourth in the team race with 107.5 points. Central Mountain won the team title with 145.5.

The PIAA championships begin on Thursday, March 9.

Northwest Regional AAA Wrestling

Mifflin County results

Championship Round 1

114 – Luke Segraves (Williamsport) pinned Styers Oden, 0:43

127 – Kamden Everly pinned Cameron Suzensky (Obama Academy), 1:00

133 – Blake Aumiller pinned Khalil Collins (Obama Academy), 0:14

145 – Jacob Cunningham dec. Ryder Say (Meadville), 2-0

152 – Parker Kearns dec. Carter Wilson (DuBois), 7-2

160 – Deakon Schaeffer pinned Nathan Lundy (Williamsport), 2:18

172 – Avery Aurand pinned Jackson Raker (Williamsport), 1:09

189 – Gavin Mickey won by tech. fall over Etienne Mahano (Brashear), 17-1 2:00

215 – Slate Sechrist (Jersey Shore) pinned Truitt Davis, 2:46

285 – Peyton Kearns won by inj. default over Owen Vandruff (Jersey Shore), 0-0 2:37

Championship Quarterfinals

121 – Hunter Johnson major dec. Jordan Rutan (Punxsutawney), 12-0

127 – Sam Staab (Erie Cathedral Prep) dec. Kamden Everly, 5-0

133 – Brendan Orr (DuBois) dec. Blake Aumiller, 3-2

145 – Jordan Thompson (Bradford) dec. Jacob Cunningham, 8-6

152 – Parker Kearns pinned Brice Rowan (Punxsutawney), 2:38

160 – Connor Wetzel (Shikellamy) dec. Deakon Schaeffer, 3-2 UTB

172 – Avery Aurand dec. Owen Shetler (Erie Cathedral Prep), 3-1 SV

189 – Hadyn Packer (Jersey Shore) pinned Gavin Mickey, 1:47

285 – Peyton Kearns dec. Zach Gallagher (DuBois), 4-3

Consolation Round 2

114 – Tyler Boyle (Hickory) pinned Styers Oden, 4:33

127 – Kamden Everly pinned Stephen Ernst (Meadville), 1:30

133 – Blake Aumiller major dec. Alex Kinder (Meadville), 10-1

145 – Jacob Cunningham won by forfeit over Christian Hawkins (Obama Academy)

160 – Mitchell Baronner (Hollidaysburg) dec. Deakon Schaeffer, 3-2

189 – Gavin Mickey major dec. Isaiah Harrick (Erie Cathedral Prep), 10-0

215 – Truitt Davis major dec. Brenden Gioan (Hickory), 11-0

Championship Semifinals

121 – Hunter Johnson dec. Keagan Oler (Erie Cathedral Prep), 5-0

152 – Artis Simmons (Erie McDowell) dec. Parker Kearns, 3-1

172 – Avery Aurand dec. Jacob Weaver (Central Mountain), 3-2

285 – Peyton Kearns pinned Jack Sroka (Erie McDowell), 7:40

Consolation Quarterfinals

127 – Caleb Fasick (Altoona) dec. Kamden Everly, 7-2

133 – Blake Aumiller pinned Javarie Blue (Erie McDowell), 2:47

145 – Elijah Elser (Carrick) dec. Jacob Cunningham, 6-5

189 – Landon Martz (Punxsutawney) dec. Gavin Mickey, 11-5

215 – Rhoan Woodrow (Meadville) pinned Truitt Davis, 0:59

Consolation Semifinals

133 – Blake Aumiller dec. Brady Moyer (Columbia Montour Vo-Tech), 7-4

152 – Parker Kearns dec. Braylen Corter (Central Mountain), 10-4

Third Place

133 – Isaac McGregor (Shikellamy) dec. Blake Aumiller, 2-1

152 – Parker Kearns dec. Brighton Anderson (Meadville), 9-8

Championship Finals

121 – Cael Nasdeo (Williamsport) won by forfeit over Hunter Johnson

172 – Carter Weaverling (State College) dec. Avery Aurand, 3-1

285 – Nick Pavlechko (State College) pinned Peyton Kearns, 1:56

Team Standings

(1) Central Mountain 145.5, (2) State College 140.0, (3) Shikellamy 125.0, (4) Mifflin County 107.5, (5) Selinsgrove 102.5, (6) Erie McDowell 101.5, (7) Hickory 96.0, (8)Williamsport 91.0, (9) Erie Cathedral Prep 79.5, (10) Meadville 76.5, (11) Punxsutawney 66.0, (12) Altoona 64.5, (13) DuBois 61.0, (14) Jersey Shore 46.0, (15) Westinghouse 28.0, (16) Obama Academy 25.0, (17) Columbia Montour Vo-Tech 22.0, (18) Bradford 18.0, (19) Carrick 12.0, (19) Taylor Allderdice 12.0, (21) Hollidaysburg 9.0, (22) Brashear 4.0, (23) Greater Johnstown 3.0

Day 1

ALTOONA – Mifflin County had four wrestlers make it into the semifinals on day one of the Northwest Regional Class 3A championship at the Altoona Fieldhouse on Friday.

Hunter Johnson (121), Parker Kearns (152), Avery Aurand (172), and Peyton Kearns (285) all made it to the semifinals and our one win away from securing a spot at Hershey.

All 11 of the Huskies are still in contention, with seven of them, Styers Oden (114), Kamden Everly (127), Blake Aumiller (133), Jake Cunningham (145), Deakon Schaeffer (160), Gavin Mickey (189), and Truitt Davis (215), competing in the consolations.

Hunter Johnson (18-2) received a bye in the first round before dominating Jordan Rutan of Punxsutawney 12-0. The senior will now meet Keegan Oler of Erie Prep in the semifinals.

Parker Kearns (30-5) defeated Carter Wilson of DuBois 7-2 before pinning Brice Rowan of Punxsutawney in just 2:38. Parker will face Artis Simmons of Erie McDowell in his semifinal match.

Avery Aurand (23-11) secured a place in the finals with a 3-1 overtime win over Owen Shetler of Erie Prep in the quarterfinals. The Husky sophomore also pinned Jackson Raker of Williamsport in just 1:09 of their first-round match.

Peyton Kearns (8-4) won by injury default over Owen Vandruff of Jersey Shore in 2:37. He then scored a late takedown in the quarterfinals to beat Zach Gallagher of DuBois 4-3. The Husky sophomore meets Jack Sroka of Erie McDowell in the semifinals.

Mifflin County had a 9-2 start in the first round but went 4-5 in the quarterfinals.

Kamden Everly lost to Sam Staab of Erie Prep 5-0, while Blake Aumiller suffered a tough 3-2 defeat to Brendan Orr of DuBois. Jake Cunningham gave up a late takedown with seven seconds left in an 8-6 loss to Bradford’s Jordan Thompson.

Deakon Schaeffer lost a heartbreaker to Connor Wetzel of Shikellamy 3-2 in the ultimate tiebreaker. After a 1-1 regulation, each wrestler got an escape in the tiebreaker. Schaefer chose bottom in the UTB but couldn’t get out as Wetzel kept shoving him off the mat to the boos of the Husky crowd.

Gavin Mickey suffered a fall at the hands of Hadyn Packer of Jersey Shore at the 1:47 mark.

Currently, the Huskies are in sixth place in the team race with 52.5 points, while Central Mountain leads with 78 points.

The consolations will begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by the semifinals at 12:30 p.m. The finals and third-place matches are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. on the same day.

Northwest Regional Class AAA

Mifflin County Results

Championship Round 1

114 – Luke Segraves (Williamsport) pinned Styers Oden, 0:43

127 – Kamden Everly pinned Cameron Suzensky (Obama Academy), 1:00

133 – Blake Aumiller pinned Khalil Collins (Obama Academy), 0:14

145 – Jacob Cunningham dec. Ryder Say (Meadville), 2-0

152 – Parker Kearns dec. Carter Wilson (DuBois), 7-2

160 – Deakon Schaeffer pinned Nathan Lundy (Williamsport), 2:18

172 – Avery Aurand pinned Jackson Raker (Williamsport), 1:09

189 – Gavin Mickey won by tech. fall over Etienne Mahano (Brashear), 17-1 2:00

215 – Slate Sechrist (Jersey Shore) pinned Truitt Davis, 2:46

285 – Peyton Kearns won by inj. default over Owen Vandruff (Jersey Shore), 2:37

Championship Quarterfinals

121 – Hunter Johnson maj. dec. Jordan Rutan (Punxsutawney), 12-0

127 – Sam Staab (Erie Cathedral Prep) dec. Kamden Everly, 5-0

133 – Brendan Orr (DuBois) dec. Blake Aumiller, 3-2

145 – Jordan Thompson (Bradford) dec. Jacob Cunningham, 8-6

152 – Parker Kearns pinned Brice Rowan (Punxsutawney), 2:38

160 – Connor Wetzel (Shikellamy) dec. Deakon Schaeffer, 3-2 UTB

172 – Avery Aurand dec. Owen Shetler (Erie Cathedral Prep), 3-1 SV

189 – Hadyn Packer (Jersey Shore) pinned Gavin Mickey, 1:47

285 – Peyton Kearns dec. Zach Gallagher (DuBois), 4-3