HERSHEY - Southern Columbia's Brian Watkins waited four years to get to the state wrestling championships, and he had a tough assignment when he got here.
Watkins was matched up with a returning qualifier, Tri-Valley's Sam Scheib, in the preliminary round at 145 pounds in Class AA.
"I never wrestled him before, but I'd heard of his name," Watkins said after he scored a 5-3 win over Scheib with a third-period takedown. "I knew it would probably be a close match."
Watkins was one of six area wrestlers who won first-round bouts Thursday at the Giant Center. He was joined by defending state champion Zain Retherford and Travis Erdman of Line Mountain, and Shamokin Area seniors Brandon Pesarchick, Josh Lahr and Wes Tillett.
Watkins (31-5) had an opening takedown against Scheib (40-3) but the Tri-Valley wrestler quickly got a reversal. Watkins got an escape in the third period and later almost tilted Scheib for back points in the third period but didn't quite get it done.
"That was frustrating because in a close match, back points are always going to be important," said Watkins. Scheib then escaped to tie the score but Watkins calmly worked a takedown with about 25 seconds left in the bout.
Watkins has another tough assignment today, wrestling Greenville junior Cody Copeland (38-1), a third-place finisher last season.
Retherford (41-1) got an early surprise in his first round bout at 112, being taken down in the first 15 seconds by South Side Beaver's Nathan Reckner. But Retherford wasted little time in escaping, quickly took Reckner down and pinned him 1:52 into the match.
Retherford will wrestle Pen Argyl's Jamie Welsh (34-9) in the quarterfinals.
Welsh was an 8-4 winner over Smethport's Nate Schwab.
Erdman (41-2) had two takedowns and a reversal in beating Seneca's Garrett Smith at 140. He'll take on Bethlehem Catholic's Ryan Todora (38-7) in the quarterfinals. Todora beat Jacob Durbin of West Greene, 3-0.
Pesarchick, a two-time placewinner, was impressive in his win at 130. The Shamokin senior (30-7) took Cochranton's Matt Bryer down three times in the first period, then added a fourth in the second before pinning Bryer at the 2:58 mark. He will wrestle Biglerville's Laike Gardner (41-4) in the quarterfinals. Gardner was a 10-4 winner over Penn Cambria's Nick Szala.
Lahr (33-5) built a 7-1 lead early in the second period against Newport's Eric Kemble at 135, but felt sick and had to hang on for an 8-6 win.
"He just said all of a sudden his stomach started to rumble and he felt sick," Shamokin head coach Todd Hockenbroch said. "He looked great for a period. He was a pound and a half under (weight) so maybe he needs to get some food."
Lahr will wrestled Brandywine Heights' Pete Renda (30-8), a 9-7 winner over Jeannette's Michael DePalma, in the quarterfinals.
Tillett (32-5) took Central Cambria's Shane Morris down four times before pinning him in the third period.
"I just want to keep it rolling," Tillett said. "It felt good to get a win in the first round."
Tillett was upset in the first round last year before coming back to finish seventh.
He will wrestle Evan Daley (28-12) of Fort LeBoeuf in the quarterfinals. Daley decisioned Pen Argyl's Kirby Mutton, 8-2.
"It was nice to go 3-for-3 in the first round," said Hockenbroch. "It's really big, because now we can go back to the hotel, relax, get something to eat and not have to worry about the grind of the wrestlebacks.
"All three of these guys are veterans and all three have the goal of winning it all, so we'll see what happens." HERSHEY - If Mount Carmel's Nick Dusendschine leaves the PIAA state wrestling championships without a medal, it certainly won't be without a fight.
Dusendschine overcame a first round loss, almost being pinned, a badly injured elbow and almost eight minutes of wrestling in his consolation bout, and advanced to the second round of consolations with a 3-2 ultimate rideout win over Boiling Springs' Mark Lentz Thursday.
Dusendschine (37-11) and Line Mountain's Seth Lansberry, both 125-pounders, advanced in the consolation round. Line Mountain's Adam Kritzer (135) was eliminated with two losses.
Dusendschine dropped his first round bout 5-0 to Bethlehem Catholic's Jaydon Rice. In his consolation bout, Lentz hit him with a big move early with a takedown and what looked like certain back points, but the official ruled that Dusendschine's shoulders were out of bounds.
"I thought it was over," said Dusendschine. "I'm probably not going to college, I'm probably going to the Air Force, so I thought I was going to get stuck and my career was over."
But when the wrestlers went back to center mat, Dusendschine got a reversal to tie the score, and the two wrestlers took turns riding each other for a period.
Even that was troublesome. Dusendschine has had problems with a hyper-extended elbow, and the injury flared up in practice early this week, causing him to wear a wrap on his right arm.
He went down hard on the elbow when Lentz was riding him in the third period and needed injury time.
"I thought that was it," Dusendschine said. "It pops in and out on me and it was excruciating."
But he survived that period and the two wrestlers went through a one-minute overtime, with neither
getting a takedown. It was the first overtime match of the tournament.
They each rode each other for 30 seconds, leading to the ultimate rideout.
Lentz, much taller, took top position, but this time Dusendschine exploded out of the bottom and ultimately got an escape for the win.
"I just knew it was either win or my career was over," said Dusendschine.
Lansberry, who was pinned by Pine Grove's Kody Rittenbaugh in the first round, had a much easier consolation bout. He took Charleroi's Aaron Toth down in the first two seconds and went on to an 11-1 win to raise his record to 35-10.
Kritzer (135) had a bad day. He was a 7-2 loser to Saegertown's Sean Byham in the first round, and dropped a 9-4 consolation decision to Tri-Valley's Blake Bowman to finish the season 35-15.
Overall, Line Mountain had a sluggish day. Defending state champ Zain Retherford and Travis Erdman won first round bouts, but Retherford got taken down early and Erdman looked somewhat passive.
"It seems like every tournament, we have a bad round," said Line Mountain head coach Lon Balum. "Hopefully, this was it. Maybe some of it was our (the coaches') fault. There is no hiding from anyone down here, though, and you have to give some credit to the other wrestlers. If you're not ready to go, they can make you look bad."
North Schuylkill's Scott Yagielnskie (215) also dropped two bouts. He was pinned by Burrell's Brian Beattie in 1:16 in the first round, then dropped a 2-1 decision to Wyomissing's Tyler Rank in the consolation round to finish his season with a 32-10 record.