HERSHEY - Wow! WOw!! And WOW!!!
Southern Columbia tied for the team championship at the PIAA Class AA State Championships in 1984, but present head coach Jerry Marks said something plainly Friday night.
"This (Friday) is the greatest day in Southern Columbia wrestling history."
Marks would get no argument from anyone in the Giant Center last night, where the three Tigers who came to the state tournament - Todd Lane, Kent Lane and Blake Marks - all advanced to today's state finals, and all in rather amazing fashion.
Todd Lane, the youngest of the three, but maybe the least fazed, scored a 10-8 win over Bethlehem Catholic's Joey Gould at 120 pounds, when Gould jumped the whistle from the top position three times with about 15 seconds left, giving Lane a penalty point. Gould then let Lane up for another point and the freshman danced out of reach for the final 12 seconds.
Not to be outdone, Todd's cousin Kent did something he'd never done before in his 138-pound semifinal against South Park's Jake Wentzel, pinning Wentzel in 56 seconds without benefit of a takedown.
Again, not to be outdone, Marks, trailing 8-3 going into the third period of his 152-pound semifinal against Calvary Christian's Richie Cerebe, got a takedown, then fought off a near-reversal by Cerebe into a headlock and pin at the 4:54 mark.
Todd Lane will take a 37-4 record into his final against Boiling Springs' Korbin Myers (43-2), a third-place finisher at 113 last season.
Kent Lane (28-1) will face Brookville's Brock Zacherl (40-2), whose brother Brodie was beaten by Marks in Friday morning's quarterfinals.
Marks (35-4) will face Burrell senior Steve Edwards (45-4) in the 152 final.
Their dramatic wins capped a day in which the Tigers went 6-0 and they're 9-0 for the tournament. Southern won't catch Bethlehem Catholic for the team title, but the Tigers have certainly been, man for man, the most impressive team here to this point.
Bethlehem Catholic led the team standings going into the semifinal with 66.5 points and Southern was sixth with 23.5, but the Tigers obviously climbed the ladder last night.
Dramatic win No. 1
Todd Lane trailed 5-0 early in his bout against Gould after being hit with a five-point move in the first period. But showing the cool demeanor he's exhibited all postseason, Lane got four points back before the period was over with a reversal and two back points.
"I knew he put me on my back but I just kept my composure," the freshman said.
"That's the thing that's carried me all season."
Lane thought he had a tilt in the second period before Gould escaped for a 6-4 lead, but again didn't let it bother him."
"I thought I had it but it's the ref's call and you don't want to be arguing with the refs," Lane said.
Then, in a wild third period, the score went to 8-8 in a flourish of reversals and back points which had the scorer's table, coaches and fans confused.
Ultimately, Gould was in the up position. Each time he jumped the gun, Coach Jerry Marks saw it, and the third time was obvious, to the delight of most of the crowd, which has made Bethlehem Catholic Public Enemy No. 1 because of its alleged recruiting practices.
"I feel so crazy right now," said Lane, who confessed to being a little - just a little - surprised at the position he's in.
"Yeah, a little but I've been working really hard for a long time to get here."
In his 6-0 quarterfinal win over Redbank Valley's Willie Gruver, Lane and Gruver had a scoreless first period before Lane, working from the top position, picked up three back points with a tilt in the second.
He then escaped and had a takedown in the third period to cement the win.
Dramatic win No. 2
Kent Lane had Wentzel on the defensive in the minute before he pinned him, getting in on several shots but the South Park wrestler managed to fight into a couple of stalemates.
Lane got Wentzel's ankle again and this time, although he didn't get the takedown, he elevated himself to his knees with Wentzel hanging off his back, and this time Wentzel's shoulders touched the mat, giving Lane the fall.
Wentzel thought the call was quick, but matside observers mostly agreed he was pinned. No matter, the confident Lane thinks he'd have won eventually anyway.
"I knew I had him pinned," the junior and three-time state qualifier said. "It was just a matter of getting elevated. The leg shots were there all day and I knew I would have gotten a takedown."
Lane had to work very hard for his 100th career win in the quarterfinals against Fort LeBoeuf's George McGuire. Lane had a first-period takedown and McGuire an escape, and that was the extent of the scoring in Lane's 2-1 win.
Lane rode McGuire for the entire third period but had to sweat out a stalling warning with about 20 seconds left.
He reflected on his disappointment as a freshman two years ago, when he failed to place here.
"I moved up a weight, and then I had the (midseason) knee injury. I'm feeling a little bit of everything right now," Lane said.
Dramatic win No. 3
Saving maybe the best for last was Blake Marks. He trailed 8-4 at the start of the third period against Cerebe, a strong wrestler who took Marks down twice and scored two reversals.
Down by four points, Marks said he got to thinking.
"I thought that since he was so strong, I'd let him work for the shot, then try to counter him," the sophomore explained. "Then when I got the takedown, he almost got the two (reversal) but I was able to step over and get him in a headlock. I was thinking about the team standings and wanted the pin."
In reaching the final, Marks may become, if not the first, one of the few wrestlers to have a shot at winning a state title without ever having won a sectional, regional or district title. Last year he lost all three of those finals to Milton's Ryan Preisch. This year, he lost all three to Mifflinburg's Cole Walter who, ironically, lost his semifinal bout to Edwards 5-1.
"I know, that's amazing," Marks said. "I just happened to get the good side of the bracket."
Marks was impressive in his win over Brodie Zacherl in the quarterfinals.
Zacherl had the initial takedown but Marks escaped in the first period, had a reversal in the second period to take a 3-2 lead, then dominated the Brookville senior with two backpoint combinations for five points in the third period.