Brian Heard finished fifth at 172 pounds while Abington Heights teammate Mason Whitney earned an eighth-place medal at 127 with their performances Thursday through Saturday in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Individual Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey.
The two medalists helped the Comets compile 22 points and place 36th out of the 114 teams that qualified at least one wrestler for the state tournament in Class 3A.
Heard went 52-5 on the season and finished fifth in the state in Class 3A for the second straight year.
The University of Pennsylvania commit went 176-26 in his career, which included four District 2 titles and two Northeast Regional gold medals.
Heard opened his state tournament with a pin of Armstrong’s Kaleb Kinzey in 2:49. He reached the semifinal with an 8-5 decision over Kiski Area’s Mario Hutcherson in the quarterfinals.
After losing to Bode Marlow from Thomas Jefferson 10-4 in the semifinals, Heard also lost a decision in the consolation semifinal 5-4 to Shane McFillin from Bethlehem Catholic.
Heard won by forfeit over Hutcherson in the fifth-place bout.
Whitney opened his tournament with a 13-2, major decision over Kennett’s Bryce Boyer, but lost 6-0 in the semifinals against Cedar Cliff’s Aiden Herndon.
In the consolation bracket, Whitney shut out Central Mountain’s Aiden Kunes 4-0, but then lost to Butler’s Santino Sloboda 7-1. He closed out the tournament with one more loss, a 7-1 decision against Cranberry’s Dalton Winner in the seventh- and eighth-place matches.
Whitney, a sophomore, already has two state medals. He finished seventh last season, then improved his record from 38-8 to 45-7 this season, but slipped once place on the state level.
Jake Schiavone made the state tournament at 114, but lost a pair of decisions and was eliminated.
Schiavone finished his freshman season with a 30-19 record.
Class 2A
Lackawanna Trail’s Demetrius Doulgas opened the Class 2A tournament with a win at 189 pounds before suffering two losses to be knocked out.
Douglas decisioned Richland’s Grayson Mahla 5-2.
Faith Christian Academy’s Adam Waters pinned Douglas in 27 seconds. Easton Belfiore of Brookville beat Douglas, 12-4.
This was the first state appearance for Douglas, a senior who finished 29-11 on the season.
