PIAA State Wrestling Championships: Seidel Leads With Gold, Wolford & Trostle Climb Podium – Full Recap

LebCo is proud to have three wrestlers who have earned their spots at the PIAA Wrestling Championship that began Thursday at Hershey’s Giant Center. The local contingent was headlined by Aaron Seidel (Jr.), Northern Lebanon’s two-time State Champion wrestling two weight classes above where he competed the past two years, a testament to his skill and adaptability. Seidel was joined by teammate Sam Wolford (So.), competing at the 107-pound weight class in his second appearance at States.

In addition to the two boys, ELCO’s Kylee Trostle (Fr.) made history by becoming LebCo’s first female to compete in the inaugural PIAA Girls State Championships, a groundbreaking moment for wrestling.

On Day 1, Seidel, Wolford, and Trostle each won in the Round of 32. They will begin Friday wrestling in the Quarterfinals. Keep in mind that even making it to States is an accomplishment, as only twenty wrestlers from each weight class make it into each classification’s tournament. Each of our three local wrestlers already has a victory in this year’s competition.

On Day 2, Seidel plowed through the competition on his way to punching his ticket to his third straight appearance in the State Championship Finals. Wolford and Trostle each suffered tough quarterfinal losses before bouncing back to win their next two matches. They will both start Saturday with a chance at wrestling for their spot in the third place match. All three LebCo wrestlers are guaranteed medals.

On Day 3, all three local wrestlers entered the day guaranteed to win medals. Seidel had to wait until the afternoon for the Championship Finals, where he defeated Bishop McDevitt’s Greyson Music in an 8-0 major decision to claim his third straight State Title (full article). Seidel’s teammate Sam Wolford finished in 4th place after splitting his two matches. ELCO freshman Kylee Trostle lost two tough matches on her way to claiming 6th.

Below are detailed recaps of how Seidel, Wolford, and Trostle each competed.

The newest results are highlighted in green.

Full Article: Seidel Wins Third Straight Gold

Day 2 Photos

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Aaron Seidel – Northern Lebanon (AA: 121 pounds) – 1st place

Thursday Recap

The two-time defending State Champion bumped up to 121 pounds this season, giving him a new slate of top competition he must run through to reach the top of the podium. In the Round of 32, the junior was matched up against Central Valley’s Antonio Boni, a 4th-place finisher from the Southwest Region who earned a 6th-place medal at last year’s State Championship, competing at 107 pounds. In fact, it was Seidel who defeated Boni 15-0 to send him to Consolations.

In the rematch, Seidel wasted little time getting Boni to the mat. Just nine seconds into the match, Seidel was credited with a takedown. Seidel then pinned Boni at the 1:30 mark of the 1st period.

Round of 16: Aaron Seidel pinned Antonio Boni (Central Valley), 1:30

Friday Recap

In a quarterfinal matchup bright and early on Friday morning, Seidel faced Hughesville’s Chase Shaner, a junior who touts a 38-8 record making his second appearance at States. Twenty seconds into the contest, Seidel struck with a takedown. The bout then ended at the 1:01 mark when Seidel pinned Shaner.

With the win over Shaner, Seidel moved onto the Semifinals, where he met Bishop McCort’s Lincoln Sledzianowski, the Southwest Regional Champion, who made his first appearance at States. In the 1st period, Seidel took a 2-0 lead with a takedown of Sledzianowski. In the 2nd period, Seidel began to rack up points, beginning with an escape followed by a takedown and a nearfall. Leading 10-0 going into the final period, Seidel would add another escape and a takedown on his way to the 13-0 Major Decision.

Quarterfinals: Aaron Seidel pinned Chase Shaner (Hughesville), 1:01

Semifinals: Aaron Seidel maj. dec. Lincoln Sledzianowski (Bishop McCort), 13-0

Saturday Recap

Seidel entered the day primed to enter the Championship Finals for the third straight year, having won the 106/107 weight class the last two years. His opponent would be Greyson Music, an Annville native currently wrestling for Bishop McDevitt. The freshman Music was 2nd at Sectionals to Seidel and then lost to Seidel at the District 3 Championship to finish 2nd. In both cases, Seidel won in a dominant fashion.

On Saturday, the outcome wasn’t any different, as Seidel scored an 8-0 major decision to claim gold. Seidel finishes his junior year with a 52-1 record. His current high school varsity record is 149-2. He is now a three-time State Champion. For a full article about Seidel’s State Championship run, check out:  Seidel Wins Third Straight Gold

Championship: Aaron Seidel maj. dec. Greyson Music (Bishop McDevitt), 8-0

Sam Wolford – Northern Lebanon (AA: 107 pounds) – 4th place

Thursday Recap

After appearing in the PIAA State Championship Tournament as a freshman, Wolford made his return equipped with an additional year of experience in a weight class lower than the 114 pounds where he won two matches last year.

In the Round of 16, Wolford was matched up against Montoursville’s Aristotel Bobotas, a sophomore who placed 3rd at the Northeast Regional Championships. Wolford was dynamic in the 1st period, completing a takedown, followed by two nearfalls. Heading into the 2nd period with an 8-0 lead, Wolford continued to dominate after scoring on an escape to begin the round. He then notched three more takedowns to run the score to 15-0 with ten seconds remaining in the 2nd period. Up by fifteen, the match ended in a technical fall.

Round of 16: Sam Wolford won by tech. fall over Aristotel Bobotas (Montoursville), 15-0 3:50

Friday Recap

In the quarterfinals, Wolford had the arduous task of taking on last year’s State runner-up, Dominic Deputy of Chestnut Ridge. The only one standing in the way of Deputy’s gold medal last year was Aaron Seidel. This match went as expected, with both sophomore wrestlers showing off the skills and mental awareness that got them to States. The only point in the match came in the 3rd period when Deputy escaped Wolford to take the victory.

Following the extremely tough loss, Wolford moved into the consolation bracket, where he was matched up against Phillipsburg-Osceola’s Caleb Hummel, a sophomore who, like Wolford, is making his second appearance at States after a 4th place finish at the Southwest Regional Championships. In the match between the two, Wolford scored a reversal in the 2nd period and added to his lead as Hummel picked up a stall warning followed by a caution warning. Wolford added an escape in the 3rd period on his way to a 5-0 decision.

The win over Hummel guaranteed Wolford a medal, but he had one more match on Friday night to determine which place he would be wrestling for on Saturday. In the consolation semifinal match, Wolford met Trinity’s Jordan Manyette, a freshman who has made the most of his appearance at States following a 5th place finish at Regionals by winning his first two matches before heading into consolations and winning another. A determined Wolford scored a 1st period takedown of Manyette. He would follow it with a takedown in the 2nd and another in the 3rd while only giving up an escape and then ceding a point due to stalling late in the match. This led to a 7-2 victory and a guaranteed top-six finish.

Quarterfinals: Dominic Deputy (Chestnut Ridge) dec. Sam Wolford, 1-0

Consolation of 8: Sam Wolford dec. Caleb Hummel (Philipsburg-Osceola), 5-2

Consolation of 4: Sam Wolford dec. Jordan Manyette (Trinity), 7-2

Saturday Recap

After winning his match on Friday night, Wolford set himself up to wrestle for his spot in the 3rd place match. Standing in his way was Burrell’s Cam Baker, a sophomore who finished 4th in the State a year ago. Wolford had a takedown in each period on his way to a 6-0 victory.
In the bronze medal match, Wolford met Conwell Egan’s Thomas Boyce. The two have history, as Wolford got by the freshman in a 7-6 decision at Regionals. Boyce went on to finish 3rd. In their State matchup, the two again wrestled each other very tightly. The only point was scored by Boyce when he escaped to start the 3rd period. It was enough to hand Wolford the 1-0 loss. The sophomore Wolford earned his first State medal with his 4th place finish.

Third Place: Thomas Boyce (Conwell-Egan) dec. Sam Wolford, 1-0

Kylee Trostle – ELCO (Girls: 112 pounds) – 6th place

Thursday Recap

Trostle made history as the first LebCo female to compete at the PIAA State Wrestling Championships. In her opening match, the South Central Regional Champion was matched up against Macayla Needham, a junior representing Central Bucks.

Trostle started the match with a takedown just eleven seconds into the 1st period. She followed it up with a nearfall before pinning Needham at the 1:12 mark of the opening round.

Round of 16: Kylee Trostle pinned Macayla Needham (Central Bucks), 1:12

Friday Recap

In her quarterfinal match-up, Trostle was matched up against Bishop McCort’s Lane Fordyce, the 2nd place finisher from the Central Regional Championships. Trostle struck first, notching a takedown of the sophomore from Johnstown. Those would be the only points scored in the match before Fordyce was able to pin Trostle halfway through the 2nd period.

The loss to Fordyce placed Trostle into consolations, where she met Pleasant Valley’s Juliette Trout, a freshman who spent most of the season wrestling against boys, much like Trostle. Trout punched her ticket to States by finishing 2nd at the Northeast Regional Championships. Given this match-up, Trostle was going to need to be on high alert in order to make it into medal contention. In the final minute of the 1st period, Trostle scored a takedown and a nearfall to build a 4-0 lead. At the beginning of the 2nd period, Trostle pulled off a reversal that turned into a pin of Trout.

The win over Trout guaranteed Trostle a top-eight finish. She was then matched up against Parkland’s Sylvan Parham, a senior that had won two straight matches after a loss to McCaskey’s Journie Rodriguez. Trostle would hand her another loss, pinning Parham :31 into the 3rd period after leading 8-2. The win by the ELCO frosh guarantees a top-six finish.

Quarterfinals: Lane Fordyce (Bishop McCort) pinned Kylee Trostle, 2:58

Consolation of 8: Kylee Trostle pinned Juliette Trout (Pleasant Valley), 2:09

Consolation of 4: Kylee Trostle pinned Sylvan Parham (Parkland), 4:31

Saturday Recap

After winning two matches on Friday, Trostle began Saturday in the Consolation Semifinals. Her opponent was Conneaut’s Daylee Watson. After wrestling boys most of the season, Watson won the West Regional Championship. In the battle of Regional Champions, the match went Watson’s way as she won in a 13-4 major decision.

The loss placed Trostle in the 5th place match, where she would battle East Stroudsburg North’s Andi Bibeau, a junior that won the East Regional Championship. It was an exciting chess match between the two. In the 3rd period, Bibeau went all-in to try to take the victory for Trostle. This gamble paid off as she notched two takedowns of Trostle in the final period. The result was a 6-4 loss for the freshman Trostle. As a result, Trostle claimed 6th Place.

Consolation Semifinal: Daylee Watson (Conneaut Area) maj. dec. Kylee Trostle, 13-4

Fifth Place: Andi Bibeau (East Stroudsburg North) dec. Kylee Trostle, 6-4