Northern Lebanon's Aaron Seidel picks up his 3rd PIAA Class 2A wrestling championship

HERSHEY — There’s an old saying, it’s hard to beat an opponent three times. But if you are a wrestler, and you’ve beaten your opponent by tech fall and major decision twice in the previous three weeks, can that really be true?

No.

Northern Lebanon junior Aaron Seidel authored those two victories — 22-5 and 24-11, respectively — over Bishop McDevitt freshman Greyson Music in the sectional and district finals. Matched in the PIAA Class 2A tournament finals at 121 pounds, the odds of victory certainly were on Seidel’s side.

Seidel won his third 2A state title Saturday afternoon at Hershey’s Giant Center, majoring Music 8-0. Unlike the previous two matches, which were takedown-let up extravaganzas, Saturday’s match was a more measured performance.

“I was just more cautious,” Seidel said. “State finals, it doesn’t matter how much you win by.”

Make no mistake, Seidel was in control from start to finish. After a minute of probing for an opening, he got on the board by beating Music to the corner and getting a reach-around, low double-leg takedown.

2024 PIAA wrestling championships - Day 3 [photos]

He added an escape and another takedown in the second period to go up 5-0. On top in the third, he looked to work his tilts.

“I wanted to get the major at the end and I was really pushing that tilt,” he said.

The tilt came, with 11 seconds left, the three points triggering the major decision.

“Whether it’s one point or 11, or a technical fall, it’s all about winning,” he said.

Sam Wolford placed fourth for the Vikings, at 107, after just missing the medal stand at 114 last year. Wrestling for bronze, Wolford dropped a 1-0 verdict to Thomas Boyce of Conwell Egan Catholic. A week ago, in the Southeast Region semifinals, Wolford hung on to defeat Boyce 7-6.

This time Boyce blocked Wolford from neutral, rode him out the entire second period, not giving him any room to maneuver, then escaped in the third period for the only point he would need.

“One thing I learned from regionals and states is I need to improve on bottom,” Wolford said. “I lost to (Faith Christian state champion Joey) Bachmann by one point. Lost to (Dominic) Deputy by one point, to this guy by one point.

“Not being able to get off bottom really taught me something,” he said. “I’m going to be working on that all summer.”

Over on the Class 3A side, Manheim Township’s Kaedyn Williams and Hempfield’s Seamus Mack took thirds at their respective weights, while Penn Manor’s Travis Clawson bounced back and closed out his career with a victory in the seventh-place match at 114.

Both Williams and Mack came the long way back after losses in the round of 16. Both won five straight matches, the first three win or go home.

“I never had to do that before,” Williams said. “I had to, kind of, run the gauntlet. I just felt like I kept getting better and better as the tournament went on.”

“I took a tough loss early on,” Mack said. “I couldn’t get down on myself. I had to remember to focus on what you can control now.”

Wrestling Gabriel Ballard of Northampton for third at 114, Williams out-quicked Ballard into two first period takedowns and a 4-1 lead. “Ballard is super strong, and super fast,” Williams said. “I knew I had to match that.”

He sandwiched a second-period takedown between Sloboda escapes to maintain his three-point advantage, adding a reversal with five seconds left for an 8-3 final.

Facing Patrick Kelly of Central Bucks West for third at 139, Mack wrestled with a noticeable joy on the way to a 6-1 decision.

“I knew, before I ever went out, it was going to be the last time I wrestled for Hempfield,” Mack said. “I just went out trying to enjoy it, have fun one last time.”

He scored on a single-leg 16 seconds in, then turked Kelly to his back for a 4-0 lead after one. Choosing neutral in the second period, Mack funked into a takedown, one of many times this weekend, and in his career, that his opponent found himself face down on the mat after taking a really good shot.

“I am pretty funky,” Mack said. “I’m always looking for my offense, getting my attacks. If they happen to shoot theirs, I’m ready to go.”

Mack took Kelly down into a cradle but, in an abundance of caution, chose not to advance to take it further.

“When I had it locked up, the pressure he was giving was weird,” Mack said. “If I push it too hard, I might get rolled through. I’m up in the match, let’s just maybe take it easy.”

Kelly chose top for the third period and while he held Mack down the entire two minutes, he only scored on a stall point, with 39 seconds left.

“A bunch of matches were dogfights,” Mack said, “super tough matches. I just had to get tough and try to grind it out.”

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Like Williams and Mack, Clawson also wrestled the long way back after a round of 16 loss. And like them he staved off three elimination matches before dropping to the seventh-place match with a consolation quarterfinal loss.

Down 2-1 after two periods to Leo Joseph of Greater Latrobe, Clawson scored an escape to start the third. He got in on a takedown, taking a 4-2 lead, then iced a 6-2 victory by putting Joseph on his back for two nearfall points.