Burrell comes up short at PIAA Class 2A team wrestling tournament

By: Paul Schofield
Thursday, February 9, 2023 | 10:05 PM

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HERSHEY — When you compete on the big stage at Giant Center in the PIAA team wrestling championship, you better bring your “A” game.

Thursday during the first round of the Class 2A tournament, Burrell was hoping to reverse a loss from late January.

The WPIAL runners-up came up short of their goal.

District 9 champion Brookville used a strong finish to the middle weights to defeat Burrell, 32-25, sending the Bucs to a 9 a.m. match against Canton in a consolation-round match.

Brookville (19-2) will face District 11 runner-up Saucon Valley at noon in the quarterfinals.

Brookville beat Burrell, 31-25, on Jan. 21 during the Ultimate Duals.

“We have a good team,” Burrell coach Josh Shields said. “Sometimes you have to want it more than your opponent. It was a good match, and we had guys step up.

“But only two of their seven wins were by decision. We collected bonus points in only two matches.”

Brookville took a 13-3 lead after four bouts before the Bucs put together three consecutive wins — a forfeit to Cam Baker at 107, an overtime win by Julian Bertucci at 114 and a major decision win by Calio Zanella at 121 — to grab a 16-13 lead.

“Calio did a good job getting us a bonus point, and Julian reversed a loss,” Shields said. “But they were able to reverse a match, too.”

Brookville got a win at 189 by Gavin Hannah, who received a penalty point with 15 seconds left to defeat Cameron Martin, 2-1.

“I’m not going to complain about the officiating,” Shields said. “You can’t let them determine the outcome. You just have to wrestle better.”

Cole Householder got a major decision for Brookville at 127, Cooper Hornack got a decision at 133, the 100th of his career, and Niko Ferra a pin at 139 to push the lead to 25-17.

Brookville won the final three bouts, including pins by Burke Fleming at 145 and Kolten Griffin at 152, to rally for the win.

“We have to wrestle better,” Shields said. “We have a talented team. I want them to come back Friday and wrestle for their teammates. I still feel we can make a decent run.”

Brookville 32, Burrell 25

172: Isaac Lacinski (Bur) d. Easton Belfiore, 6-3.

189: Gavin Hannah (Br) d. Cameron Martin, 2-1.

215: Jackson Zimmerman (Br) p. Cayden Ansani, :44.

285: Baily Miller (Br) major dec. Luke Boylan, 8-0.

107: Cam Baker (Bur) won by forfeit.

114: Julian Bertucci (Bur) dec. Jared Popson, 4-3 (TB1).

121: Calio Zanella (Bur) major dec. Antonio Thornton, 20-7.

127: Cole Householder (Br) major dec. Jacob Stewart, 16-2.

133: Cooper Hornack (Bur) dec. Bracken Cieleski, 9-5,

139: Niko Ferra (Bur) p. Anthony Ceriani, 2:49.

145: Burke Fleming (Br) p. Stephen Hasson, :44.

152: Kolten Griffin (Br) p. Anthony Barbieri, 2:28.

160: Coyha Brown (Br) d. Nico Zanella, 6-1.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Burrell