Wyoming Area’s 133-139-pound combination of Jaden Pepe and Anthony Evanitsky continued to shine Friday night at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Individual Wrestling Championships in Hershey.
Pepe and Evanitsky followed up quarterfinal wins earlier in the day with semifinal victories at night to qualify for Saturday afternoon’s championship matches in Class 2A.
A week earlier, Pepe and Evanitsky gave District 2 half of its four Northeast Regional champions, capturing Class 2A titles in Williamsport March 4. Pepe won at 133 and Evanitsky followed with the 139-pound title.
Pepe, a two-time defending champion, and Evanitsky are the district’s only state finalists in Class 2A. They were joined in the finals by Abington Heights senior Luke Sirianni, who reached the Class 3A championship round at 107 pounds with a victory Saturday morning.
STATE TOURNAMENT
Evanitsky finished third in the state last season as a freshman, duplicating Pepe’s performance in 2020. With Friday’s two wins, he gave himself a shot at also matching Pepe in winning a state title as a sophomore.
Their combined efforts sent Wyoming Area into Saturday, the last of three days of state tournament competition at The Giant Center, in 10th place out of 113 Class 2A teams with at least one wrestler in Hershey.
In six state bouts, they combined to outscore opponents, 78-18, with a technical fall and three major decisions.
The closest bout was Evanitsky’s semifinal in which he got past Clearfield’s Brady Collins, 10-7.
Pepe had no such troubles in the semifinals, shutting out Mason Wagner from state team points leader Faith Christian Academy, 10-0.
Earlier in the day, Pepe defeated Brody Brock from Cambridge Springs, 15-2, and Evanitsky registered a 16-0 technical fall in 4:40 against Saucon Valley’s Jackson Albert.
Pepe had a 9-0 lead after just one period on a takedown and three near falls. He finished with four near falls and three takedowns while allowing just two escapes.
Evanitsky turned Albert five times while opening a 14-0 lead. His second takedown of the bout, with 1:20 remaining, gave him the advantage of 15 or more points needed to end the bout on a technical fall.
Pepe ran his records to 42-1 on the season and 156-5 for his career heading into the final.
Evanitsky was 40-4 and 87-8.
Both wrestlers headed into rematches of the Northeast Regional bouts in the state final.
Pepe was set to take on Midd-West’s Connor Heckman, who he beat, 10-4, in the semifinals. Evanitsky had a championship match rematch with Warrior Run freshman Reagan Milheim after a 5-1 regional victory.
Reagan Milheim and Cameron Milheim (152) both made the final while a third brother, Kaden Milheim, lost by just one point in the 145-pound semifinals to just miss becoming the first three-brother combination to reach the final in the same season.
NORTHEAST REGIONAL
Jaden Pepe and Anthony Evanitsky each won Northeast Regional titles for Wyoming Area March 5 in Williamsport.
Both won quarterfinal bouts the night before, then won both semifinals and championship bouts on the second day of the two-day tournament.
Pepe used three takedowns to get past Muncy’s Scott Johnson, 8-4, in a championship match meeting of returning state champions. He got there by winning a meeting of returning regional champions, 10-4, over eventual state final opponent Connor Heckman from Midd-West.
Evanitsky needed a reversal with 23 seconds left in the second overtime to get past Southern Columbia’s Mason Barvitskie, 4-2, in the semifinals, then beat Reagan Milheim, 8-4, in the final.
Wyoming Area finished seventh in the team scoring, second-best among District 2 schools, behind Lackawanna Trail.
Kendall Heck began the day with a pin of Honesdale’s Joey Giannetti in 2:17 of their 145-pound consolation bout. He was pinned in his next two bouts and finished sixth.
Connor Novakowski lost by a pin at 114 pounds, finishing the tournament 0-2.
