BEA’s Lomison, PV’s Lisowski, Carlile close PIAA runs in blood round
Victor Bonus of McGuffey is taken down by Dawson Lomison of Bald Eagle Area during the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Caden Judic of Bald Eagle Area takes a shot on Rudy Gentile of Greenville during the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Tanner Guenot of Bald Eagle Area wins his match against Chase Homan of Hamburg during the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Carter Ickes of Chestnut Ridge takes down Evan Lisowski of Penns Valley during the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Max Dinges of Penns Valley controls the action as he wrestles Elijah Scriven of Hickory during the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Victor Bonus of McGuffey is taken down by Dawson Lomison of Bald Eagle Area during the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Caden Judic of Bald Eagle Area takes a shot on Rudy Gentile of Greenville during the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Tanner Guenot of Bald Eagle Area wins his match against Chase Homan of Hamburg during the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Carter Ickes of Chestnut Ridge takes down Evan Lisowski of Penns Valley during the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Max Dinges of Penns Valley controls the action as he wrestles Elijah Scriven of Hickory during the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
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HERSHEY - Every round of the PIAA Wrestling Championships has the potential to produce heartbreak, from prelims to Saturday's finals. But of all the rounds, none quite hold a candle to the blood round, where wrestlers' dreams of standing on the podium come to live and die.
In the Express area's case on Friday, it unfortunately fell on the latter side of that statement. Bald Eagle's Dawson Lomison (152) and Penns Valley's Erik Carlile (133) and Brayden Lisowski (172) each made it to the blood round on Friday, with Lomison doing so in complicated fashion, before seeing their runs officially end one win away from a medal.
It was a tough conclusion to three strong postseasons, but the athletes have plenty to be proud of. Lisowski secured his first state bid as a senior and ultimately picked up two wins at the event. And Lomison and Carlile - both juniors - will each look to build on their runs in their last hoorahs next season.
For Lomison, injury was ultimately what closed out his run.
After scraping out a 5-4 decision in Day One's first-round consolations, Lomison endured a difficult, physically straining bout against McGuffey's Victor Bonus. The Bald Eagle junior pushed through multiple stoppages for injury before an illegal slam ended the match, granting the Eagle the win but ending his run in the process.
It was a scary situation at the time, as Lomison was carted off the mat on a stretcher. He's since been affirmed as okay, but thoughts and prayers still go out to a speedy recovery. The junior finished the season with a 38-15 record while earning a District 6 title and surpassing 100 career wins.
For Penns Valley, the losses followed up hard-fought wins in round-two consolations.
After seeing his 4-0 lead vanish in the third, Carlile - ranked No. 7 in the state at 133 - secured a late escape to edge out No. 11 Sabatino Sciullo (Reynolds) by 5-4 decision. A tough second period that saw him surrender a six-point move would be the difference in his loss, as he fell to No. 6 Lucas Barr (McGuffey) by 8-4 decision.
And deep in the first period of his second-round consolation against No. 16 Vinnie Fugazzotto (Northwestern Lehigh), Lisowski posted a seven-point move to propel himself to an 11-0 major decision, dominating from top through the second and third. Ultimately, he'd succumb to a first-period pin against No. 4 Cash Morrell (Cochranton) to close out his run.
Each elimination came with its fair share of heartbreak and disappointment, but Penns Valley head coach Joel Brinker was proud of his guys for making it this far. Lisowski heads to Clarion having surpassed 100 career wins as a senior, and Carlile also surpassed 100 career wins as a junior while qualifying for states for the third straight season.
"Proud of both of them," said Brinker on the pair.
"Brayden's high school career comes to an end, but he's wrestling in college (Clarion), so we'll continue to cheer him on. Really glad he got to experience Hershey. Erik has another crack at chasing his dream next year as he's a junior. I have no doubt he'll continue to work and improve and will return next year better than ever."
Outside of the blood round, Penns Valley sophomore Evan Lisowski also saw his debut stint come to an end on Friday, concluding in round-two consolations with a 6-2 loss by decision to No. 9 Carter Ickes (Chestnut Ridge).
It was as hard-fought as they come, a display of top dominance that required multiple tiebreaker periods and didn't a point scored until the second tiebreaker. Ultimately, Ickes would post a six-point move out of a reversal to secure the victory, with Lisowski closing out his injury-impacted season with a 22-8 record.
Though seven area athletes have been eliminated, three remain heading into Day Three. At the time of writing this, Bald Eagle's Tanner Guenot (133) and Caden Judice (145) and Penns Valley's Max Dinges (121) have advanced to championship semifinals, with those matches not finishing in time for this print edition.