Canon-McMillan grappler golden at states
Brendan Furman
Brendan Furman of Canon-McMillan tangles with Isaac Reid of Kiski in the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships Saturday. Furman won 5-3.
Nervous? Who, Brendan Furman?
“Normally, in any other match, I feel butterflies,” said the Canon-McMillan senior before his PIAA championship bout. “But, I didn’t have any out there.
That’s because the heavyweight wrestler faced a familiar opponent. For the fifth time this season, he defeated Isaac Reid from Kiski. With a 5-3 decision, Furman became a state champion, the schools’ first since sending two grapplers to the top of the podium in 2014.
“It’s really hard to beat a good opponent five times in one season,” stated C-M mat boss Jason Cardillo, “but Brendan wrestled a smart match in the finals, pushing the pace and relying on his defense to come out on top.”
In the opening rounds of the tournament, held March 9-11 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Furman wrestled offensively. He pinned his first two opponents, Oscar Daniels of Exeter and Hunter Gill of Hollidaysburg in a mere 1:53 time frame.
In the semifinals, Furman edged Niko Camacho of Bethlehem Catholic. He scored the decisive takedown with 43 seconds remaining in the match. Then he defeated Reid to complete a 46-3 season. Furman finished his scholastic career with a 137-33 record.
“I’m happy for Jason and proud of all the hard work he has put in over the years,” Cardillo said. “It finally paid off in his last season.”
Two other C-M wrestlers joined Furman on the awards podium, earning medals.
Gerritt Nijenhuis brought home a bronze medal at 152. The freshman defeated Chase Stephens of Coastewsville, 4-1, for third place.
After opening with a pin against A.J. Wilson of Solanco, Nijenhuis lost, 5-1, to Carter Starocci of Erie Prep in quarterfinals. He decisioned, 8-1, Hayden Keleher of Easton and Brayden Wills of Mechanicsburg, 7-1, as well as pinned Colin Shannon of North Penn in his wrestle-back matches to reach the medal matches.
Logan Macri finished fifth at 120. The junior beat Zurich Storm of New Oxford, 6-4, in his medal match.
After scoring a major decision against Luke Resnick of Owen J. Roberts, 11-3, in the first round, Macri lost to Julian Chlebove of Northampton, 6-0, in the quarterfinals. He bounced back with a major decision, 15-7, against Brandon Connor of Wilson to keep his medal hopes alive. Despite an ultimate tie-breaking loss, 2-1, to Matt Parker of Pennridge, 2-1, Macri came back to win his medal match.
Matt Oblock also made the trip to Hershey. After losing in the preliminary round to West Chester Rustin’s Bret Kaliner, 4-3, the senior pinned Jeffery Boyd of Erie McDowell, in 2 minutes in the first round consolation. He lost to Jakob Campbell of Boyertown, 6-3, in second-round consolation bout.