Expand<\/a><\/p>\nHERSHEY \u2014 Mason Whitney was in a tough spot after dropping his first match of the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Abington Heights junior needed three straight victories in order to return to the state podium for the third time.<\/p>\n
He won six straight instead.<\/p>\n
Whitney stormed through the consolation bracket and was one of three District 2 wrestlers, including Honesdale\u2019s Nathan Schuman in Class 2A and Hazleton Area\u2019s Evelyn Sheer in the girls tournament, to capture a bronze medal Saturday at the Giant Center.<\/p>\n
\u201c(It\u2019s) really awesome,\u201d Whitney said. \u201cIt was a tough start, not how I expected it to go, but just take it one match at a time and work our way back.\u201d<\/p>\n
He did just that, winning one match Thursday night, three matches Friday and two matches Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
In the consolation semifinals, Whitney, who is ranked third in the state at 133 pounds according to PA Power Wrestling, got his revenge against Altoona\u2019s Braiden Weaver (sixth in state), who handed Whitney that Round of 16 loss, 1-0, on Thursday.<\/p>\n
It was the second straight week he avenged a loss, as he beat Nazareth\u2019s Caleb Kosko in the Northeast Regional third-place match last weekend after losing to him in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s starting to become a thing,\u201d Whitney said with a laugh about his revenge matches. \u201cI just switched my mindset. It went from that first match, I was just focused on I\u2019m the better wrestler, I\u2019m gonna to win this, I\u2019m gonna win this, and then as the day went on I realized it\u2019s about scoring points. So, if I can just go and attack and attack and attack, it\u2019s gonna happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
He made it happen with a second-period takedown of Weaver that proved the difference in a 3-2 victory to advance to the third-place match.<\/p>\n
Whitney-Kosko Part III was the third-place match, and Whitney took control with a first-period takedown.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just relentless offense. Staying on my feet,\u201d said Whitney, who finished his junior season 54-7. \u201cThat\u2019s where I\u2019m best. I\u2019ve lost all these 1-0 matches from getting ridden out, so if I could stay on my feet I know I\u2019m better than these guys on my feet and eventually it\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kosko (fourth in state) escaped before the end of the first period and added an escape in the second to cut the deficit to 3-2. Then, Whitney got his escape to start the third and only allowed a stall point to secure the 4-3 victory and a bronze medal.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the Comets junior\u2019s best finish at states, after he secured seventh as a freshman and eighth as a junior.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s just a boost of confidence,\u201d Whitney said. \u201cAs you get older, you see everybody progresses up and they become juniors and seniors and they start to really make things happen. You\u2019re kind of the older guy now. You kind of take that mentality into everything. It just helps with your confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Great Nate<\/p>\n
Schuman (third in state at 107 pounds) faced familiar opponents in his consolation semifinal and third-place matches. He had two pins and a technical fall over Montoursville\u2019s Branden Eisenhour (fourth in state) in his career and a tech fall over Faith Christian\u2019s Riley Crandall (seventh in state) entering Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could get interesting sometimes,\u201d Schuman said. \u201cAs you know each other more and you get to know how each other wrestles more, the matches definitely get closer and they tend to tighten up.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the consolation semifinal, Schuman secured a first-period takedown and an escape in the second period for a four-point lead. Eisenhour cut the deficit to two when he opened the third with a reversal. However, Schuman countered with a reversal and secured a 6-3 victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn that first match, I wasn\u2019t scoring a crazy amount of points, but up until I pinned him last week in the regional final it was also a close match,\u201d Schuman said. \u201cSo, I just wrestled a smart match there and stayed within myself. You don\u2019t need to force it. It\u2019s OK to wrestle a close match and just be smart with it and wrestle a clean match.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Honesdale sophomore rolled in the third-place match, taking down Crandall six times and adding an escape and four back points for the 23-5 tech fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially in that third-place match, to be able to go and put up points like I did the last time I wrestled him and just dominate that match it feels amazing,\u201d Schuman said.<\/p>\n
Schuman bounced back from an 11-6 semifinal loss to Trinity\u2019s Arav Pandey (second in state, 12th in nation according to FloWrestling) on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal coming into this tournament was to win the whole thing, and I hit a little speedbump there in the semis,\u201d said Schuman, who went 51-2 this season. \u201cIt\u2019s just hard coming off a loss like that to rebound. You can get down on yourself, but you\u2019ve just got to stay within yourself and (say) all right that match is over. Let it sting for a little bit, but then you\u2019ve got to move on to the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sheer force<\/p>\n
Sheer (fifth in state at 235 pounds) capped an incredible freshman season with two dominant victories Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels really good,\u201d Sheer said. \u201cI\u2019m really grateful that I could even get here and even wrestle. I\u2019m really happy. And third place is really amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
First, she got revenge against Bedford\u2019s Mylah Steinbuch (third in state) in the consolation semifinals. After losing by pin in the Central Regional final last weekend, Sheer pinned Steinbuch in the second period. Steinbuch got the first takedown, but Sheer responded with a reversal. Sheer chose top to start the second period and went to work for one minute and 30 seconds before locking in the pin.<\/p>\n
The Hazleton Area freshman secured a seven-point move against Albert Gallatin\u2019s Jenna Chapman (sixth in state) in the first period, and once again dominated on top in the second period, needing just 29 seconds to secure the pin.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just trying to control her, keep her on bottom and I tried to get the power half and I kept getting my hips up,\u201d Sheer said. So, I tried a little bit to get my hips around and I got the power half.\u201d<\/p>\n
District 2\u2019s other medalists<\/p>\n
Hanover Area\u2019s C.J. Caines (127 in Class 2A) lost his consolation semifinal match, but rebounded with a win in the fifth-place match.<\/p>\n
Hazleton Area\u2019s Jake Benyo (121 in Class 3A) lost his consolation semifinal and fifth-place matches to finish sixth.<\/p>\n
In the girls tournament, Delaware Valley\u2019s Kate Prior (170) lost her consolation semifinal and fifth-place matches to place sixth, and Lackawanna Trail\u2019s Cidney Schaffer (100) and Honesdale\u2019s Saige Olver (124) lost their seventh-place matches to finish eighth.<\/p>\n
West Scranton\u2019s Tommy Schechterly, Hazleton Area\u2019s Gabe Benyo and Abington Heights\u2019 Hayden Manning were scheduled to wrestle their finals matches Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Class 3A<\/p>\n
Third place<\/p>\n
133: Mason Whitney (Abington Heights) dec. Caleb Kosko (Nazareth Area), 4-3.<\/p>\n
Fifth place<\/p>\n
121: Abramm Schaffer (Wilson) dec. Jake Benyo (Hazleton Area), 7-4.<\/p>\n
Consolation semifinals<\/p>\n
121: Dominick Morrison (Hatboro-Horsham) dec. Jake Benyo (Hazleton Area), 5-0.<\/p>\n
133: Mason Whitney (Abington Heights) dec. Braiden Weaver (Altoona), 3-2.<\/p>\n
Semifinals<\/p>\n
114: Gabe Benyo (Hazleton Area) dec. Cael Muller (Notre Dame \u2013 GP), 4-2.<\/p>\n
160: Tommy Schechterly (West Scranton) maj. dec. Jon Smith (Oxford Area), 10-1.<\/p>\n
Consolation fourth round<\/p>\n
121: Jake Benyo (Hazleton Area) dec. Teagan Caciolo (Emmaus), 4-2.<\/p>\n
133: Mason Whitney (Abington Heights) tech fall Sean Murray (Upper Perkiomen), 16-1 3:19.<\/p>\n
Quarterfinals<\/p>\n
114: Gabe Benyo (Hazleton Area) dec. Dom Powell (Upper Dublin), 8-7.<\/p>\n
121: Mateo Gallegos (DuBois) dec. Jake Benyo (Hazleton Area), 7-2.<\/p>\n
160: Tommy Schechterly (West Scranton) dec. Cole Gibbons (Mt. Lebanon), 2-1.<\/p>\n
Consolation third round<\/p>\n
121: Jake Benyo (Hazleton Area) dec. Tommy Oswald (Lower Dauphin), 9-2.<\/p>\n
133: Mason Whitney (Abington Heights) maj. dec. Shane Young (North Penn), 9-1.<\/p>\n
215: Connor Smalley (Notre Dame \u2013 GP) maj. dec. Brody Spindler (Pittston Area), 18-4.<\/p>\n
Consolation second round<\/p>\n
133: Mason Whitney (Abington Heights) maj. dec. Matthew Sommer (Northampton Area), 10-0.<\/p>\n
145: Eric Orpin (Northeastern) dec. Micah Engelman (Crestwood), 9-5.<\/p>\n
215: Brody Spindler (Pittston Area) pinned Kaleb Dumin (Boyertown), 2:12.<\/p>\n
Class 2A<\/p>\n
Third place<\/p>\n
107: Nathan Schuman (Honesdale) tech fall Riley Crandall (Faith Christian), 23-5 4:18.<\/p>\n
Fifth place<\/p>\n
127: C.J. Caines (Hanover Area) tech fall Cameron Baker (Burrell), 17-2 3:16.<\/p>\n
Consolation semifinals<\/p>\n
107: Nathan Schuman (Honesdale) dec. Branden Eisenhour (Montoursville), 6-3.<\/p>\n
127: Logan Stewart (Reynolds) dec. C.J. Caines (Hanover Area), 8-4.<\/p>\n
Semifinals<\/p>\n
107: Arav Pandey (Trinity) dec. Nathan Schuman (Honesdale), 11-6.<\/p>\n
Consolation fourth round<\/p>\n
127: C.J. Caines (Hanover Area) dec. Zane Crouse (Bishop McDevitt), 4-2.<\/p>\n
Girls<\/p>\n
Third place<\/p>\n
235: Evelyn Sheer (Hazleton Area) pinned Jenna Chapman (Albert Gallatin), 1:29.<\/p>\n
Fifth place<\/p>\n
170: Finley Boetsch (Shikellamy) pinned Kate Prior (Delaware Valley), 2:45.<\/p>\n
Seventh place<\/p>\n
100: Cambria Leshko (Southern Lehigh) pinned Cidney Schaffer (Lackawanna Trail), 0:52.<\/p>\n
124: Chloe Zacherl (McDowell) dec. Saige Olver (Honesdale-G), 4-1.<\/p>\n
Consolation semifinals<\/p>\n
170: Fallon Jackson (Gettysburg) pinned Kate Prior (Delaware Valley), 4:37.<\/p>\n
235: Evelyn Sheer (Hazleton Area-G) F Mylah Steinbuch (Bedford-G), 2:30<\/p>\n
Semifinals<\/p>\n
155: Hayden Manning (Abington Heights) maj. dec. Olivya Kroope (Emmaus), 9-0.<\/p>\n
170: Bryce Snyder (Palisades) pinned Kate Prior (Delaware Valley), 4:37.<\/p>\n
Consolation third round<\/p>\n
100: Kristen Walzer (Montour) dec. Cidney Schaffer (Lackawanna Trail), 3-0 SV.<\/p>\n
124: Mai Graham (Southern Lehigh) pinned Saige Olver (Honesdale), 2:19.<\/p>\n
235: Evelyn Sheer (Hazleton Area) pinned Leah Nason (Athens), 1:54.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Honesdale\u2019s Nathan Schuman, left, wrestles Faith Christian\u2019s Riley Crandall in the 107-pound third-place match Saturday during the PIAA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[305,178,180,179,726],"class_list":["post-132408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-high-school-sports","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Honesdale\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-DAY3-02.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Hazleton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-DAY3-01_6f2f18.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Abington](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-DAY3-03_ea4298.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Hanover](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-DAY3-03.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Honesdale\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-DAY3-01.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Abington](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-DAY3-01_f40d8e.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n