PIAA wrestling: Knoch’s Braylee Ireland, Butler’s Santino Sloboda advance to quarterfinals after Day 1 wins
Knoch junior Braylee Ireland did not have to sweat out whether she’d make it to the second day of the PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships, advancing to Friday’s girls quarterfinals with a 7-0 first-round win Thursday afternoon.
The 118-pound WPIAL champion blanked Bishop Shanahan’s Shannon Logue 7-0 with two takedowns in Hershey’s GIANT Center. She’ll face Honesdale’s Saige Olver in the next round. Girls wrestling resumes at 11:45 a.m.
Also advancing to the quarterfinals in the Class 3A boys tournament was Butler’s Santino Sloboda. The junior Pitt commit racked up two takedowns and nearfall points in the second period to wrap up a 16-1 technical fall win over Conestoga’s Steven Wiechecki.
Sloboda, one of the top-ranked wrestlers at 127 pounds according to FloWrestling, faces one of the few ranked ahead of him, Northampton’s Gabriel Ballard, next. The 3A quarterfinals start at 2:15.
Butler teammate Kase Chopp advanced as well, via the 145-pound consolation bracket. The senior won his pigtail by major decision before falling to Council Rock North’s Eren Sement, the top-ranked wrestler at that weight, 20-10 in the first round.
Seneca Valley’s Hannah Hornick (170), who finished third at the PIAA Girls Western Regional Tournament last week, was knocked out Thursday after a first-round pin and consolation-round decision.
