PIAA NORTHEAST REGIONALS: ATHENS' BRADLEY REPEATS AS 113-POUND REGIONAL CHAMP (8 PHOTOS) (2021-02-27)
BY CHRIS MANNINGValley Sports ReportWILLIAMSPORT - Athens' Gavin Bradley stayed perfect this postseason to win the Northeast Regional Tournament here Saturday afternoon.
The junior went 3-0 on the day, culminating with a 5-3 win over Wyoming Area's Jaden Pepe to claim the 113-pound title for the second year in a row. He is now 36-0 on the season.
Athens junior Kaden Setzer was 1-2 on the day in the 138-pound weight class.
"It feels pretty good," said Bradley. "I was just trying to go out there and do my stuff. It feels pretty good to be here wrestling, especially good again with the coaches and everybody."
His coach Shawn Bradley was glad to see Gavin progress, though he believes Gavin hasn't shown his best on the mat yet this postseason.
"That kid's a stud, so it's another step along the way," said coach Bradley. "I know he's not totally happy with how he competed, with stuff we need to work on, but he wrestled three really good kids today, and beat them all, so that's goal - keep advancing, keep winning tough matches. It's not going to be easy, but he beat a tough kid today, so hopefully he can keep that going into next week."
Bradley began the day with a 21-6 technical fall over Southern Columbia's Brady Feese in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, he built a 10-4 lead on Warrior Run's Kaden Milheim on the strength of five takedowns as he seemed to get to Milheim's legs at will.
Late in the third period, though, Milheim scored a takedown of his own, and even cradled Bradley up for a moment. However, he broke Milheim's grip, and held on for the 10-7 victory.
In the finals, Pepe worked hard to keep Bradley tied up, and when the Wildcat did get to his legs, was able to sprawl out of trouble.
"The first period was really tough, just trying to get to his legs," said Gavin Bradley. "I was just trying to get to that stuff, and he was just trying to slow me down a little bit, but I just have to keep on working on my stuff."
After a scoreless first, Bradley was able to get a takedown on a strong mid-shot. He got to Pepe's hips, then drove through him to get him to the mat for two points. "¨
"My coaches were yelling at me to do some stuff, and I did it," he said. "¨
He continued on the offensive, nabbing two back points to go up 4-0."¨
Bradley was called for a stall point, though, cutting it to 4-1, yet, he did ride Pepe out the rest of the second period.
In the third, Pepe cut it to 4-3 with a takedown, but Bradley immediately escaped for the 5-3 win.
Bradley will be moving on to the East Super Regionals at Pottsville next Saturday, a little bit of a detour to states this year.
"I'm just going to try to keep on improving every day with my coaches," said Bradley. "Just trying to improve upon what they told me to do as best as I can. With the love and support of my family, and my coaches, I'm sure that I can do it."
The Super Regionals will feature the top three from the Northeast Region and the top five from the Southeast Region. The top four will move on to the PIAA Championships the following week.
"With the internet everybody's seen everybody wrestle," Coach Bradley said about preparing for next week. "It's easy to scout people. He's just going to have to keep getting to the stuff he's good at, and keep doing that so we can score points."
Kaden Setzer (138) began the day taking down the top seed Scranton Prep's Antonio D'Appollonio 11-5.
However, in the semifinals, he was pinned by Lackawanna Trail's Robert Schneider in 41 seconds, then in the consolation semifinals, he lost to Lewisburg's Logan Bartlett by a 15-0 technical fall.
While his season is over coach Bradley is pleased to see him improve from last season.
"You have to look where Kaden came from," he explained. "Last year he was 0-2 at districts, so now we're a match away from what would be a state qualifier.
"Kaden did a lot of work this summer, a lot of work this off season, and it paid off," added Bradley. "He was right where he needed to be."
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens' Gavin Bradley. ... PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON.
