DISTRICT 4 WRESTLING: ATHENS CROWNS FOUR CHAMPS; ADVANCES FIVE TO CLASS 3A REGIONALS (24 PHOTOS) (February 21, 2026)

By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
WILLIAMSPORT — Athens crowned four champs and one-runner-up here Saturday at the District 4, Class 3A Wrestling Championships, and will advance five wrestlers to next weekend's Northeast Regionals.

Juniors Zaine Campbell, Lucas Persun, Connor Davidson, and Brendan Cooke each won their weight class, and freshman Chace VanDyke placed second in his.

Seniors Ryan Howard and Brenden Comstock, and freshman David Janiszewski each missed advancing by one spot with fourth-place finishes.

"It would have been nice to get those other three kids through, especially the two seniors, but having, four juniors get through in the finals and Chace, a freshman, get a little taste of it," said Athens coach Shawn Bradley. 

"Yeah, it was a decent day," he added.

Campbell, who repeats as District champ, was 2-0 to win the 127-pound title.

Campbell, the second seed, scored a 20-5 technical fall win over Shikellamy's Braylon Chestnut in 4:57 in the semifinals.

Campbell recorded to takedowns in the first period, and led 6-1, then hit a five-point move early in the second period to stretch his lead to 11-1. Three more takedowns in the third period ended the match early.

In the finals, Campbell knocked off top-seeded Collin Nasedo, 8-6. He scored the initial takedown of the bout just 45 seconds in, then scored the last with 27 seconds remaining to pull out the win.

"Zaine won last year, but there's a little sour taste in his mouth because he didn't get to wrestle at Regionals," said Bradley. "Hopefully, he gets over that.

"(The finals) was a good win for him," he noted. "(Nasedo) is a tough kid ... (Zaine) had to be a little gritty.

"He didn't go out and dominate, like he does typically. He had to go out there and battle back.

"That was a good win for him and a good as place to start because he's going to need to do that next weekend; there's not going to be any walkovers," added Bradley.

Persun, the top seed, was 2-0 to win the 133-pound title.

Persun opened with an 18-2 technical fall win over Selinsgrove's Dagen Piermattei in 5:50.

He led 5-0 after the first period on a takedown and a tilt, then added four takedowns, and an escape, over the next two periods to clinch the win.

In the finals, Persun scored the only takedown, with 34 seconds remaining in the second period, but made it stand in a 3-2 win over second-seeded Keating Lattimore of Shikellamy.

"Lucas is just a tough kid," said Bradley. "He's getting better and staying in position ... (today) he took some good shots, and finished better.

"He did what he needed to do to win," Bradley added.

Davidson, the top seed, was 2-0 with two first-period falls to win the 172-pound bracket.

Davidson scored three takedowns and led 9-2 before pinning Shik's Connor Spear in 1:10 in the semifinals.

In the finals, Davidson built a quick 12-3 lead with four takedowns, then pinned second-seeded Jon Dincher of Jersey Shore in 1:33.

Cooke, the top seed, was 2-0 — both first-period falls — to win the 189-pound weight class.

Cooke pinned Williamsport's Makai Williams in 48 seconds in the semifinals

In the finals, Cooke scored a pair of takedowns to lead 6-1 before pinning second-seeded Riley Kanski in 1:50.

"Connor (Davidson) and Brendan (Cooke) are picking it up right at the right time," said Bradley.

"I've coached Connor for a long time," noted Bradley. "He's probably worked harder the last three weeks than I've ever seen him work in any sport.

"Hopefully, he can carry that on to regionals.

"And Brendan's had a good year, and again, he's starting to peak at the right time, too," added Bradley. "Hopefully, we can carry that forward."

VanDyke was 1-1 to place second in the 107-pound bracket.

VanDyke scored three takedowns to build a 10-0 lead midway through the third period, then added four near-fall points late for a 14-0 win over third-seeded Gabe Spagnuolo of Williamsport in the semifinals.

In the finals, top-seeded and state-ranked Ryan Millheim of CMVT built a 10-0 lead with a takedown early in the second period then finished off VanDyke at 2:51.

"Chase has got to believe himself a little bit more," said Bradley. "He's a really talented kid.

"I push him a lot in practice, trying to get more out of him," he noted. "He's a talented kid and there are his big things to come for him.

"I think he can he can surprise people next weekend," added Bradley.

Janiszewski, the fifth seed at 139 pounds, opened with a 9-7 win over fourth-seeded Anthony Albertson of CMVT in the quarterfinals.

Thanks to a pair of takedowns, Janiszewski led 6-1 early in the second period, but Albretson rallied to close the gap to 7-6 heading into the final two minutes.

Janiszewski scored a reversal early in the third period to take a 9-6 lead, then held on for the win.

After losing via first-period fall to top-seeded Alex Kadryna of Selinsgrove in the semifinals, he dropped an 8-1 decision to Williamsport's Lauger Waldman in the third-place match.

"David's a freshman, and hasn't been wrestling a real long time, but he comes to practice work hard, and  just competes," said Bradley. 

"He got thrown into a spot when Wyatt (Clink) got hurt last week ... David stepped in and he did well today," added Bradley.

Howard, the third seed at 160 pounds, lost via second-period fall to second-seeded Cain Carter of Selinsgrove in the semifinals, but bounced back from a big deficit in the consolation semifinals to post an 11-9 win over Tristan Smith of Shikellamy.

Smith built a 9-1 lead into the second period before Howard scored a reversal to close the gap 9-3 heading into the final two minutes.

Howard scored another reversal early in the third period to make it 9-5, then a two-point tilt to make it 9-7.

Howard turned Smith to his back in the final moments of the match for four near-fall points and the win.
 
After more than four minutes of scoreless action in the third-place match, Williamsport's Austin Dunlap reversed Howard to his back for a fall at 4:27.

"Ryan wrestled in Ohio, he's wrestled for quite a long time ... Ryan started peaking here at the end," said Bradley. "Today wasn't his best tournament, but he did come on strong for us at the end of the season.

"I was glad to have him on the team this year," added Bradley. 

Comstock, a first-year wrestler, scored a five-point move in the first period to take a 5-0 lead over Jersey Shore's Garrett Barner in the quarterfinals.

Comstock scored another takedown early in the second period and turned it into a fall at 2:38.

After a second-period loss by fall to unbeaten and top-seeded Brody Rebuck of Shikellamy, Comstock was in a 3-3 battle with CMVT's Brady Benjamin in the third-place match when Benjamin turned him for the fall at 2:27.

"I wish Brenden had wrestled the last three years," said Bradley. "He just lacks the feel, if he had the feel, he'd be right there.

"That was the toughest weight in this tournament," noted Bradley. "If he had a little bit more feel, he would have he would have placed here, too."

The Northeast Regionals are Friday and Saturday at Bethlehem-Liberty High School.

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IN PHOTO 1: Athens junior Brendan Cooke. IN TOP PHOTO: Athens junior Zaine Campbell. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.

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