Valley Sports ReportHERSHEY — Athens junior Connor Davidson saw his season end in heart-breaking fashion Thursday night with his opponent on his back as the final buzzer sounded in their consolation bracket match at the PIAA, Class AAA Championships.
Davidson trailed Franklin Regional's Ethan Cartwright 7-0 with seven seconds remaining when he turned out of Cartwright's control, caught his arm and flattened him to the mat for four swipes from the official for a six-point move to close the gap to 7-6. The buzzer sounded, however, before he could get the fall.
"He kept wrestling," said Athens coach Shawn Bradley.
After a scoreless first period, Cartwright scored a takedown midway through the second period to take a 3-0 lead.
Cartwright chose top to start the third period, and was able to lock Davidson into a cradle for four near-fall points to take a 7-0 lead.
In his opening-round match, Davidson lost via third-period fall to Ephrata's Dustin Hoover.
Hoover scored the initial takedown in the bout midway through the first period, but Davidson closed the gap to 3-2 with a reversal with 25 seconds left in the opening period.
Davidson chose bottom to start the second, but Hoover turned him for four near-fall points midway through the period to take 7-2 lead. After a Davidson escape, Hoover scored a takedown in the closing seconds to take a 10-3 lead into the final two minutes.
Davidson cut Hoover midway through the third period, then gave up a takedown.
After the two exchanged wrestlers exchanged reversals, Hoover led 16-5. Trying to make something happen, Davidson got put on his back for a fall at 5:39.
Davidson wraps up his season at 28-12.
"Connor had a really good season," said Bradley. "He worked hard, it's a credit to him.
"He's only the seventh kid ever at Athens to qualify for Triple-A States, so that's a feat in and of itself," noted Bradley.
"He's back next year. He has good things ahead of him. We're look forward to see what he can do next year," he added.
Bradley believes the Hershey experience will benefit Davidson across the board.
"It's going to make him a better athlete.
"He worked very hard the last month," said Bradley. "It's going to make him a better football player, and a better wrestler.
"He's a great athlete, and has a good future ahead of him," added Bradley.
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING.
