Solanco's Jared Fulton, Blaine Plastino and Caden Rutt competed in the District Three/ South Central Regional wrestling championships at Spring Grove High School February 24-25 with an opportunity to secure a spot in the PIAA Championships. Fulton not only punched his ticket to the 'big dance' but did so with a gold medal finish.

Wrestling at 133, Fulton made short work of South Western's Daniel Pierce, pinning the junior in 1:34.

"That was a huge win," said head coach Tony Mendez. "That was his 100th career victory. Without that limited Covid season, where he went 15-5, he probably would have hit that mark earlier."

His quarterfinals matchup against Lower Dauphin's Clayton Koser (29-8) went a little longer but the result was the same. Fulton secured the fall in 5:19 after pushing out to a 6-0 lead.

That set up a semifinals match opposite Boiling Springs' senior Eli Bounds. Fulton took the full measure of Bounds, who entered the tournament with 31 wins, and settled for an 8-2 decision. Up 5-0 after two periods, Fulton gave up a takedown to start the third but used an escape and a takedown over the last 1:15 to gain some distance.

"Bounds was a state medalist last year," Mendez noted. "Jared controlled the match. He does a nice job of taking advantage of opportunities."

In the title bout, Fulton pushed his season record to 36-3 with a tight 3-2 nod over top seed Rocco Fratelli of Northern (31-6).

After a scoreless first period, Fulton escaped to start the second period and worked a takedown for a 3-0 lead. Fratelli escaped with 36 seconds left in the second and escaped again at the 1:43 mark of the third but could get no closer.

"Fratelli beat Bounds by one point a week ago so we expected a close match," said Mendez. "Everyone is good at this point in the season.

"I'm excited for Jared," he added. "He wrestled extremely well and beat some tough kids and in doing so became our first regional champ since AJ Wilson in 2018. It's an accomplishment for our program. I will say too, it was nice to see the group of kids that drove to Spring Grove to support Jared. They finally had a weekend off but made the drive to show their support. It meant a lot to both Jared and me."

Fulton is Solanco's 28th district champion and the first for Mendez.

Plastino, also a senior, wrestled at 172. He opened Friday afternoon action against CV's Abdoul Akala. Tied at 4-4 midway through the second period, CV's sophomore went on to score a pair of escapes and a takedown to finish in front, 8-4.

He bounced back with a solid 5-1 win over Cumberland Valley's Dayne Miller but was eliminated in his second consolation round by Isaiah Feeney of Dallastown.

"Last year Blaine was a regional qualifier but did not get a win," Mendez noted. "That Dallastown kid caught him in a cradle. It was unfortunate."

Plastino caps his season at 29-12.

Rutt's path through regionals also went 1-2. The junior suffered a 2:54 fall against Gettysburg's William Yordy, the eventual third place finisher, in the opening round but rebounded with a solid 8-4 decision over Ben Hoover of Chambersburg. He scored four takedowns en route to the win and never fell behind.

Rutt capped his season at 32-12 with an 11-4 loss to Palmyra's Tyler Detwiler.

"This was Caden's first trip to regionals, so it was a great experience," noted Mendez. "I know he will build on that for next year. Both Blaine and Caden were competitive," he added. "And it's always nice to get a win."

INDOOR TRACK

Speaking of winning, Solanco's Katie Urbine set a new state indoor meet record in the pole vault, clearing 13-6 at the PA Track and Field Coaches Indoor State Championships at Penn State on Sunday, February 26. It was her second straight indoor title as the senior cleared 13-0 to win last winter. The 13-6 breaks Manheim Township's Sydney Horn's record of 13-3 set in 2020.

The victory came down to Urbine and Veronica Vacca of Mount Saint Joseph Academy who edged Urbine for the gold in last spring's PIAA championships. Vacca recently cleared 13-5.25 to win the girls pole vault competition at the Millrose Games, leaving Urbine in second.

This time Urbine cleared 13-6, a personal best, on her first attempt. Vacca settled for second, clearing 13-0.

Urbine is ranked #3 in PA and #13 in US.