Garrett Gehr battled to a third-place finish in the 132-pound weight class of the Class 3A District Three/South Central Regional championships Saturday, February 26, at Spring Grove High School. Gehr and five Garden Spot teammates competed at the districts with Gehr earning a spot at the PIAA Class 3A state championships.

"Four of our guys who made it through to districts were underclassmen," Adam Bunting, the Garden Spot head coach, pointed out. "It was quite an accomplishment for them to make it to districts. It was great to get the experience and to work to get back there next year."

Gehr, a senior, was a state qualifier last year as well. Wrestling through the brackets on Saturday, Gehr ended up facing Jared Fulton of Solanco twice - once in the second round and again in the third-place match.

"He wrestled well in his first two matches - technical fall and then beating a pretty tough kid from Solanco," said Bunting. "He pretty much controlled the match."

Gehr had a 16-1 technical fall over Tyler Bootier of Red Lion before defeating Fulton 8-4. In the next match, he suffered a 7-5 overtime loss to a very tough opponent in Ivan Vega of Spring Grove. Vega came into the district tournament with a 24-2 record and having won the 132-weight class at his sectionals tournament the previous week.

"He got a takedown in the middle of the second period and went up 3-2 with about a minute left," Bunting said of the Vega match. "He then got called for an illegal hold, so it became 3-3.

"So, with 50 seconds left, we let him go on purpose and he got down 4-3," continued the coach. "Garrett got a takedown and was leading 5-4 with about five seconds left. The other kid spun away with one second left to tie it.

"In overtime, the other kid got a quick takedown," Bunting concluded. "If they wrestled multiple times, Garrett would probably win the majority of the matches."

In the consolation semifinals, Gehr earned a 5-1 decision over Bodie Rouzer of Waynesboro, setting up the third-place match with Fulton.

"He came back right away for a match in the consolation semifinals," Bunting said. "He was able to win that and finished with the same Solanco kid to finish in third place. He won 7-3. When Garrett starts out fast, he often does very well.

"Though he had his eyes on the finals and had that pulled away from him in the final seconds of the semifinals, we had a conversation with him that the goal is to earn a medal at states," Bunting added. "Last year he won three straight after losing in the quarterfinals and finished third."

Jeremy Schilling suffered a first-round pin but bounced back for a third-period pin in his first consolation match, defeating Thaddeus Krebs of Central Dauphin East.

In the next round, however, Schilling lost a tough 10-6 decision to Kyle Deisley of Red Lion.

"He had a couple of tough matches in districts, but battled to the very end," Bunting commented. "It was good for him to end his career on a high note- making it to districts.

"He has been on varsity since he was a freshman," added the coach. "He has been a good leader for the team - good for team morale. He brings a lot of intangibles that help the team. He adds value even when he is hurt and can't practice. Just an all-around good kid."

Schilling battled all year, returning from a surgery prior to the season getting underway.

"He came back and helped the team win the section title - we were co-champs with Elizabethtown," said Bunting. "Jeremy wrestled in some close matches for us."

Mason Musser wrestled in the 285-pound class and lost 11-4 in the opening bout, facing Avery Kuhns of Chambersburg. In the consolations, Caleb Mussmon of Hempfield notched a pin to end Musser's run for a medal.

"He wrestled the kid from Chambersburg tough and got the first takedown," Bunting noted. "He was up 2-1. He then gave up a reversal and was playing catch-up after that.

"Sometimes it's the luck of the draw in the post-season consolations," continued Bunting. "There were some guys in the brackets that he could have beaten. He faced a kid who was a league finalist."

Diego Portales at 126, Blake Weaver at 172 and Tyler Hurst at 215 were unable to register any wins.

Portales opened against Hempfield sophomore Seamus Mack and lost on a fall. Mack went on to take third in the tournament and qualified for states.

"In the consolations, he got injured facing the kid who ended up taking sixth," Bunting said

Weaver lost a close 3-1 decision in the consolations, facing John Gleason of Shippensburg. He was coming off a first-round loss to Tyler Withers of Gettysburg.

"Blake battled in the match but lost," Bunting said. "He was nursing a shoulder injury from practice this past week.

"He is a great athlete and very coachable," added Bunting. "He is only in his third year of wrestling."

Just like Weaver, teammate Tyler Hurst also played football for the Spartans.

"Tyler took big strides forward this year," said Bunting. "He and Blake both play multiple sports. Tyler was named all-state in football this year."

Hurst was pinned by Travis Armstrong of Central Dauphin East in his opening match and lost on a fall in the consis to Robert Utz of South Western.