Kearns strike for gold, leads group of six local medalists at Keystone State Championships

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Olivia Kearns can officially call herself a state champion.

The Chambersburg wrestler earned that right after a dominating showing at last weekend’s Keystone State Championships, held at Santander Arena in Reading. Competing at 105 pounds in the 13-14 age division, Kearns posted a 4-0 record to win the state title, with three of those wins coming by bonus.

Kearns’ road to the top of the mountain was paved with wins over Canon-McMilan’s Natalia Clem (fall in 0:31), Montgomery’s Jenna Houseknecht (14-2), Oil City’s Ella Kasunic (fall in 0:31), and Pleasant Valley’s Morgan Hyland (9-2). It was the second state medal in three weeks for Kearns, who also nailed down a third-place finish earlier this month at the PJW Junior High State Championships.

Kearns served as the standout for a group of Chambersburg girls that nailed down five Keystone State state medals. The Trojans got fourth-place finishes from Piper Jones (11-12 division, 145 pounds) and Reagan Evans (13-14, 125), a sixth-place finish from Mirra Harbaugh (11-12, 145), and an eighth-place showing from Kendyl Kearns (9-10, 84).

Another local wrestler, Waynesboro’s Aven Beltz, secured a medal of her own, taking sixth place at 45 pounds in the 6U age division.

Below is a school-by-school, tournament-by-tournament, wrestler-by-wrestler look at how grapplers from the Local.News area performed last weekend at the Keystone State Championships.

WAYNESBORO

Keystone State Championships

Boys

7-8

60: Ace Beltz (1-2)

Round of 16: W, 9-0 over Logan Eckart (Saegertown)

Quarterfinals: L, 1-0 to Vincent Ciampoli (Tyrone)

Cons. 4th Round: L, 11-2 to Bronson Perkins (Valley)

9-10

60: Brixton Hollimon (0-2)

Round of 32: L, 12-0 to Jackson Strittmatter (Holy Name)

Cons. 1st Round: L, 4-2 (TB2) to Salvatore Rizzo (Southern Lehigh)

Girls

6U

45: Aven Beltz (3-3, 6th place)

Round of 16: W, 4-3 over Layla Tomaino (Beth Center)

Quarterfinals: L, 3-2 to Marlowe Pettit (Peters Township)

Cons. 2nd Round: W, 14-0 over Harper Fine (Lake Lehman)

Cons. Quarterfinals: W, by fall in 0:21 over Camri Guirales Fly (Easton)

Cons. Semifinals: L, 5-3 (SV1) to Camilla Adams (Hamburg)

5th Place: L, 5-2 to Maeve Parnell (Quaker Valley)

GREENCASTLE

Keystone State Championships

Boys

9-10

120: Liam Dietrich (2-2)

Round of 32: W, by fall in 2:29 over Nathan King (Wyoming Valley West)

Round of 16: L, 6-3 to Kevin Dare (State College)

Cons. 2nd Round: W, by fall in 2:05 over Michael Sutter (Punxsutawney)

Cons. 3rd Round: L, 2-1 to Colman Shannon (Southmoreland)

11-12

95: Kolston Piper (3-2)

Round of 32: W, 8-3 over Jason Isbell (Towanda)

Round of 16: L, 5-1 to Kash Simmons (Millcreek)

Cons. 2nd Round: W, 2-0 (SV) over Kyle Warner (Hamburg)

Cons. 3rd Round: W, 5-1 over Waylynn Barrows (Montgomery)

Cons. 4th Round: L, 8-0 to Charlie Dunbar (Downingtown East)

13-14

160: Damien Johns (0-2)

Round of 32: L, 11-0 to Ian Holub (Trinity)

Cons. 2nd Round: L, 7-0 to Vinnie Fugazzotto (Northwestern Lehigh)

CHAMBERSBURG

Keystone State Championships

Boys

7-8

67: Ezra Kump (0-2)

Round of 32: L, 3-2 to Colton Writt (Greensburg Salem)

Cons. 1st Round: L, 4-1 to Brady Boyd (Juniata Valley)

Girls

9-10

84: Kendyl Kearns (3-3, 8th place)

Round of 32: W, by fall in 3:55 over Caroline Rea (Northwestern)

Round of 16: W, 11-0 over Amirah Rich-King (Crawford Central)

Quarterfinals: L, 7-2 to McKayla Steele (Marple Newtown)

Cons. 4th Round: W, 9-8 over Evelyn Pittman (Dover)

Cons. Quarterfinals: L, by fall in 0:38 to Vera Konte (Norristown)

7th Place: L, by fall in 2:00 to Emmalee Leuschen (Wattsburg)

11-12

145: Piper Jones (2-2, 4th place)

Quarterfinals: W, by fall in 1:52 over Payton Oberlin (Juniata)

Semifinals: L, 6-2 to Ava Hrinda (West Mifflin) 

Cons. Semifinals: W, 2-1 over Lucia Montoya (Williamsport)

3rd Place: L, 2-1 to Finley Boetsch (Shikellamy)

145: Mirra Harbaugh (2-3, 6th place)

Round of 16: L, by fall in 1:52 to Finley Boetsch (Shikellamy)

Cons. 2nd Round: W, 8-0 over Payton Oberlin (Juniata)

Cons. Quarterfinals: W, by fall in 0:56 over Ariana Fiscus (Edinboro)

Cons. Semifinals: L, by fall in 0:44 to Finley Boetsch (Shikellamy)

5th Place: L, 3-2 to Lucia Montoya (Williamsport)

13-14

105: Olivia Kearns (4-0, 1st place)

Round of 16: W, by fall in 0:31 over Natalia Clem (Canon-McMilan)

Quarterfinals: W, 14-2 over Jenna Houseknecht (Montgomery)

Semifinals: W, by fall in 0:31 over Ella Kasunic (Oil City)

Final: W, 9-2 over Morgan Hyland (Pleasant Valley)

125: Reagan Evans (3-2, 4th place)

Round of 16: W, by fall in 0:43 over Addison Claassen (Plum)

Quarterfinals: W, by fall in 0:53 over Isabel Higgins (Bellwood-Antis)

Semifinals: L, 6-4 to Nevaeh Colon (Wilson)

Cons. Semifinals: W, by fall in 3:16 over Ella Teufert (Octorara)

3rd Place: L, 2-0 to Alexis Lauta (Corry)

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