HANOVER – Bodie Rouzer and Kaden Rouzer, both seniors on the Waynesboro Area Senior High School varsity wrestling team, punched their respective tickets to this weekend’s PIAA South Central Regional Championships.
The Rouzer brothers each placed second at the Section IV tournament hosted by South Western High School on Saturday.
Jayden Rooney qualified as a freshman for regionals by placing third in the 113-pound weight class. Prior to the season, Waynesboro coach David Swink spoke highly of Rooney, who dominated in his weight classes at the junior high school level.
He also had high praises for the Rouzer twins, who are so far making their senior seasons count in a big way.
Rooney (25-11) will wrestling Section 1 runner up Trent Ruble of Conestoga Valley in the first round of regionals.
Bodie Rouzer (22-10) drew Daniel Boone’s Nolan Brown (19-10), who placed third in Section 1, in the first round of the 132-pound weight class.
Kaden Rouzer (25-6) will face off against Cocalico’ Aiden Swan (27-8) at 145 pounds. Swan placed third in the Section 1 tournament.
After receiving a first-round bye, Bodie Rouzer dominated Gettysburg’s Christian Paul. Rouzer registered a 14-1 major decision to advance to the semifinals. There, he defeated Tyler Bootier of Red Lion in a closer bout, 7-4.
Rouzer came close to notching a sectional title but lost 1-0 to Ivan Vega of Spring Grove.
Kaden Rouzer’s path to the Section IV finals also began with a bye. He then pinned Dover’s Emmanuel German in 2:31. In the semifinals, Rouzer rolled past Gettysburg’s Jaxon Townsend by major decision, 12-1.
Rouzer lost by a close margin against Noah Rice of York Suburban, falling 3-1 in the title match.
Rooney pinned South Western’s James Bonczewski in 1:12 in a first-round contest. He lost to Elijah Hewitt of Dallastown, 9-2, in the quarterfinals, putting him in the consolation bracket.
Rooney won his next two bouts. He pinned Dallastown’s Graham Turnbull in 1:48 and also pinned Nate Brown of West York in 4:24 to notch a third-place finish.
The District III tournament will be held at Spring Grove High School on Friday, Feb. 25 and Saturday, Feb. 26.
The top four wrestlers from each 16-wrestler weight class will advance to the PIAA Championships in Hershey, March 10-12.
Tickets for Friday’s action are $6. Ticket prices for Saturday’s competition are $8.
