The YDL Sports Network is counting down the Top 25 moments, events, performances, games, etc from the 2022-23 school year.
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It was quite the run in Olympic Sports for a number of teams, as the Cathedral Prep girls and Grove City boys won state Class 2A cross country titles this past season, as did Hickory girls’ golf and Cathedral boys swimming in Class 2A.
In addition, a quartet of athletes – Slippery Rock’s Jacob Wolak and North East’s Anna Swan in golf and Brookville’s Jackson Zimmerman and Grove City’s Hunter Hohman in wrestling took home PIAA individual silver in Class 2A.
Prep won a tight four-team race for the cross country title on the girls’ side with 111 points, edging Danville (115), Montour (119), and Beaver Area (120) for the title.
The Cathedral Prep girls’ cross country teams.
The Grove City boys had no such issues, rolling to the crown with 67 team points, well ahead of second-place Danville and Lewisburg Area (128).
The Grove City boys were led by a pair of top 10 finishes, as MJ Pottinger finished fourth in 16:33.9 and Josh Jones 10th in 16:50.2.
Justice Brown (17:27.4) finished in 27th and Quinn McKnight (17:38.2) 35th for the Eagles, followed by Colsen Frank (17:59.7), Isaiah Stauff (18:00.8) and Wyatt Shepson Jr. (19:07.8).
For the Prep girls, Anne-Catherine Brown led the way with a fifth-place finish at 20:09.1, followed by Allison Bender (20:39.8, 12th), Sarah Clark (21:14.5, 19th), Helen Ann McCormick (21:53.3, 35th), Lauren Raimy (22:00.1, 40th), Sarah Teed (22:15.1, 44th) and Rue Burkett (30:43.6, 135th).
The title for the Hickory girls’ golf team was their second-straight and came about in dominating fashion.
The Hickory girls’ golf team.
The Hornets shot a team score of 236, with a District 10 1-2 finish as Mercyhurst Prep finished second with a score of 264.
Sasha Petrochoko and Luciana Masters each shot 78, while Ava Liburdi shot an 80 on Penn State’s Blue Course.
Petrochoko had four birdies in her round, while Masters shot a 39 on both the front and back nine. Liburdi, meanwhile, shot a 39 on the front nine and 81 on the back nine.
It was also a back-to-back story for the Cathedral Prep boys’ swim team, as they won gold for the second year in a row.
The Ramblers’ final event of the championships, the 400 free relay, saw them take bronze, which was enough to push them past Bishop McDevitt.
The Cathedral Prep boys’ swim team.
Prep finished with 194 points, while McDevitt finished with 164 points.
The Prep team of Mitchell Bradford, Matthew Hinman, Aidan Levis, and Colin Troutman took first in the medley relay with a time of 1:33.89.
Levis added another medal in the 100 butterfly, finishing fourth with a time of 50.29. Bradford was also eighth in the 200 IM with a time of 1:54.51.
Wolak and Swan, meanwhile, both nearly rallied for gold before settling for silver.
Wolak was on fire, shooting a 5-under 67 in the second round, tying Devon Prep’s Nick Ciocca with a birdie on 18.
Ciocca, who was playing behind Wolak also birdied the Par 5 18th on Penn State’s Blue Course to win by one stroke. Wolak had five birdies and two bogeys in his final round.
Swan, meanwhile, trailed by four on the back nine and played steady over the final nine holes, making eight pars before a birdie on the 18th to finish at 1-over for the championship, including an even-par 72 in the final round. Warrior Run’s Hannah Rabb bogeyed holes 14 and 16 but parred 17 and 18 to win the title.
It was also a story of silver for Zimmerman and Hohman in wrestling.
Zimmerman began his run at PIAAs in the 189-pound weight class with a third-period pin of Jason Singer (Faith Christian) and needed just 2:34 to pin Mount Union’s Josh Ryan in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Zimmerman earned a hard-fought 4-1 win over Jakob Gilfoil (Bishop McDevitt) before getting pinned by Rune Lawrence of Frazier in the finals.
At 160 pounds, Hohman began his run with a first-period pin of Ezra Masood of Tussey Mountain. In the quarterfinals, Hohman won by major decision, 16-3 over Luke Sugalski (Faith Christian) and was equally as dominant in the semifinals with a 12-4 win over Deegan Ross of Lackawanna Trail. Hohman fell to Grant Mackay of Laurel in the finals, 5-0.
