Cathedral Prep's Jake Van Dee, Kaemen Smith advance in PIAA Class 3A wrestling meet

HERSHEY — Cathedral Prep's Jake Van Dee won his way back into the semifinal round of the PIAA Class 3A wrestling tournament.

Unlike last year, the returning state champion will have company.

Company in the form of a teammate and classmate.

Van Dee and fellow senior Kaemen Smith advanced to the final four in their respective weight classes during Friday's lone session of large-school state wrestling at the Giant Center.

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Smith was the more emotional of the two after his 8-3 decision of Lebanon's Griffin Gonzalez in their 152-pound quarterfinal. Regardless of how the Ramblers middleweight fares from now through Saturday, he's guaranteed to receive a top-eight medal and stand on the PIAA's podium.

Smith said that's never happened to him at a major tournament, even at the youth and junior levels, since he took up the sport.

Naturally, he credited Van Dee's support as a reason that's no longer a fact.

"Every time I see him wrestle before me, it gives me an extra boost of energy," Smith said. "I just want to be with him every step of the way. To go (to the semifinals) together is pretty awesome."

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Smith, who surpassed 100 career wins earlier this postseason, drew Pine-Richland's Kelin Laffey as his semifinal opponent.

Laffey's 2-1 decision against Dallastown's Caden Dennis upped his senior mark to 29-2.

Smith will lean on advice Van Dee often offered him when the whistle blows for that match.

"Treat it like any other tournament," Smith said. "I don't really feel nervous going out there anymore, which used to be my big problem. Just treat it like wrestling in practice and it'll be no different."

Diverse day for Van Dee

Thursday's 3A first round saw Van Dee win one of the session's best matches.

A battle of Division I recruits saw Van Dee (Nebraska) ride out Bethlehem Catholic's Dante Frinzi (Harvard) from the top for the decisive point in a 2-1 ultimate tiebreaker decision.

Friday's win for the Prep lightweight featured zero drama. Van Dee led 11-0 well into the third period before he prevailed 13-4 over Anthony Ferraro, Pine-Richland's outmatched junior.

The Prep star didn't exactly embrace the one-side outcome.

"It was kind of nice, and yet not," Van Dee said. "It wasn't what I was looking for because I want to wrestle the best of the best, in the best event, all of the time. Nothing against (Ferraro), but I want to wrestle somebody a little tougher here."

Van Dee should get that Saturday morning, when Ethan Lebin walks out from the mat's opposite corner.

Lebin, a Hempfield Area junior, blanked Clearfield's Brady Collins 8-0 in their 126 quarterfinal. That left the Southwest Region's top seed at 32-7.

Two freshmen –make that two talented freshmen – will comprise Saturday's other 126 semi.

Thomas Jefferson's Maddox Shaw upset Chambersburg senior Karl Shindledecker 5-0. That set up an anticipated match with Central Mountain's Dalton Perry, who beat Van Dee in the Northwest Region final.

Shaw's and Perry's combined record is 78-7.

No sweat in blood round for Buzzell

District 10 will have a third 3A medalist in Griffin Buzzell.

The Meadville senior, the only northwestern Pennsylvania qualifier from outside Erie County, won twice in the consolation matches at 189. His medal-clinching victory in the third round, dubbed the "blood round," was a 6-1 decision against Wayne McIntyre of East Stroudsburg North.

"God puts you in good positions," Buzzell said, "but it's still up to you to put in the work. That's what happened (Friday)."

Buzzell, already 3-1 for the tournament, now sets his sights being the division's bronze medalist. He'll need three more victories to accomplish that, with the first having to come at Trey Shoemaker's expense.

Shoemaker is a Mifflin County senior.

"I know it's going to be do-or-die to climb that mountain," Buzzell said. "But I know how to do that. I'm going to keep climbing."

Spires falls in consolations

The district had a second consolation wrestler in Wilson Spires. The General McLane heavyweight, like Buzzell, also needed two wins to clinch a medal.

He got none.

Spires and Carlisle's Layton Schmick were tied at 1-all for most of regulation and all of their sudden-victory minute. It was during the second 30-second tiebreaker period that Schmick rolled Spires for a pin at the unusual time of 6:40.

Spires' junior season ended with a record of 38-7.

WA's Watters wins way into semis

West Allegheny middleweights Ty Watters and Shawn Taylor experienced opposite results for their quarterfinals.

Watters, thanks to a 7-3 decision over Bethlehem Catholic's Andrew Harmon, reached the final four at 145. The junior takes a 33-3 record into his next match vs. Bellefonte's Jude Swisher.

Taylor fell into the 160 consolation bracket when Central Dauphin sophomore Ryan Garvick defeated the sophomore 4-3.

However, Taylor still clinched a medal when he eliminated Exeter's Nick Nettleton 5-3 in their 160 blood round meeting.

Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNcopper.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Cathedral Prep's Van Dee, Smith prevail in PIAA Class 3A wrestling meet