PREP WRESTLING Easton secures 4th straight title

Its state title was the fourth in six years that the PIAA has sponsored the event.
HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) -- Easton Area High School won its fourth straight PIAA Wrestling Team Championships title while Bloomsburg Area High School won its first title Saturday afternoon at Giant Center.
Easton (19-2), the District 11 champion, won the first nine bouts en route to a 39-12 triumph over District 7 champion Connellsville to win its fourth consecutive Class AAA title.
District 4 champion Bloomsburg (20-1) picked up a critical pin at 112 pounds from Joey Anceravage to defeat District 10 titlist Fort LeBoeuf 38-26 to claim the state Class AA title.
Dynasty
Easton's victory was the fourth in the six years that the PIAA has sponsored dual meet state championships. Bald Eagle Area won the initial Class AAA championship in 1999 and Northampton won the 2000 championship.
Since then, Easton has won 12 straight PIAA playoff matches and 12 straight District 11 Class AAA matches, a streak of 24 consecutive postseason victories.
"I think that sometimes parents and wrestlers don't understand just what a difficult thing this is," said Easton head coach Steve Powell. "To win this in a state of Pennsylvania's caliber is an outstanding feat."
Easton had no trouble throughout the tournament, beating District 9 champion Clearfield 50-12 in Friday's quarterfinal, District 10 champion Erie Cathedral Prep 43-16 in the semifinals and Connellsville in the championship match.
Easton's only losses this season came to New Jersey's Blair Academy, the consensus top-ranked team nationally, and fellow District 11 team Northampton 31-30 in a regular-season dual meet on Jan. 24. Easton defeated Northampton the following week in the District 11 Team Championships to qualify for states.
Connellsville, which finished the season 24-3, fell behind Easton 34-0 when it lost the first nine bouts, including a major upset at 130 pounds.
Easton's Andrew Goldstein, who entered the tournament with 10 losses, hit a five-point move in the final 15 seconds to beat Connellsville sophomore Ashtin Primus 8-2.
Primus, who now has a 36-3 record, placed fourth at 119 pounds in last year's PIAA Class AAA individual championships.
Uncharted territory
Bloomsburg has qualified for the state team championships twice before, but has never reached the finals before this year.
Bloomsburg broke through that barrier with a 41-22 victory over former two-time champion Wilson Area of District 11 in the semifinals.
Fort LeBoeuf (16-2) reached the finals with a 38-22 semifinal victory over District 7 champion Burrell. Fort LeBoeuf had qualified for the state tournament by defeating Reynolds 32-29 in the District 10 tournament. Earlier this season, Reynolds had handed Bloomsburg its only dual loss, a 37-28 decision last month.