“No matter how good you are, there’s always somebody out there who can beat you.”
Such was Kane wrestling coach Mike Swartwood’s reaction after watching his star pupil, Wolves senior Alec English, fall just short in his quest for a Pennsylvania state crown with a 7-2 loss to Thayne Lawrence in the 160-pound PIAA Class AA title bout in Hershey on Saturday afternoon.
Lawrence (29-3), a junior from Frazier, a District 7 school just south of Pittsburgh, opened the match against English (35-2) with a quick takedown for a 2-0 lead that left the Kane wrestler scrambling to avoid being tilted. Starting the second period in the down position, the reigning 152-pound champion added an escape and another takedown to go up 5-0 before English managed to break free just before the buzzer.
The Wolves standout added another escape with 24 seconds left in the match to pull within 5-2, but Lawrence had the last word, notching another two-pointer late to cement his second consecutive state title.
“Wrestling is all about matchups and opposing styles, and that kid just had a style that lent itself to coming out on top,” Swartwood said. “There’s certainly no shame; that kid’s a two-time champ, and he’s probably going to be three. But Al wrestles tough always. He doesn’t leave anything on the mat, he gave it everything he had. Sometimes you just come up short.”
English concludes his stellar high school career with a 111-22 record and back-to-back District 9 and Northwest Regional titles. He’s the fifth Wolves wrestler to claim silver at states, following Roger Blankenship (1987), Derek Burgert (1990), Cameron Moran (2005), and Evan DeLong (2013).
“It was a great way to finish my senior season, coming down here and only having two losses on the season at the end. It leaves a good memory in my mind for this sport; I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said. “But still, the goal wasn’t accomplished, so not as great as it could have been.”
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While both wrestler and coach were obviously disappointed with the outcome, English’s mindset led Swartwood to predict good things ahead for his post-high school career.
“That’s one of the great things about wrestling, it’ll focus him for things down the road. He’s so hard-headed with stuff that he’ll put his mind to something and accomplish all his goals,” he said. “If this is the worst thing that’s happened to him so far in his life, he’s been doing pretty good for himself. When you come down to states, yeah, you want to win it. But if you don’t win it, I guess second’s not too shabby either, right?
“It’s the greatest sport in the world, and he’s one heck of a competitor. It’s tough for me too, because I know he’s disappointed. Some kids come down here and finish second, they’d be ecstatic. Not him; he’s just not wired that way. He wants to be the best. Someday when he goes to college and starts competing, look for him to be on the podium there, too. And wherever he’s wrestling, I’ll be watching.”
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Later in the evening, Bradford senior Dillon Keane (39-2, 112-20 career) took 7th with an 8-4 win against Nick Delp (Kiski Area), the same wrestler who knocked him into the consolation bracket with a 6-3 first-round loss on Thursday.
“He’s had a tough go of it for a few years, with injuries and everything. He had to battle his way back to get to where he is now,” Owls coach Jamey Miller said of his Northwest Regional champion. “The last two years has just been a grind for him, I know it has. But at the end of last year, even with the injuries in the postseason, you could tell in his demeanor that he wasn’t done. It was time to get right back to work. He was back on the mat four days after regionals last year, and just kept grinding the whole way through to now.”
Miller, a teammate of Dillon’s father Kevin and a close friend of the family, expressed pride in the younger Keane’s accomplishments, although he wasn’t ready to see him move on quite yet.
“I’ve watched this kid grow up. I remember the day he was born,” he said. “To see him go from an infant to this …. He’s an unbelievable young man. The level of maturity that he portrays on and off the mat is just phenomenal. Any coach that gets him, if he decides that he’s definitely going to wrestle in the NCAAs, will be lucky to have him.”
District 9 brought home three other Class AA medals, with Brookville heavyweight Colby Whitehill claiming gold with a 5-2 win in the finals while Anthony Glasl took fifth place and Garrett McClintick sixth for Brockway. Kane finished 17th in the 134-team field, tops among area schools.
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Four Class AAA wrestlers added to the D-9 hardware haul, led by DuBois junior Ed Scott (39-0), who won the 138-pound championship. In addition to Keane, Scott’s Beavers teammate Trenton Donahue (6th) and St. Marys’ Tyler Dilley (5th) also ended the night on the medal stand.
