HOUSTON, Pa. — Led by Jordan Thompson’s third-place finish at 160, the Bradford Owls finished 17th in the 30-team Chartiers-Houston Invitational.
Bradford finished with 75 points, with Bethel Park taking home the team title.
“In the three years I’ve been here, this is the most points we’ve had,” said Bradford coach Stefan Chaussard. “We’re taking steps forward.
Thompson went 5-1, with his only loss coming to Rook Smith of Montour, 3-1 in the championship semifinals. Thompson had three pins to get to the semifinals, and, after his loss, got a 14-0 major decision over Freedom Area’s Gavyn McCray and a 4-0 decision over South Fayette’s Luke Dunlap.
“I think Jordan, even though he took third, the match he lost in the semis, he wrestled really clean,” Chaussard said. “He didn’t do enough good things in that match but rebounded really nicely. He had a really nice third place match against a Class 3A state qualifier. He was pushing the pace. That’s one of the better matches I’ve seen him wrestle. He’s really stepping up as a leader for us.”
Freshman Carson Hallock finished fifth at 107. Hallock lost his first match, but battled all the way back to earn fifth, an effort that included three wins by fall.
“He missed the Kane match, so this was his first varsity competition,” Chaussard said. “He battled all the way back with three falls along the way. This was very promising for him being his first varsity experience. He got better every match. I don’t think it was his best effort in his first match, but he just kept getting more and more confident.”
Keenan Miller also had a strong tournament for the Owls, narrowly missing out on placing at 145.
“He went 3-2 on Friday,” Chaussard noted. “It can be really tough for freshmen in the middle to upper weights against older guys that are a little more experienced.”
Overall, Chaussard is pleased with what he’s seen from his wrestlers so far, with a trip to the Cathedral Prep Rambler Duals upcoming on Saturday (Dec. 14.
“Wrestling is really hard, it’s all about experience, and to close that gap is really hard,” Chaussard said. “For us to see the growth that we’re seeing, the biggest thing is consistency of effort, stuff that you don’t see in matches. If we do those things consistently, that will start to show up on the scoreboard.”
