By JO WANKEL

Era Sports Writer

HERSHEY — Two District 9 wrestlers finished in the Top 5 in their respective weights at the 2025 PIAA Wrestling Championships at Hershey March 6-8. Two additional Port Allegany wrestlers medaled, setting a new school record.

BLISS FINISHES THIRD Port Allegany’s Aiden Bliss took third at 189 lbs. He won his first bout, defeating Brady Brown of Derry with a 9-2 decision. Bliss faced Tanner Rock of Littlestown next, coming away with a win by Tech Fall, 19-3. Another Tech Fall, this one 15-0 over Caleb Close of Bald Eagle Area, allowed Bliss to advance.

In the next match, Bliss once again faced Brown, this time winning by decision, 4-0. Bliss won his final match against Kyle Scott of Tyrone with an 11-5 decision, earning him third place.

THOMPSON FINISHES FIFTH Bradford’s Jordan Thompson took fifth place at 152 lbs.

“His wrestling was not bad at districts or regionals, but it was not his best. He got better every match and really took it to another level at states,” Bradford Coach Stefan Chaussard said. “It was impressive to see. He peaked at the right time, bought into the mantras of ‘you just need to advance, get to the state tournament. Anything can happen in Hershey.’” Thompson worked hard to get there, finishing second at Districts and third at Regionals. Last year, his season ended at the regional tournament.

“He was disappointed last year to not get out of regionals. Getting to states and placing fifth, he showed a lot of growth in a year — in a lot of areas,” Chaussard noted. “He really committed to his strength, weight cut, and his mindset. He was putting more time into getting better — and the effort and hard work definitely paid off.”

The PIAA Championships are templated, not seeded, which put Thompson in a rough spot going into his first bout.

“He had a rough draw. He got a returning state finalist for his first match, Max Stein from Faith Christian,” Chaussard explained. “(Stein) is ranked 14th in the country. To look at that draw, he couldn’t have hard a harder draw in the bracket.”

Unfortunately for Thompson, that match ended in a loss, 4-0. However, his coach explained the score didn’t tell the full story.

“If you lose the first round at states, that’s a hard road to come back from. But, it was 1-0 most of that first match, with a takedown late in the first period. With the score that close, and a chance to beat a kid of that calibre until the last 30 seconds, Jordan thought ‘I can hang with these guys and I belong in this elite category.’” Thompson took the idea and ran with it, notching wins in his next four bouts. In his quarterfinals consolation match, he not only claimed a redemption win over Ian Vitalo from Schulkill Valley, who had beaten him twice in a pre-season tournament, but he also recorded his 100th career win with the 4-3 decision.

In his next to last match, Thompson once again wrestled Stein. While he wrestled really well and came back from a notable injury involving his teeth that resulted in concern he would lose a front tooth, Thompson lost that bout 4-3.

He came back to win his last bout, an 8-3 decision over Cody Hamilton of Grove City.

“With this being his first time in Hershey on the big stage like that — he rose to the occasion. I couldn’t be more proud,” Chaussard said. “He left everything on the mat.”

PORT A’S YOUNG, NEELY ALSO MEDAL Port Allegany had two other wrestlers in Hershey for the state championships; Juuso Young, who took sixth at 215 lbs and Carson Neely, who took eighth at 285 lbs. Neely was injured, defaulting him to the eighth place finish.

Sending three wrestlers tied this year’s participation with the most in school history. Meanwhile, having all three wrestlers medal set a record for most in school history. The previous record was two — which occurred in both 2006 and 2013.