Logan Jaquay won the Section 1 120-pound title on Saturday at Meadville H.S.

Logan Jaquay didn’t mince words when talking about his goals for his senior season.

“I’d like to come home with a state championship,” he said in December. “That would be awesome.”

An impressive step one is in the books for Jaquay, who began his postseason with three pins en route to the Section 1 title at 120 pounds.

He was one of ten Knights, along with Cael Black, Josh Bortz, Anthony Rivera, Easton Hedman, Gannon Jaquay, Jake Williams, Jeremyah Aiken, Alex Hummel and Jesse Gourley who are moving on to the District 10 championships.

Three Knights – Ethan Nizzi, Benji Bauer and Josh Parker finished one win shy of moving on.

“We have progressed and gotten better through the year,” said Eisenhower coach Kris Black. “To have only three seniors and lots of freshman and sophomores, to be sitting in the last round and 13 guys live, that was pretty good. I’m very happy.”

Youngsville’s Sawyer Lawson, Jake DeSimone and Collin Clough also punched their tickets to districts with top seven finishes.

After a quarterfinal pin over North East’s Brandon Lafferty on Friday, Jaquay needed just 1:06 to put Corry’s Damion Kinney on his back in the semifinals.

Cochranton’s Jake Martinec didn’t fare much better in the finals, as Jaquay pinned him in 2:36 to improve to 32-0 on the season.

“Logan was just dominant this weekend,” noted Black.

“He has been all year. He’s wrestling at a really high level right now. I think maybe this week he’ll get pushed. He’s on track to achieve the high-level goals he has set.”

Black, meanwhile, earned a 9-7 sudden victory decision over General McLane’s Wilson Spires to land in the finals against Maplewood’s Joey King. The Tiger junior (26-3) beat Black (28-5) 7-0 back on Dec. 17, but this match was much closer, a 3-1 decision for King.

“A couple calls here or there could have changed the complexion of the match,” coach Black said. “I thought he wrestled well. In the semifinals, he got tossed on his head and had to come back from five down. That was good for him to be able to come back from five down. He kept his composure real well. We know we’re going to see him (King) the next couple of weeks. It was a high-level match with two really competitive guys.”

After losing in the semifinals, Rivera, Hedman and Bortz all battled back to get into their respective third-place bouts.

Bortz (145) picked up his 32nd win of the season with a 53-second pin of Saegertown’s Matthew Posego. Jaquay (138) and Hedman (132) both dropped decisions in their third-place matches, but it was nevertheless a good weekend for all of them.

“Josh lost a tough semifinal match. He Came back and really wrestled well. Against a pretty good kid, they had a close match the first time they went against each other. Josh got him in a cradle and stuck him. He was in control for most of his matches and set himself up real well for next week,” Black said.

“All three of those guys (Gannon Jaquay, Easton Hedman, Anthony Rivera) took a couple losses, but all three wrestled well. Anthony is adapting and getting better each week. In the semifinals, he really wrestled strong.

“Easton and Gannon, those two are funny, they’re practice partners and their paths mirrored each other. Both of them could have been in the finals. This wasn’t the weekend for that, but they’re guys I could easily see in the finals next week.”

Williams (126), Hummel (152) and Aiken (182) all lost in the quarterfinals. Williams and Aiken earned decisions in their next match in wrestlebacks, while another loss forced Hummel into the seventh-place bout, which he needed to win to get to districts. He did just that, earning a 13-1 major decision over Kasey Wade of Northwestern.

Gannon Jaquay (decision), Hedman (pin), Bortz (decision) and Rivera (decision) all won their consolation semifinal matches to get to their respective third-place matches.

Williams lost in the consolation semifinals and got a forfeit win in his fifth-place match.

“Alex Hummel wrestled really well,” Black said. “He’s giving up 15 pounds at 152. Alex is very comfortable with his own style. He sticks with it regardless and has a really good, positive attitude all the time.

“Jeremyah Aiken got a good spot in the bracket and had a couple nice wins. For a freshman at 182 to make it to districts is really good.

“Jake wrestled really well. He wrestled as good as he’s wrestled all season. He really wanted to get to districts. He works hard and puts the time in. He’s a great team player.”

Senior Jesse Gourley, meanwhile, also finished 8th, but because of a disqualification, he is moving on to districts as well.

“Jesse Gourley, being a senior, you hate to see him losing the last match,” noted Black. “This will be a great opportunity for Jesse. He deserves it.”

For Youngsville, Clough (138), DeSimone (285) and Lawson (170) were all pinned in their quarterfinal matches, but all three came back to earn pins in their consolation round bouts.

All three lost in the consolation semifinals and their fifth-place matches, but nevertheless will be moving on to Sharon.

“Everybody wants to win, but the key is to survive,” Black said. “You try and set yourself as good as you can for the regional tournament. Ultimately, you have to make it there to have a chance at the big dance.”

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Championship Finals

106 – Lucas Munsee (Corry Area) maj. dec. Matthew Orton (Fort LeBoeuf), 17-5

113 – Joe Gabler (Harbor Creek) dec. Gunnar Gage (General McLane), 5-1

120 – Logan Jaquay (Eisenhower) pinned Jack Martinec (Cochranton), 2:36

126 – Connor Pierce (Harbor Creek) maj. dec. Alex Kightlinger (Saegertown), 11-3

132 – Matt Leehan (General McLane) dec. Jaden Reagle (Saegertown), 7-5 SV

138 – Kenneth Kiser (Saegertown) dec. Ayden Miller (Cambridge Springs), 9-2

145 – Jackson Spires (General McLane) pinned Joel Huck (Fort LeBoeuf), 3:00

152 – Owen Jefferson (Seneca) dec. Mitchell Marfinetz (Girard), 9-6

160 – Landon Caldwell (Saegertown) dec. Dylan Gourley (Corry Area), 1-0

170 – James Laird (General McLane) maj. dec. Eli Mosconi (Cambridge Springs), 8-0

182 – Matt Petrilla (Corry Area) dec. Tim Church (Fort LeBoeuf), 3-1

195 – Hayden Linkerhof (Corry Area) pinned Seth Yarger (General McLane), 3:24

220 – Joey King (Maplewood) dec. Cael Black (Eisenhower), 3-1

285 – Xavier Reyda (Corry Area) pinned Jesse Phelps (North East), 5:15

Third Place

106 – Owen Hershelman (Saegertown) dec. Anthony Riveria (Eisenhower), 5-2

113 – Alex Cottrell (Northwestern) dec. Kayden Reyda (Corry Area), 2-0

120 – Damion Kinney (Corry Area) maj. dec. Joe Capin (Harbor Creek), 14-4

126 – Derrick Hurd (Corry Area) won by inj. default over Shane Peterson (Cochranton)

132 – James Leyda (Union City) dec. Easton Headman (Eisenhower), 3-1

138 – Justin Boozer (Cochranton) dec. Gannon Jaquay (Eisenhower), 7-2

145 – Josh Bortz (Eisenhower) pinned Matthew Posego (Saegertown), 0:53

152 – Jack Rimpa (Fort LeBoeuf) dec. Stetson Boozer (Cochranton), 12-6

160 – Abraham Keep (Girard) dec. Colton Smith (Cambridge Springs), 5-1

170 – Dan Church (Fort LeBoeuf) dec. Nick Kaday (Union City), 3-1

182 – Jackson Carico (Cambridge Springs) pinned Robert Brown (Saegertown), 0:55

195 – Jacob Jones (Cambridge Springs) dec. Joshua Perrine (Saegertown), 6-3

220 – Shawn Proctor (Corry Area) pinned Wilson Spires (General McLane), 4:15

285 – Jordan Schell (Girard) dec. Canyon Smith (Saegertown), 4-0