Senior Jon Avon places third in state wrestling finals in Hershey, PA

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Tyler Gonabe and Ciara Barry

Jon Avon entered the state playoff bracket at 160lbs after placing 2nd in the WPIAL finals as a 6-seed. As an underdog, Jon made much more noise in Hershey than anyone expected.

On Thursday, March 7th, Jon Avon took on Jared Siegrist from Manheim Central in his first state match. Jon defeated Siegrest by a score of 9-6 to send himself to the quarterfinals the next day.

Avon’s quarterfinal match was against Matt Carr from Abington Heights. After an intense match Jon came out with a 3-2 win to ensure a spot in the semi-finals on Saturday morning.

In the semi-finals Avon was matched up against the #2 ranked wrestler in the country, Garrett Peppelman. He fell to Peppelman by a score of 17-5. Avon would still get a chance place 3rd in the consolation bracket.

In his first consolation match, Jon faced the #16 wrestler in the country, Dom Scalise from Latrobe. Avon defeated Scalise by injury default. Most news stories fail to mention that Avon was winning by a score of 11-1 before the injury occurred. This win would send Avon to the 3rd place match later on Saturday.

The 3rd place consolation match ended up being a rematch between Avon and Matt Carr. Avon did not disappoint his fans with a 7-3 win that would give him the honor of being the 3rd best 160lb wrestler in the state.

Going into the state finals very few expected Avon to do as well as he did. He made an amazing run and shocked every person who followed the tournament with wins over some of the best wrestlers in the country.

To end his high school career, Avon will wrestle in the Dapper Dan Tournament and represent the WPIAL All-Stars at 160lbs.  He will wrestle against Oklahoma all-star, Gage Stallworth, who has a record of 109-10. The tournament will be held at the Fitzgerald Field House at the University of Pittsburgh.