HERSHEY — Burrell senior Damon Greenwald wants to end his high school wrestling career with no regrets.
He may finish as a state champion on top of it.
Competing in his final high school tournament, Greenwald advanced to the 152-pound finals at the PIAA Class AA championships with a 5-1, sudden-victory overtime decision over Biglerville's Nate Newberry in the semifinals Friday night at Giant Center.
“It's an honor to get to the state final,” said Greenwald, a Seton Hill recruit who finished seventh in the PIAA last season. “I share something with the other Burrell wrestlers, like coach Josh (Shields), who was in the state final, and some of the other wrestlers I grew up with. It's really nice because I saw how much hard work they put into it, and I knew I had to match that to come close to getting in.
“Really, it's such an honor. This is my last time wrestling as a Burrell Buccaneer. It makes me speechless.”
Greenwald (42-8) can become Burrell's fourth consecutive state champion and eighth overall should he beat Jeannette junior Gio Vonne Sanders in the finals, which begin at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“Hats off to (Greenwald),” Shields said. “He's a kid who's been wrestling since he was 5 years old, and he's always been real close, real close. He's always been a really tough kid, always been battling. It's nice to see him finally get rewarded and to make it to finals at states.”
The matchup with Sanders is a rematch of the WPIAL Class AA championship from last month. Greenwald won that meeting 3-2.
“He's a great opponent,” Greenwald said. “He's really quick, and he keeps the intensity high. I'm going to try to match that and try and wrestle my match. It'll be fun wrestling with two WPIAL guys. I like that a lot.”
Greenwald is becoming accustomed to close matches in big situations, given the victory over Sanders in the WPIAL final and his overtime loss to Ligonier Valley's Robby Patrick in the PIAA Southwest Regional final.
“He's got nerves of steel,” Shields said. “He knows he has a gas tank. He knows he can score with one second. That's something you can't teach.”
Friday, Greenwald outlasted Curwensville's Shae Bloom, 4-2, in the quarterfinals to advance to the matchup with Newberry (38-3). Newberry and Greenwald traded escapes during regulation, with Greenwald staying on the offensive.
He finally got a chance for a takedown in overtime and took advantage, landing Newberry on his back and earning two points for the takedown and two more for a near-fall.
“I saw he shot, so I got an opening. I saw his leg open up, so I shot to it and got in on it,” Greenwald said. “I was in really deep, and I just tried to cut off and laced his leg. Luckily, I got (the takedown).”
Even with a state title on the line Saturday, Greenwald won't change his perspective.
“No regrets,” he said. “I'm just going to go out there, do my best and try to have fun.”
In other action Friday, Burrell senior Bubby Scherer and junior Anthony Marra both ended up one victory shy of qualifying for a medal.
Scherer beat Steven Toczylousky from Southern Columbia, 5-0, in a second-round consolation before falling 10-2 to Chestnut Ridge's Connor Buttry. Marra beat Northern Lehigh's Conrad Young, 5-0, in the second-round consolations and lost 5-2 to Dayton Wickwire from Towanda.
Valley senior Jihad Ratliff was eliminated when he forfeited his 126-pound second-round consolation bout after not making weight.
Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.
