Solanco senior Jared Fulton secured his first District Three 3A Section 2 title on Saturday, February 18 and advanced to the PIAA District Three/Southcentral Regional championships at Spring Grove High School.

Fulton dominated the 133-pound weight class, pinning his way to the finals. He opened with a 2:47 fall over Sullivan Weader (Hershey) in the quarterfinals and then pushed out to a 5-0 lead over Hempfield's Zy McCain-Murray before collecting a fall in 3:26. In the finals, Fulton scored a first period takedown, a second period reversal and scored three nearfall points to top Central Dauphin's Dallas Schorr for the gold.

In each of the past two years, Fulton has faced eventual state finalists in the championships.

"Jared wrestled a smart and sound tournament," said head coach Tony Mendez. "The Hempfield kid is a talented wrestler and he was looking for a big move. Jared just stayed in control and took advantage of his opportunities."

Fulton, who wrestled at 139 all season, elected to move to 133 for the post-season. "He felt he might have a better chance of placing," said Mendez. "Many wrestlers move weight classes in the post-season. He's been very responsible in the move and has done things correctly. He wasn't moving away from anyone."

Fulton currently sits with 99 victories and looks to join Solanco's 100 career wins club in the near future.

Joining Fulton at Regionals will be Blaine Plastino and Caden Rutt who also earned top four finishes.

Plastino finished second at 172, losing a 14-1 major decision to McCaskey's Kevin Olavarria, who won two sectional crowns while competing for Manheim Township.

The Solanco senior held a 4-2 lead over Milton Hershey's Marcus Rodriguez before scoring a quarterfinals fall in 1:46. He used that momentum to get past Lampeter-Strasburg's Jaiden Newton 6-1 in the semis. After a scoreless first period, Plastino scored three nearfall points in the second and never looked back.

"Blaine came in as the third seed," noted Mendez. "He lost twice before to that L-S kid so it was nice to see him avenge those losses and advance. He wrestled smart.

"As for Olavarria," said Mendez. "He is very talented and truthfully is way ahead of the weight class."

Plastino currently holds a 28-10 record.

Rutt, wrestling at 107, punched his ticket to his first regional tournament with a fourth place finish. He got off to a strong start, posting a 13-0 major decision over McCaskey's Journie Rodriguez in the quarterfinals but was knocked to the consolations when he faced eventual second place finisher Tyler Detwiler in the semis. Detwiler pushed out to a 7-4 lead before turning Rutt for the fall (4:30).

Rutt shook off the loss and rebounded with a dominating 14-0 shutout over Manheim Central' Blake Fasnacht. With a chance to finish third, Rutt faced a familiar foe in Penn Manor's Riley Evans. Rutt, who pinned Evans in dual meet action, was pinned in 2:37, settling for fourth.

"Caden and Riley have been back-and-forth this year," noted Mendez. "They did the same thing last year. Detwiler was the No. 2 seed. That was a 6-5 match before Caden got pinned. He was a little up and down this tournament but he did what he needed to do to qualify."

Also placing but failing to advance was Ben Williams in sixth place.

The junior, wrestling at 145, lost his opening bout but fought back through the consolations to place. He earned an 8-3 decision over Donegal's Landen Baughman and then beat Central's AJ Hondru 9-4 before suffering an 11-3 loss to eventual third place finisher Bryn Hess (Warwick) in the consolation semis.

"Ben is just a junior so this was a good learning experience for him and will help him in moving forward next season," Mendez said.

Also competing for the Mules was sophomore Braedon Bickford (114), senior Andrew Smith (139), who finished at 22-15, and senior Justin McCauley.