In the South Central Class AAA Regional tournament, which was held on Friday and Saturday, February 24-25, at Spring Grove, Donegal's Nicholai Brotzman finished second at the 285-pound weight class.

The Donegal senior wrestled his way to the championship bout where he faced Layton Schmick of Carlisle. The gold medal went to Schmick who registered a second-period pin.

However, one of the takeaways from Brotzman conforming to the situation was evident in the semifinal match that got him to the finale.

He outlasted Ean Winchester of Twin Valley in a close 3-1 decision in the semis. Winchester had only three losses on the year, building up to the regional semis.

"He executed it to where he could win the match, getting a takedown in the first period and an escape in the second period," Donegal coach Nick Evans explained. "The big point about that is that Nicholai is used to pinning a lot of people; he's going to need the experience of lasting through these matches.

The tournament for Brotzman began on one of those pins. He nailed down his 32nd victory of the year with a pin against Josiah Boyer of Cocalico in the first round. Brotzman battled and beat Avery Kuhns of Chambersburg in a 10-7 decision.

"He also had to score a lot of points in that quarterfinal match," Evans pointed out. "That was nice to see because he gave up a takedown in the first 30 seconds.

"He remained composed and kept scoring," continued the coach. "Sometimes in the heavyweights, guys can lose momentum when they give up a takedown."

After a takedown of his own plus back points, Brotzman went ahead 5-2 and kept scoring.

"The kid kept trying to throw Nicholai onto his back," explained Evans. "That was his go-to move - upper body throws. We were able to stay out of them.

"We had a goal of finishing in the top four so he could qualify for the state tournament," Evans added. "The fact that he finished second was awesome. He had an outstanding tournament."

In the 152-pound weight class, Donegal junior Ruben Mumper faced tough competition, beginning with Boiling Springs senior Michael Duggan who came into the tournament with a 33-3 record.

"Ruben was in one of the toughest weight classes," Evans said. "He was a state qualifier last year."

Though Boiling Springs was in Class 2A a year ago, Duggan's performance showed him ready for the program's jump to 3A.

"You're getting a tough opponent in 2A or 3A with Boiling Springs," said Evans.

Losing 10-6 to Duggan shed a positive light on the match for the Donegal coach.

"I was happy with Ruben's ability to finish hard," he said. "He was able to score a reversal in the third period. This is a match he can build on. He really hung in there."

Duggan's 10-6 triumph rerouted Mumper to the consolation matches where he promptly pinned Dominic Delgado of Wilson in only 52 seconds. An 8-5 decision followed, besting Garrett Lowans of Waynesboro. A heartbreaking 6-4 sudden victory by Red Lion's Frank Gulli, the eventual sixth-place finisher, ended the weekend for Mumper. He finished with a record of 24-9.

"That could have gone either way," Evans said of the overtime match. "The Red Lion kid wrestled us pretty tough. It was one of those things that whoever scored that overtime takedown would win. It was a pretty even-skilled match."

Dan Viselli competed in the 215 pound weight class, going 0-2 on the day.

Caidyn Leaf claimed a 9-5 victory in the first round of the 160-pound consolations, after losing the battle to Gettysburg's Jaxon Townsend.

Following the 9-5 win, Leaf lost to Section 1 champ Samuel Moyer of Governor Mifflin. Leaf finished the season 18-18.

"Caidyn impresses me because he gives up five pounds," Evans aid. "He's probably a 152-pounder but wrestles 160. He competes to the end.

"We are pretty excited about his future," continued the coach. "He's only a sophomore."