By Scott Shindledecker
HERSHEY, Pa. — Punxsutawney senior Kaleb Young has made it look easy in his quest for a PIAA Class AAA state championship.
Young racked up two pins Thursday and Friday on his way to Saturday morning’s 160-pound semifinals and while he didn’t get a fall against Abington Heights senior Nick Carr (37-3), he still scored a major decision, 16-4, to remain unbeaten and get his spot in the finals in Hershey’s Giant Center.
Young is 36-0 after spending a little more than three minutes on the mat in his first two matches.
Thursday, Young won his first-round match with a pin in 1:39 over Bangor’s Jesse Rocco. Friday afternoon Young faced Pennridge sophomore Josh Stillings (41-8) in the quarterfinals and he made quick work of the Southeast Regional champion, pinning him in 1:24.
Carr (37-3) was second in the Northeast Regional. Carr opened with a 3-2 win over Cumberland Valley sophomore Quentin Miliken Thursday, then won a 9-4 decision over Hempfield senior Tyler Reber in the quarters.
But Saturday morning, Young dominated him, leading 6-2 after one period and 13-4 after two. Young nearly pinned Carr in the third period, but settled for the major decision.
Young scored his first takedown barely 20 seconds into the match. He let Carr up, then took him down with 40 seconds left. After letting him up again, Young got another takedown with 12 seconds left to make it 6-2.
In the second, Young surrendered a pair of escapes while garnering three takedowns and one escape to make it 13-4. In the third, the Chuck got three nearful points and cruised to the win.
The Class AAA championships are at 7 p.m.
