Tyrone sophomore Braden Ewing, junior Korry Walls, and senior Ashton Sipes went to the PIAA AA State Wrestling Championships last weekend in search of an elusive state medal.

While none of Tyrone’s three entries reached the podium, they all won at least one bout to cap off a successful Tyrone wrestling season full of growth.

The Pennsylvania State Wrestling Tournament is one of the toughest, if not the toughest, high school tournaments in the nation. The tournament produces more ranked NCAA Division I wrestlers than any high school tournament in the country. Wrestlers have to place at two qualifying tournaments just to make it to Hershey, so just getting there is a major accomplishment in itself.

Of the three Tyrone wrestlers who qualified, Ewing went the farthest, coming just one win away from wrestling for a place on the podium.  He also had one of the toughest draws, wrestling both the state runner-up and third-place finisher.

Ewing (HWT) began the tournament with a 1-0 win over Mason Iswalt of Berks Catholic. The lone point of the bout was scored on a Ewing escape.

Ewing’s next match was a 6-1 loss to Austin Johnson of Muncy, who was the eventual state runner-up.

Ewing bounced back in the next round with a hard-fought 2-1 overtime win over Lodge Nosko of Titusville. Ewing’s final bout was a 5-0 loss to Emmanuel Ulrich of Mifflinburg, who went on to take the third-place medal.

“I think this year was just the beginning for me. I believe I have a good chance to go further next year and the year after. I was only a match away from placing, and next year I plan to be on the top of that podium,” said Ewing.

Ewing finished his sophomore season as a district runner-up, fourth in the Southwest region, and went 2-2 in the AA state championships.

Senior Ashton Sipes, who didn’t win a match at districts last year, improved tremendously over the course of the season and was pleased with his performance at states.

“[The season] was filled with many highs and lows, and states served as a good wrestling farewell. A year ago I went 0-2 at districts, now I’m finishing top 16th in the state at 132,” said Sipes.

Sipes (132) began the first night of wrestling on Thursday with a 6-1 win over Dominic Caldwell of Susquenita.

He then lost his next bout to Conner Heckman of Midd-West, who went on to finish third, and his last bout was a close 3-1 loss to the seventh-place finisher Kyle Mccollum of Beth Center.

Sipes finished his wrestling career as a one-time sectional champ, three-time district medalist, (8th, 4th, and 2nd), a fifth-place finish in the Southwest Region, and went 1-2 at states.

Junior Korry Walls (106) had a tough draw in the first round, facing sophomore Ayden Smith of Notre Dame GP. Walls lost 12-2 to Smith, who was the third-place medal winner at 106.

Walls stayed alive with a dominating 12-2 win over Jack Darlington of Penns Valley but lost 8-5 in the first consolation round of eight to Mason Beatty of Mount Union.

“We all went in there believing we were gonna win it but something just didn’t go our way,” said Walls, who will be back next season with the benefit of this year’s experience in Hershey.

Walls finished his junior year as a district runner-up, third in the Southwest region, and went 1-2 at States.