Faith Christian Academy Completes Championship Sweep with PIAA AA State Championship Title

The nation's No. 1 team tops No. 2 Bishop McCort for a third time this year

With victories over rival Bishop McCort in the Walsh Ironman, the PA AA state duals finals and PIAA AA state championships, Faith Christian Academy, the nation's No. 1 team, proved is supremacy at the top of the sport in 2024-25. / PIAA Wrestling

For the third time this season, No. 1 Faith Christian Academy has come out ahead of No. 2 Bishop McCort in a wrestling tournament setting or dual meet. On Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the Lions came out ahead of McCort in the team standings, 232.5-218.5, to secure a sweep of PIAA AA state titles. Faith Christian won the Ironman crown over the Crushers and defeated them 34-25 in the AA state dual finals.

Those two powers dominated the AA landscape totaling eight champions, with both winning four, and the Lions leading the way with six finalists. Those two extra finalists made the difference in the team race as Faith Christian placed ten wrestlers on the podium to nine for Bishop McCort.

All four of the Lions’ champs were favored in their finals bouts with the Bachmann Brothers claiming two of the crowns, No. 1 Freddy at 114 and No. 12 Joe at 127. No. 15 Nick Singer (172) and No. 2 Adam Waters (189) were the other gold medalists.

Freddy edged No. 19 Sam Wolford of Northern Lebanon, 4-3, for the freshman’s first title. Joe earned his second crown with a 7-0 blanking of Central Valley’s Antonio Boni. Joe’s first title came last year as a freshman 107lber.

Singer, a sophomore that did not compete at states as a freshman, posted a 12-3 major decision of No. 20 Gage Wentzel (Montoursville). Waters, a junior, is now a three-time state champion after dropping an 11-1 major on Bald Eagle Area’s Caleb Close.

Both of Faith Christian’s runners-up were the victims of upsets as No. 10 Gauge Botero (121) and No. 7 Mark Effendian (285) were kept off the top step of the awards stand.

No. 25 Dominic Deputy (Chestnut Ridge) was surprised in the South West Region finals by then unranked and now No. 24 Tanner Guenot (Bald Eagle Area), which caused his stock to drop. In the quarters, Deputy won an overtime tiebreaker with No. 9 Will Detar (Trinity) and kept that mojo flowing into the finals where he got by Botero, 4-2. Detar had beaten Deputy in the South East Region Finals.

There were no previous head-to-head meetings with Effendian and No. 11 Rowan Holmes of Somerset. What had Effendian above Holmes was his national credentials, which include two wins over National Prep Champ, No. 6 Jacob Levy (Lake Highland Prep, FL). Holmes was able to eek by Effendian, 4-3.

Three Lions secured bronze for their efforts, Mason Wagner (145), No. 14 Max Stein (152), and Honorable Mention Chase Hontz (160). No. 27 Jason Singer was fifth at 215.

Three of Bishop McCort’s titlists were repeat offenders with juniors Jax Forrest (133) and Bo Bassett (145), both top rated in the country, and sophomore No. 2 Melvin Miller (160). Bassett and Forrest were not able to compete at states during their freshmen seasons due to sanctions against the McCort program by the PIAA.

Forrest rekindled a one-sided rivalry with No. 2 Aaron Seidel (Northern Lebanon), whom he defeated 11-4 in the Mid-Winter Mayhem finals. This one ended with another Forrest victory, this time by a 7-1 count.

Bassett does what he does and destroyed all his opponents, including a first period fall in the finals over Grove City’s Fargo All-American, Hudson Hohman, 1:52. Bassett registered three technical falls on the way to the finals with his longest time on the mat being 2:23.

Miller tends to wrestle to his opponent’s abilities in high profile matches, meaning even if he is a heavy favorite, his bouts will result in close scores. That did not occur this weekend as Miller remained on pace to possibly become a four-timer with an 11-2 major decision of No. 23 Reagan Milheim (Warrior Run).

The fourth champion, Devon Magro (152), a senior, made the move up to first after being third a year ago by blanking No. 13 Ryan Lawler (Bishop McDevitt), 10-0.

Placing third for the Crushers were No. 9 Sam Herring (139) and Caleb Rodriguez (285). Fourth place finishers were No. 10 Keegan Bassett (107) and Jayden O’Farrill (172). No. 21 Eli Herring was fifth at 114lbs.

No. 9 Bishop McDevitt was third in the team race with 140.5 points, claiming one champion out of their four who made the finals.

That champion came at 107 when Braiden Lotier defeated No. 15 Carter Chunko (Saucon Valley) 7-1. Both of those grapplers pulled off upsets to make the finals with Chunko’s being the bigger of the two as he downed No. 2 Chase Karenbauer (Grove City), 10-1, in the semis. Lotier took out McCort’s No. 10 Keegan Bassett, 15-5, in his semifinal.

Making the trip home with silver in hand were No. 26 Camden Baum (139), No. 13 Ryan Lawler (152), and No. 11 Lucas Lawler (215). Placing seventh for the Crusaders were Liam Lawler (121), Easton Comp (144), and Nicky Negron (160).

Baum authored a major upset to reach the finals with a 4-2 semifinal victory against McCort’s No. 9 Sam Herring. Herring had beaten Baum, 4-2, at PowerAde in December. Baum dropped his finals match to No. 8 Brandt Harer of Montgomery, 1-0. For Harer, a junior, it was his second straight state crown after finishing second as a freshman. It was also Harer’s second consecutive undefeated season at 57-0 (54-0 last year).

In the fall, Harer spent eight days in the hospital battling a bacterial infection known as Mycoplasma Pneumoniae. It was initially misdiagnosed as a viral infection and got so bad that as his body began to fight the malady it caused a rare reaction called Reactive Infectious Mucosal Eruption that caused blistering over his body, plus in his mouth and throat. In addition, his eyes were swollen and bloodshot.

No. 8 Austin Johnson of Muncy went unscathed and won a state crown as a sophomore then suffered a few losses last year en route to a runner-up finish to Frazier’s Rune Lawrence (a four-time champ) but got back on top as a senior with a 5-2 win over Lucas Lawler. Johnson’s sole loss this year came to No. 1 Jude Correa (Wyoming Seminary), 4-0, at PowerAde. Correa also defeated Johnson in last year’s PowerAde finals, 4-3.

Team Scores (Top 15)

1-Faith Christian Academy 232.5

2-Bishop McCort 218.5

3-Bishop McDevitt 140.5

4-Grove City 62

5-Chestnut Ridge 56.5

6-Montgomery 55

7-Bald Eagle Area 52

8-Warrior Run 50

9-Northern Lebanon 48

10-Derry 44.5

10-Saucon Valley 44.5

12-Berks Catholic 41

13-Trinity 37

14-Cathedral Prep 36

15-Port Allegany 35.5

107 lbs

1st Braiden Lotier (Bishop McDevitt) DEC Carter Chunko (Saucon Valley), 7-1

3rd Chase Karenbauer (Grove City) MD Keegan Bassett (Bishop McCort), 11-1

5th Dakota Santamaria (Tussey Mountain) DEC Camron Smith (Trinity*), 5-4

7th Javeon Chambers (Highlands) DEC Garrett Weyandt (Chestnut Ridge), 3-2

114 lbs

1st Freddy Bachmann (Faith Christian) DEC Sam Wolford (Northern Lebanon), 4-3

3rd Max Dinges (Penns Valley) DEC Thomas Boyce (Conwell Egan), 3-0 SV

5th Eli Herring (Bishop McCort) MD Cj Caines (Hanover Area), 13-1

7th Easton Mull (Chestnut Ridge) MD Ian Stearns (Grove City), 9-0

121 lbs

1st Dominic Deputy (Chestnut Ridge) DEC Gauge Botero (Faith Christian), 4-2

3rd Will Detar (Trinity*) F Elijah Scriven (Hickory), 1:44

5th Brock Rothermel (Line Mountain) DEC Chase Homan (Hamburg), 7-0

7th Liam Lawler (Bishop McDevitt) FOR Tanner Guenot (Bald Eagle Area), 0-0

127 lbs

1st Joey Bachmann (Faith Christian) DEC Antonio Boni (Central Valley), 7-0

3rd Greyson Music (Bishop McDevitt) DEC Colton Wade (Sullivan County), 4-0

5th David Kennedy (Montoursville) FOR Bradley Wagner (Mifflinburg), 0-0

7th Logan Stewart (Reynolds) MD Matthew Santoro (Saucon Valley), 10-0

133 lbs

1st Jax Forrest (Bishop McCort) DEC Aaron Seidel (Northern Lebanon), 7-1

3rd Keagan Oler (Cathedral Prep) DEC Caden Judice (Bald Eagle Area), 11-8

5th Gavin Green (Delone Catholic) DEC Brayden Hartranft (Berks Catholic), 7-1

7th Ben Straub (Mifflinburg) DEC Drake Mcclure (Bentworth), 7-2

139 lbs

1st Brandt Harer (Montgomery) DEC Camden Baum (Bishop McDevitt), 1-0

3rd Sam Herring (Bishop McCort) TF Noah Doi (Camp Hill), 15-0 2:17

5th Gideon Bracken (United) TF Gunnar Maciejewski (Berks Catholic), 17-1 2:33

7th Colin Walther (Conwell Egan) MD Logan Powell (Central Clarion), 12-2

145 lbs

1st Bo Bassett (Bishop McCort) F Hudson Hohman (Grove City), 1:52

3rd Mason Wagner (Faith Christian) DEC Matthew Smith (Midd-West), 5-3

5th Hayden Yacoviello-andrus (Bermudian Springs) DEC Lucas Boyer (Elizabeth Forward), 3-1

7th Easton Comp (Bishop McDevitt) DEC Clay Kimmy (General McLane), 7-2

152 lbs

1st Devon Magro (Bishop McCort) MD Ryan Lawler (Bishop McDevitt), 10-0

3rd Max Stein (Faith Christian) DEC Mason Horwat (Derry), 1-0

5th Jordan Thompson (Bradford) DEC Cody Hamilton (Grove City), 8-3

7th Ian Vitalo (Schuylkill Valley) FOR Landen Wagner (Lewisburg), 0-0

160 lbs

1st Melvin Miller (Bishop McCort) MD Reagan Milheim (Warrior Run), 11-2

3rd Chase Hontz (Faith Christian) MD Brandon Byrd (Cathedral Prep), 9-0

5th Mason Gourley (Central Clarion) MD Samuel Almedina (Mid Valley), 9-1

7th Nicky Negron (Bishop McDevitt) DEC Jaden Wehler (St. Marys), 9-2

172 lbs

1st Nick Singer (Faith Christian) MD Gage Wentzel (Montoursville), 12-3

3rd Brady Collins (Clearfield) DEC Jayden Ofarrill (Bishop McCort), 7-2

5th Max Wirnsberger (Warrior Run) DEC Carmine Lenzi (Berks Catholic), 2-1

7th Luke Fugazotto (Northwestern) F Jackson Angelo (Frazier), 4:57

189 lbs

1st Adam Waters (Faith Christian) MD Caleb Close (Bald Eagle Area), 11-1

3rd Aiden Bliss (Port Allegany) DEC Kyle Scott (Tyrone), 11-5

5th Brady Brown (Derry) TF Easton Belfiore (Brookville), 19-3 4:50

7th Tyler Ulrich (Warrior Run) DEC Jared Rohn (Saucon Valley), 6-3 SV

215 lbs

1st Austin Johnson (Muncy) DEC Lucas Lawler (Bishop McDevitt), 5-2

3rd Braedon Welsh (Fort Cherry) DEC Sawyer Robinson (Towanda), 7-3

5th Jason Singer (Faith Christian) DEC Juuso Young (Port Allegany), 4-1

7th Kael Albers (Corry) DEC Jude Bremigen (Southern Columbia), 7-6 UTB

285 lbs

1st Rowan Holmes (Somerset) DEC Mark Effendian (Faith Christian), 4-3

3rd Caleb Rodriguez (Bishop McCort) DEC Colin Whyte (West Greene), 4-3

5th Mason Higley (Towanda) DEC Casey Wilson (Laurel), 4-0

7th Gavin Hannah (Brookville) FOR Carson Neely (Port Allegany), 0-0