Faith Christian’s Adam Waters Wins Fourth Pennsylvania State Title; Basset Decks Harer

History was made in Hershey, Pennsylvania at the Giant Center on Saturday night as No. 4 Faith Christian Academy’s Adam Waters became the 15th member of the four-time state champion club with his 4-1 decision of Tyrone’s No. 16 Kyle Scott in the 190-pound final. Waters, who is ranked second in the nation, was one of Faith Christian’s five champions, which set an AA state record.

Waters Makes Four-Time Club Deeper

But Waters’ mark went deeper than that as he became the first ever four-time Pennsylvania champ to also be a four-time team champion when his Lions cruised to their fourth consecutive AA state tournament crown by outpointing No. 11 Bishop McCort, 224-175. No. 15 Bishop McDevitt was third with 111 on the board.

Waters, who has committed to Ohio State, endured a scoreless opening round with Scott. The two exchanged escapes to arrive at a 1-1 tie in the third period. Waters was eventually able to break through with a single leg that he brought up to his feet for a trip finish and the winning points.

This was the hardest Waters had to work for his top honors. The freshman and sophomore titles were put in the books with pins. As a junior, an 11-1 major decision disposed of Bald Eagle Area’s nationally ranked Caleb Close. The junior campaign was the only one in which Waters did not lose a match, closing his career with a 166-7 tally.

Bachman Brothers Continue Quest for Four

Two young Lions remained on pace to join Waters in the four-time circle, the Bachmann brothers, Joe at 152 pounds and Freddy at 127. Joe is ranked sixth in the nation by High School on SI and found himself in a struggle with No. 31 Hudson Hohman (Grove City), picking up an escape for the only scoring in the 1-0 win, which was his third state supremacy.

Freddy, a sophomore, is ranked number four and claimed his second consecutive gold with a 6-2 decision of No. 25 Carter Chunko (Saucon Valley). Freddy went into the ultimate tiebreaker to defeat Chunko, 3-2, at regions.

FCA’S Big Boys Come Through

The two other Faith Christian Golden Boys, No. 5 Mark Effendian (285 pounds) and No. 7 Cael Weidemoyer (215), became three-time state placers with their title winning efforts. Effendian, who will now head off to Princeton, was a runner-up a year ago and made sure that would not happen again when he used a hammerlock to get Fairfield’s Caleb Tyler to his back and stuck him in 1:04.

Weidemoyer, a future Lehigh wrestler, reached the state podium as a freshman and came back to take second as a sophomore before missing the tournament a year ago. The senior went out in grand style picking up a 13-1 major decision of Huntingdon’s Landon Erdman.

The Lions qualified eight grapplers for states and saw all eight hit paydirt with No. 5 Nick Singer (175 pounds) and No. 30 Cruz Little (114) placing third. Riley Crandall was fourth at 107 pounds, Shane Wagner came in fifth at 160, and taking sixth at 121 pounds was Flynn Arnestad.

Bo Bassett Dominates Showdown with Harer

Those eight placers were not the most of any team present, though, as the Bo Bassett led McCort tribe pushed nine to the awards stand. Bassett, who is top-rated at 144 pounds, dropped down to 145 from 150 pounds for the Pennsylvania postseason in hopes of gaining a showdown with No. 4 Brandt Harer (Montgomery).

Bo Bassett - Brandt Harer - PIAA wrestling — Bishop McCort's Bo Bassett (right) celebrates after his second period pin of Montgomery's Brandt Harer in Class 2A 145-pound championship bout during the PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships, March 7, 2026, in Hershey, Pa. Both Top nationally-ranked wrestlers entered the match with winning streaks in excess of 160 matches. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Both came in as two-time champions, both entered Thursday’s first round on ridiculous winning streaks. Bassett was working on 166 victories in a row with Harer countering at 164. Obviously, someone was coming up short and would see an end to their streak.

Bassett scored in the first period when he basically bulldogged through a scramble to gain a takedown and go up 3-0. Harer started down and escaped to what was his impending doom as the senior hit him with a Fireman’s Dump to the back, from which there would be no return as the fall came 49 seconds in the frame, 2:49. Harer is also now a two-time runner-up.

Bassett was denied a shot at becoming a four-time champ when a PIAA ruling declared the Crushers were ineligible for the postseason during his freshman season. In typical fashion, the Virginia Tech commit won his first crown by technical fall and last year’s was pocketed with a pin.

Over his four years on the high school mats, Bassett walked out 170 times and never once tasted defeat as he broke Chance Marstellar’s previous mark of 166-0.

Little Bro Gets It Done as Well

Bo’s brother No. 24 Keegan improved on last year’s fourth-place finish as a freshman. Keegan’s biggest challenge came in the semifinals versus No. 17 Brock Rothermel (Line Mountain). Keegan, a World Champion last summer, got by him and faced Penns Valley’s No. 25 Max Dinges in a final for the third week in a row with the same result, a Keegan victory, this one, 4-2.

Miller’s Three-Peat

No. 1 Melvin Miller (160 pounds) encountered a gamely No. 9 Reagan Milheim (Warrior Run), who made Miller work for his third championship. All of Miller’s points came in the third period on a reversal and a sweet sweep single. Milheim tallied three escapes and a stalling point in the 5-4 outcome.

The Crushers’ other placers were Owen McMullen (3rd at 139), Jackson Butler (3rd at 152), Caleb Rodriguez (4th at 285), Emory Gunby (5th at 172), Marquez Gordon (7th at 215), and Austin Carfley (8th at 133).

A pair of four-time state awardees reached the top spot for the first time in their career, No. 12 Gage Wentzel (Montoursville) and No. 12 Will Detar (Trinity). Wentzel was second in 2025.

Wentzel Shuts Down Horwat’s Run

Wentzel ran across a man on a mission in Derry Area’s Mason Horwat. Horwat was nationally ranked previous to his regional final loss to McCort’s Gunby. Following that setback, Horwat slipped from the ranks. Needless to say, the senior’s antics here will have him back in the report this week.

In the quarters, Horwat upended defending state champion, and No. 5 in the nation, Singer from Faith Christian, 6-4, then took out No. 14 Max Wirnsberger (Warrior Run) 7-2 in the semis. After a scoreless first, many were wondering if Horwat had one more surprise up his sleeve.

A Horwat escape was followed by Wentzel pulling a marvelous single leg out of his arsenal with authority. An additional escape by Horwat would be it for his scoring. Wentzel got in on a shot in the final frame and Beast Mode sucked Horwat off the mat for the takedown. A scurry with 18 seconds left led to four more back points added to Wentzel’s tally to make it an 11-2 final at 172 pounds.

Detar’s time on the mat came with significantly less scoring as Detar gained a 1-0 win over Tanner Guenot (Bald Eagle Area) in the 133-pound final.

Becoming Champions After Prior Shortfalls

Bishop McDevitt’s two-time silver medalist, No. 5 Camden Baum, got it done in his final trip to states with a 7-1 decision of Delone Catholic’s Gavin Green at 139 pounds. Grove City’s No. 7 Chase Karenbauer (114) was third as a freshman and returned to face defending champ, No. 9 Braiden Lotier (Bishop McDevitt).

They met in the PowerAde Finals with Karenbauer winning, 1-0. This one would have a one-point margin as well and the same victor in Karenbauer but contained a lot more action. Lotier was ahead early after a first period cradle was acquired without any accompanying near-fall points.

Karenbauer put up seven of his points on one sequence in the second period where he secured a takedown and went right into a tilt. Lotier added a heel trip for a takedown in the third but couldn’t complete the comeback, falling, 9-8.

Deputy Locks Up Competition

The number one 106-pounder in the land, Chestnut Ridge’s Kooper Deputy, also had a rematch of a PowerAde bout with a 1-0 score versus No. 17 Arav Pandey (Trinity). Deputy won that encounter and did so again here with a 3-0 count at 107 pounds.

Pennsylvania uses a different weight class system than the typical NFHS’s suggested 14. The Keystone State only has 13 weights, and they vary from the “regular” denominations.

Team Scores (Top 10)

1-Faith Christian Academy 224

2-Bishop McCort 175

3-Bishop McDevitt 111

4-Chestnut Ridge 74

5-Derry Area 70

6-Trinity 68

7-Grove City 61

8-Montoursville 59

9-Warrior Run 47

10-Reynolds 39.5

Individual Results

107-Pounds

1st Kooper Deputy (Chestnut Ridge) DEC Arav Pandey (Trinity*), 3-0

3rd Nathan Schuman (Honesdale) TF Riley Crandall (Faith Christian), 23-5 4:18

5th Branden Eisenhour (Montoursville) MD Blake Klipp (Bishop McDevitt), 10-1

7th Bodhi Nickerson (North Penn-Liberty) DEC Korben Collae (Benton), 5-0

114-Pounds

1st Chase Karenbauer (Grove City) DEC Braiden Lotier (Bishop McDevitt), 9-8

3rd Cruz Little (Faith Christian) TF Izaya Schickley (Halifax), 15-0 3:15

5th Patrick Bulger (Derry Area) DEC Gabe Oberheim (Montgomery), 13-6 SV

7th Zander Wilson (Williamson) DEC Rowen Humphrey (Southern Columbia), 6-0

121-Pounds

1st Keegan Bassett (Bishop McCort) DEC Max Dinges (Penns Valley), 4-2

3rd Brock Rothermel (Line Mountain) DEC Dakota Santamaria (Tussey Mountain), 4-2

5th Sam Wolford (Northern Lebanon) MD Flynn Arnestad (Faith Christian), 12-2

7th Preston Bubash (Elizabeth Forward) DEC Tyden Shuman (Berks Catholic), 9-3

127-Pounds

1st Freddy Bachmann (Faith Christian) DEC Carter Chunko (Saucon Valley), 6-2

3rd Dominic Deputy (Chestnut Ridge) DEC Logan Stewart (Reynolds), 7-1

5th C.j. Caines (Hanover Area) TF Cameron Baker (Burrell), 17-2 3:16

7th Zane Crouse (Bishop McDevitt) DEC Jax Fuhrman (Delone Catholic), 5-1

133-Pounds

1st Will Detar (Trinity*) DEC Tanner Guenot (Bald Eagle Area), 1-0

3rd Bradley Wagner (Mifflinburg) MD Brady Slicker (Hickory), 12-4

5th Chase Homan (Hamburg) DEC Lucas Barr (McGuffey), 7-2

7th Liam Lawler (Bishop McDevitt) FOR Austin Carfley (Bishop McCort), 0-0

139-Pounds

1st Camden Baum (Bishop McDevitt) DEC Gavin Green (Delone Catholic), 7-1

3rd Owen Mcmullen (Bishop McCort) DEC Chase Boozer (Muncy), 1-0

5th Hayden Yacoviello-andrus (Bermudian Springs) DEC Drake Mcclure (Bentworth), 3-2

7th Tanner Hamilton (Grove City) DEC Michael Gorrell (Conwell Egan), 6-5

145-Pounds

1st Bo Bassett (Bishop McCort) F Brandt Harer (Montgomery), 2:49

3rd Greyson Music (Bishop McDevitt) DEC Caden Judice (Bald Eagle Area), 8-5

5th Rudy Gentile (Greenville) DEC Mack Santoro (Saucon Valley), 3-1

7th Gage Evans (Towanda) DEC Colin Walther (Conwell Egan), 1-0

152-Pounds

1st Joe Bachmann (Faith Christian) DEC Hudson Hohman (Grove City), 1-0

3rd Jackson Butler (Bishop McCort) MD Clay Kimmy (General McLane), 14-6

5th Cole Byler (Pequea Valley) DEC Landen Wagner (Lewisburg), 4-3

7th Jonah Erdely (Frazier) DEC Dalton Schadel (Line Mountain), 3-1

160-Pounds

1st Melvin Miller (Bishop McCort) DEC Reagan Milheim (Warrior Run), 5-4

3rd Jordan Thompson (Bradford) DEC Layden Acevedo (Berks Catholic), 2-0

5th Shane Wagner (Faith Christian) DEC Nicky Negron (Bishop McDevitt), 6-3

7th Ewan Olson (Derry Area) DEC Owen Ivcic (Bentworth), 4-3

172-Pounds

1st Gage Wentzel (Montoursville) MD Mason Horwat (Derry Area), 11-2

3rd Nick Singer (Faith Christian) MD Max Wirnsberger (Warrior Run), 12-4

5th Emory Gunby (Bishop McCort) DEC Nolan Savage (Line Mountain), 11-5

7th Cash Morrell (Cochranton) DEC Rocco Allegretto (Johnsonburg), 7-0

189-Pounds

1st Adam Waters (Faith Christian) DEC Kyle Scott (Tyrone), 4-1

3rd Brady Brown (Derry Area) DEC Hayden Harvey (Montoursville), 4-2

5th Luke Fugazzotto (Northwestern Leh) DEC Jayden Imler (Chestnut Ridge), 7-2

7th Hunter Cox (Greenville) DEC Aiden Struchen (Fort LeBoeuf), 7-5

215-Pounds

1st Cael Weidemoyer (Faith Christian) MD Landon Erdman (Huntingdon), 13-1

3rd Aiden Bliss (Port Allegany) DEC Colton Tupper (Reynolds), 4-1

5th Kaj Miller (Newport) F Omar Arrington (Cathedral Prep), 3:58

7th Marquez Gordon (Bishop McCort) DEC Zachary Kurtz (Pine Grove Area), 9-2

285-Pounds

1st Mark Effendian (Faith Christian) F Caleb Tyler (Fairfield), 1:04

3rd Colin Whyte (West Greene) DEC Caleb Rodriguez (Bishop McCort), 3-1 TB2

5th Eoghan Savage (Upper Dauphin) DEC Daniel Williams (Glendale), 3-2 TB2

7th Luke Sottolano (Williamson) DEC Drew Dygert (Conneaut), 3-0 SV