WRESTLING: OJR’s Gulotta leads five locals into quarterfinals at PIAA Championships

Owen J. Roberts' Derek Gulotta celebrates after his first-period pin of Pleasant Valley's Kenny Yanovich at 113 in the first round of the PIAA Championships Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey. (Photo by Nate Heckenberger)

By Don Seeley
sports@pottsmerc.com

HERSHEY — Derek Gulotta was about uncharacteristically relaxed prior to Thursday afternoon’s opening round of the PIAA-Class AAA Wrestling Championships.
Once he got onto the mat, he was anything but.
Owen J. Roberts’ 113-pound sophomore needed less than a half-minute to take down Pleasant Valley’s Kenny Yanovich and only 96 seconds overall to lock in a cradle and pin him to debut with an impressive win and underline a perfect three-for-three showing by the Wildcats’ state qualifiers.
Gulotta, along with teammates Colby Frank (126) and Gordon Bolig (182), advanced into today’s (1:30 p.m.) quarterfinals, where they’ll be joined by Boyertown’s Jordan Wood (220) and Methacton’s Tracey Green (285) ... all needing one more win to guarantee themselves a spot in the medal rounds.

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