HERSHEY — Having waited his entire life to wrestle in the state tournament, Manheim Central’s Zack Zeamer was not inclined to leave early.
Even if he had to work overtime to stay around.
No fan of overtime, Warwick’s Ryan Stewart embraced it — as if he had a choice.
Both Zeamer and Stewart came out of their preliminary respective rounds Thursday, posting a pair of victories — Zeamer at 132, Stewart at 285 — to advance to Friday afternoon’s quarterfinals of the PIAA Class 3A wrestling tournament.
Six other locals remain alive in the consolation round. Cocalico’s Josiah Gehr (120) and Joe Bearinger (220), Solanco’s AJ Wilson (160) and Ben Root (170), Manheim Central’s Will Betancourt (113) and Garden Spot’s Connor Finkey will all continue their pursuit of a spot on the awards podium Friday afternoon.
There were three key moments in Zeamer’s overtime round of 16 fall over Patrick Gould of East Stroudsburg South — the fall, with two seconds left in sudden victory, being the third.
Gould, a two-time state medalist who came in ranked No. 3 in the state — Zeamer was 14th — opened an early 4-1 lead and appeared confident he could play catch-and-release.
Zeamer disabused him of that belief with a single-to-cradle late in the first period, good for a 6-4 lead.
“He kind of dipped his head for a second,” Zeamer said. “Muscle memory took over.
“When I put him in a cradle and got some backs, I said, ‘Let’s finish this match and anything can happen.’ ”
Gould led 7-6 after two, but Zeamer escaped midway through the third period, then saved the match, scrambling to fight off a takedown with three seconds left.
“That was just in the moment. I don’t even know what I did,” Zeamer said.
What the the scramble did was empty Gould’s tank.
Zeamer was denied a takedown at the edge 29 seconds into OT, then Gould got in deep on a double leg shot.
And collapsed to his back as Zeamer countered for the takedown.
And more.
“Someone yelled ‘Pin him!’ I was like, ‘OK.’ ”
Earlier, Zeamer topped Zachary Macy of Chartiers Valley, 5-2. Zeamer felt that match was an important part of his subsequent victory.
“I told coach I’m really glad I had that match,” he noted. “It got the whatever out of me, first time here.”
Stewart went overtime twice Thursday, defeating Derek Devine of North Allegheny, 2-1, after the second of two 30-second tiebreak periods in his opening match.
Tied at 1-1 through seven minutes, Stewart escaped in the first 30 seconds, then rode Devine out in the second.
His round of 16 match with North Penn’s Ryan Cody mirrored the prelim as the wrestlers split escapes in regulation.
Cody got in on two good shots in OT, with Stewart powering his way out of both with textbook hips.
“I’ve been working with (one-time Warwick heavyweight and Penn State offensive lineman) Tommy (Devenney), working on defending shots,” Stewart said.
Assistant coach Eric Resch, no heavyweight, but quick and athletic, also pitched in. It showed.
With time running out, and Stewart coming out of a sprawl, he got behind Cody for the winning takedown.
“I don’t know what I did, but I won,” Stewart said. “That’s all that matters. It was beautiful. I liked every moment of it.”
It was Stewart’s third career victory over Cody. “This is probably the closest yet,” he said. “You have to put all that stuff, all those times you faced him before, in the past.”