Leopards鈥� Brown earns title at Escape the Rock
Belle Vernon senior Elijah Brown dominated the field in winning the championship in the 215-pound weight class at the Escape the Rock tournament on Saturday at Council Rock South High School in Holland.
The event was scheduled for two days, but due to the threat of inclement weather, the tournament director condensed the action to one day, which didn’t bother Brown, as he recorded three pins and two technical falls on his way to the title.
Brown, the No. 2 seed at 215, received a bye in the round-of-64 before he won his first bout by fall in 1:00. The Penn State commit pinned his opponents in 1:28 and 54 seconds to reach the semifinals, where he recorded a technical fall (16-0) in 1:48 to reach the finals.
Brown capped off the championship with a fall in 46 seconds over Nicolas Gonzalez of Mount Olive, N.J.
Brown had the most falls in the tournament and was named the “Outstanding Wrestler.”
Connellsville had a solid outing with three placewinners, including Kai Vielma’s second-place showing at 145.
Vielma, who was the No. 6 seed, opened his tournament in the round-of-32 with a technical fall victory, 16-1, in 3:23. He followed that with a 10-0 major decision to reach the quarterfinals.
Vielma downed Bishop McDevitt’s Greyson Music, 5-1, to advance to the semifinals, where he edged Anthony Depaul of Delsea, N.J., 2-1, in double overtime.
Tyler Dekraker of Lake Highland Prep, Fla., topped Vielma, 4-2, in the finals.
Nolan Rice placed fifth at 127 after earning a 1-0 decision over Jordan Manyette of Trinity (District 3). Teammate Tommy Gretz was sixth at 121.
Connellsville placed 11th out of 68 teams with 75 team points.