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HERSHEY &mdash; One of the big keys for wrestlers is to always wrestle until the end of the match because you never know what can happen. That&rsquo;s especially true at the state tournament.
				For Jaden Pepe, that&rsquo;s what he did to win his first match ever at the PIAA Class 2A Championships.
				The Wyoming Area freshman hit a four-point move in the waning seconds of his round of 16 match to pull out a 6-4 victory over Reynolds&rsquo; Kane Kettering at Hershey&rsquo;s Giant Center.
				&ldquo;(Down by two), I had to keep scoring.&rdquo; the 106-pounder said when asked what he was thinking when he was trailing late.
				Pepe is one of three standouts from the Wyoming Valley Conference who won on Thursday in the Sweet 16 and advanced to Friday&rsquo;s state quarterfinals, which begin at 9 a.m.
				Tunkhannock&rsquo;s Dave Evans (126 pounds) and Gavin D&rsquo;Amato (145) also picked up big wins to move on. Lake-Lehman&rsquo;s Josh Bonomo (145) won his preliminary round bout then lost his next, while teammate Zach Stuart (138) fell twice and was eliminated.
				Pepe gave up the initial takedown in the match then tied up the bout at 2-2 with a takedown of his own in the second period. But the tie was soon relinquished when Pepe was hit with a locking hands violation at the end of the second period. The freshman then let up Kettering to start the third period and trailed 4-2.
				After most of the third period went by without scoring, Pepe found an opening for a headlock late in the third sending Kettering to his back and getting a pair of back points as well to move on to the state quarters where he will meet Notre Dame Green Pond&rsquo;s Evan Maag.
				&ldquo;I was looking for a go-behind, and it (the headlock) was just there,&rdquo; Pepe said.
				D&rsquo;Amato, participating in his second straight state tournament, pulled off the biggest win of the day for the WVC wrestlers in Class 2A when he defeated returning sixth-place medalist Tristan Pugh from Berlin Brothers Valley 5-4 in the first round. Pugh beat D&rsquo;Amato 8-2 last year in the first round, but this time around was different.
				Despite wearing down, D&rsquo;Amato built up a 4-2 lead after the first period. He attempted a few shots later in the match but admitted afterward that he was tired, and even uncharacteristically gave up a point for stalling in the third period.
				Still, he fended off several shots from Pugh to hang on for the victory. Up next for D&rsquo;Amato is Noah Korenoski from Westmont-Hilltop. Korenoski, the No. 5 seed from the Southwest Region, reached the quarters after winning twice on Thursday, including a pigtail round match before pulling off an upset in the next round handing Redbank Valley&rsquo;s Ethan Wiant his first loss of the year.
				&ldquo;I gotta eat better in the morning. I honestly should have beat that kid by more, but I died out and got that stall call. I don&rsquo;t know the last time I got a stall call,&rdquo; D&rsquo;Amato said. &ldquo;I feel a little cocky right now. But with the kids that are coming up, they&rsquo;re not gonna get any worse. They&rsquo;re only gonna get better and better and better.
				&ldquo;Eventually, I&rsquo;m not gonna be able to sit back and fend off kids for two periods. I gotta go offense, offense, offense and make it my match. But you can&rsquo;t do that when you&rsquo;re dead tired, so I gotta fix it.&rdquo;
				Evans, who is a three-time state qualifier, picked up his third career win at states as he reached the state quarters for the third straight time. The 126-pounder dominated in his Sweet 16 match against David Kreidler from Allentown Central Catholic winning by major decision 13-1.
				He was surprised by the outcome, but it sets him up well for his match on Friday against Derry Area&rsquo;s Tyler Cymmerman, who was fourth in the state last year.
				&ldquo;I thought it was gonna be a lot closer. But I went out there aggressive. I felt really good when I went out there. I took more shots. I did really well on top, was tough on top,&rdquo; Evans said. &ldquo;So I feel really comfortable going (on Friday) for sure.&rdquo;
				With a pair of wins in the championship rounds, Evans and D&rsquo;Amato made school history becoming the first duo ever for their school to pick up wins in the championship rounds in the same state tournament. But they don&rsquo;t want to settle for that history, they want more.
				&ldquo;We know that back at Tunkhannock everyone is freaking out right now &#8230; we&rsquo;re making history once again I guess, and hopefully we can keep it up,&rdquo; D&rsquo;Amato added. &ldquo;We want two state placers. That&rsquo;s what everyone at Tunkhannock wants and we&rsquo;re gonna give it to them.&rdquo;
				The quarterfinal winners are guaranteed a medal and will advance to the semifinals, which are set for 7:30 p.m. Friday. Quarterfinal losers will have to win twice in the consolations to be guaranteed a medal.
				After winning in the pigtail round against Michael Trainor from Octorara 4-3, Bonomo met 2018 state runner-up in Gage McClenahan from Bald Eagle Area in the first round. Bonomo was pinned in 19 seconds, but will participate in the wrestlebacks this morning against Mercer&rsquo;s Alex Chess and needs to win twice to earn a medal.
				Also from District 2 in Class 2A, Scranton Prep&rsquo;s Antonio D&rsquo;Apollonio was scratched from the tournament. Western Wayne&rsquo;s Matt Leslie and Lackawanna Trail&rsquo;s Deegan Ross both went 1-1 and are still in contention for a medal.

PIAA 2A wrestling: Wyoming Area’s Pepe wins state debut, reaches quarterfinals