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Michael A. MacDowell: Economics, personal finance should be requirement in high school

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PIAA Boys Basketball: Holy Redeemer shakes off sloppy start to rout SLA Beeber in 3A opener

HERSHEY &mdash; Two great careers came to a close. Another one is just getting started.
				Tunkhannock&rsquo;s Gavin D&rsquo;Amato and Dave Evans saw their brilliant high school wrestling careers conclude on Saturday afternoon in the PIAA Class 2A Championships. Wyoming Area freshman Jaden Pepe looks like he&rsquo;s about to be the next great wrestler in the area.
				D&rsquo;Amato finished second in the state at 145 pounds. Pepe took third at 106, while Evans was fourth at 126.
				The senior D&rsquo;Amato was the first state finalist ever for the Tigers, recording the highest finish ever for the program. He lost the state championship bout against Bald Eagle Area&rsquo;s Gage McClenahan, 1-0.
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy. I&rsquo;m glad that I came out here and did better than I was supposed to do,&rdquo; D&rsquo;Amato said. &ldquo;I was seeded like seventh or eighth and got second and surprised everyone, even myself.&rdquo;
				The only point scored in the final was in the second period when the Bald Eagle Area senior escaped. When D&rsquo;Amato tried to return the favor in the third period, he was held down and couldn&rsquo;t get out after multiple attempts. He felt like McClenahan &#8211; who lost in the Class 3A state final two years ago to Scranton&rsquo;s Willie Evanitsky &#8211; had his legs locked, but the stalemate was not called.
				&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to be remembered for me throwing a hissy-fit in my last match whether I got beat 1-0 or 14-0 or got pinned in the first period or I pinned him in the first period. I wanted to go out with class and go out with how I needed to go out,&rdquo; D&rsquo;Amato said.
				&ldquo;It was the first kid to ever ride me out in my entire life. It told me that I&rsquo;m not invincible and I think I needed that. Just because I could get out every other kid, there&rsquo;s always that one kid that&rsquo;s gonna be able to ride me the entire match. So shout out to that kid because he&rsquo;s freakin&rsquo; good.&rdquo;
				D&rsquo;Amato ends his season with a 47-4 record and his fine career with three district championships, two appearances in the state tournament and 137 victories.
				His teammate, Evans, also saw his stellar career for the Tigers come to an end when he placed fourth. Evans, who was a three-time state qualifier and three-time district champion, finally got his medal.
				He finished the season with a mark of 45-3 with all of his losses to state champions. He lost to Notre Dame Green Pond&rsquo;s Ryan Crookham in the state semis. In the third-place bout, he fell 8-5 to last year&rsquo;s state champion, Jackson Arrington from Forest Hills. Back in December, he lost to Brock McMillen &#8211; now a two-time state champion &#8211; from Glendale by one point.
				&ldquo;I feel good. It was a tough bracket. I ran into two state champs. I have no regrets,&rdquo; Evans said. &ldquo;It was a good season. I&rsquo;m happy with the memories I made throughout my high school career. It was definitely good to get those matches in. This is a stepping stone. Now it&rsquo;s just focus on the next stage and wrestle at the collegiate level.&rdquo;
				Evans was close to getting a medal in his previous two appearances in the tournament. Both times he lost in the ever-so-tough blood round.
				&ldquo;It feels great this year. Especially after losing twice in the blood round. It&rsquo;s heartbreaking,&rdquo; Evans said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all I&rsquo;ve been thinking about this whole season. So it feels good to get that redemption.&rdquo;
				Pepe, who tied the best finish in school history with his third-place medal, wrestled a unique match in the third-place bout when he faced West Perry&rsquo;s Deven Jackson, who is a double-amputee with blade prosthetics below his knees. He doesn&rsquo;t wrestle with the prosthetics though, which makes for a different situation.
				Still, Pepe prepared for the match and executed as he had to, picking up three takedowns utilizing a front headlock en route to a 7-4 victory.
				&ldquo;It was hard because I couldn&rsquo;t shoot,&rdquo; Pepe said. &ldquo;It made it really hard for me to wrestle. I just didn&rsquo;t want him to dive in on my legs. I knew he would be really strong, which he was.&rdquo;
				The Warriors standout also credited Jackson for overcoming such adversity to succeed in the sport.
				&ldquo;It&rsquo;s outstanding. I have a lot of respect for what he does,&rdquo; Pepe said.
				Pepe is starting what appears a long, successful run with the Warriors. He finished with a 50-3 record, the most wins ever in a season by a Wyoming Area wrestler. His third-place finish has only been matched once before for the program and that was in 1996 by Don Morgan.
				Pepe&rsquo;s finish is also the second-best finish ever for a freshman in WVC history; only Wyoming Valley West&rsquo;s John Brennan taking second in 1976 is better.
				&ldquo;It just means that I can make more history than I already am,&rdquo; Pepe said. &ldquo;I think I can win states within the next three years, at least once. &rdquo;

D’Amato (silver), Pepe (bronze), Evans (fourth) bring home PIAA wrestling medals