The PIAA Wrestling Championships at Hershey’s Giant Center is perhaps one of the most illustrious and challenging of the state’s great competitions. It collects Pennsylvania’s greatest wrestlers to lay their blood, sweat, and tears on the mats one final time and find out who can finish a long and grueling season with a spot on the the 8-place podium. Downingtown East sent it’s remaining two athletes in Keanu Manuel (106) and Lukas Richie (132) to take part in the heated battle. When the final curtain fell, these two Cougars gave their hearts’ best effort, but fell short of the medal rounds. Keanu went 2-2 over the course of the tournament, and senior captain Lukas met with a difficult fate of 0-2. Although it seems short of achievement, the stage is set for a positive future! Keanu will return for his junior year next season and will use his experience at the state tournament to fashion new goals and new skills and earn his rightful spot amongst the state’s elite. Lukas finishes his Downingtown East career as one of our most decorated athletes with 145 wins and a path to the University of Pennsylvania to continue his wrestling and academic endeavors. We wish both wrestlers, and the rest of the team, the best of luck as Spring makes its much needed debut! It is time to reflect on the good, learn from the bad, and make those important decisions about what comes next. Only you can decide what comes next for you! INVICTUS
Month: March 2019
The Cougars carve a path to the big dance!
The first weekend in March traditionally ushers in Southeastern PA’s District 1 Regional wrestling tournament. This past weekend was no different. Over 60 high schools from the four counties sent their district’s best to compete at the regional for a berth at the following weekend’s PIAA State Tournament, the penultimate event. From East, the remaining four of Keanu Manuel, Lukas Richie, Spencer Uggla, and Zach Sharaf put their training to the test. In the end, East finished in 9th place out of the entire 60 team field, qualifying two wrestlers for the state tournament. Senior co-captain Lukas Richie finished out his District 1 career with the 132 lb. championship and a gold medal. At 106 lbs, Keanu Manuel took 4th place and also booked his spot at states. The magical run of junior Spencer Uggla at 160 lbs. resulted in a 6th place finish, one place shy of a birth. And Zach Sharaf at heavyweight, with just two years of wrestling under his belt, went 0-2 at the tournament, but proved his potential is there. The final week of competition is upon us, and DE Wrestling and community would like to congratulate our regional competitors on a great performance, and wish our state qualifiers the best of luck up on the mats at Hershey! See you in Chocolatetown!
Downingtown East Wrestling 