After a third-place finish at last year’s PIAA State Championship, the State College Boys Wrestling Team is shooting for the top in 2024-25. While there is a strong core of returning wrestlers, the team lost two huge pieces from last season.
Pierson Manville, a four-time District VI Champion, two-time state runner-up and one-time PIAA State Champion, is now wrestling at Arizona State.
The Little Lions also lost Nick Pavlechko, a three-time district and regional champion who finished third, second and third in the state in his three years competing for State High. Pavlechko is now wrestling at Indiana and the Little Lions will be without his leadership this season.
Senior Asher Cunningham, who will be looked to as a leader this year, said, “Pierson and Nick were key pieces of our team last year and losing them means that we all need to step up and try to fill that role.”
Manville and Pavlechko are not the only departures from last year’s team, former Head Coach Ryan Cummings stepped down after 11 seasons with the program.
New Head Coach Jason Nickal is entering his second season with the team after starting as an assistant coach last year. Nickal’s coaching career spans three decades and includes a stint at Rio Rancho High School in New Mexico where his team won four state championships in four years. In total, he has won six state championships and 11 coach of the year awards. Cunningham called Nickal, “a great coach and person,” and mentioned Nickal’s strong focus on improvement throughout the year.
Nickal is looking to add a Pennsylvania state title to his resume and will certainly have the team to do so at State High. The Little Lions return two individual District VI champions in Cunningham and sophomore James Whitbred.
Cunningham, a Penn State commit, won the individual state championship at 160 pounds last season. According to Mat Scouts, Cunningham is the 18th best pound for pound senior in the country.
Whitbred is the 89th ranked pound for pound sophomore in the country. After winning district and regional championships at 133 pounds last year, Whitbred was eliminated from the state championship in the round of 16. This summer, Whitbred placed second in the 16u Greco-Roman USA Wrestling National Championships and fifth in the freestyle division.
Nickal complimented Whitbred on his offseason and called him, “a bright spot,” going into this season. Nickal also mentioned senior Nicholas Berrena and sophomore Noah Young as promising members of the team.
As a freshman, Young placed second at the District VI Championships and second at the regional competition before losing in the round of 16 at the PIAA State Championships. Berrena placed fourth in District VI last season and committed to Norwich University on Oct. 26.
Cunningham, Whitbred, Berrena and Young lead a talented State College team into a challenging schedule which begins on Dec. 4 with a dual meet against Shikellamy.
Further information on the State College Boys Wrestling team can be found on the team’s Instagram account, @statecollegewrestling.
