Palmer Finishes 4th At Regional Wrestling, Advances To State Tournament
By: Chris Manning / March 2, 2025
Reed Palmer is headed to states for the second time this season, taking fourth at the Northeast Regional Championships Saturday.
"It doesn't even feel real," Palmer said after clinching his spot. "I've still got to have time to let it sink in."
Palmer was pinned in his semifinal by Montoursville's Landon Morehart in 4:57, but then came back to get a 5-2 win over Southern Columbia's Braylin Smith in sudden victory in the consolation semifinal.
Palmer lost by fall to Williamson's Luke Sottolano in the third place match.
"I just went with it - go with the flow," explained Palmer about his ride. "I didn't really think I could make it."
Getting to the semifinals after two close wins on Friday night was key for Palmer.
"It was huge," he said. "I had to come in and do what I could do. Honestly, I don’t even really get nervous for these types of things. I kind of just like to be in these situations."
Beating Smith, again, in the blood round, in an even closer match than his first one, was also big.
"I can't even explain how important it was to me, or how much it meant to make it that far," said Palmer.
Carter Austin (160) came up one win shy of states, taking sixth overall.
Austin opened with a 4-1 win over Towanda's Jace Gunther, then defeated Blue Ridge’s Zachary Krupovich 12-7 in the consolation quarterfinals.
In the blood round match he was pinned by Montoursville's Hayden Harvey in 1:42, then lost in the 5-6th place match to Shamokin's Chase Pensyl by a 16-0 tech fall.
