Senior Luke Montgomery placed second at the PIAA Championships this past weekend in the 195-pound weight class.

As some may know, Pennsylvania is arguably the toughest wrestling state in America.

Montgomery finished in seventh place a year before, so he was looking forward to a better finish.

He started the tournament on Thursday with a third period fall over Logan Green of Pennridge.

He then wrestled on Friday and got a decision 9-4 over Jason Henderson of Delaware Valley in the quarterfinals. With that win, Montgomery clinched his second state medal and the 17th in Bethel Park history.

Montgomery’s semifinal match was close all the way to the end. The match was tied 5-5 with Jacob Lucas of Cumberland Valley after three periods. No one got a takedown in the first sudden victory. The match then went into a 30-second rideout for each man.

Montgomery went down first and got an escape to make it 6-5, but in the next 30 seconds, Lucas stood up and got an escape to tie the match again.

The match then went into an ultimate tiebreaker. Since Lucas scored first points in the match, he got to choose his position and he chose down.

Lucas and Montgomery got into a wild scramble but Montgomery was able to hold him down.

“It was a brawl. I was exhausted, but it was all worth it. All the conditioning we did during the season paid off,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery became only the second state finalist in Bethel Park history; Nino Bonaccorsi is the only other.

Montgomery went on to wrestle Luke Stout of Mount Lebanon for a sixth time this year in the state finals, falling 12-1.

“Even though my goal of being a state champion came up short, to be second in the state is something truly special, ” Montgomery said.

Montgomery was supposed to wrestle on the WPIAL All-Star team at the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic at the Fitzgerald Field House on Saturday, March 14 but it got canceled due to the Coronavirus scare.