NTL WRESTLING: TOWANDA'S EVANS TAKES SECOND AT REGIONALS TO PUNCH HIS TICKET TO STATES (March 1, 2026)

Northern Tier Sports Report
WILLIAMSPORT — Last year’s Towanda’s Gage Evans just slipped his way into states, this year he did a little better, taking second at the Northeast Regional Tournament on Saturday to punch his ticket for the second straight year.

“Doing it back to back feels great,” Evans said.

Evans (145) got a revenge win in the semifinals, 8-7, over Midd-West’s Charley Paige to get the finals. Paige edged him by two in the semifinals at districts.

“I knew that he was tough on his feet, so I kind of just worked on that a lot,” Evans said. “He’s a tough kid. It was a great match between us. I knew I had to beat him.”

Evans struck first with a first period takedown, but Paige got it back with a second period takedown.

Evans got an escape to take a 4-3 lead going into the third.

He would get another escape in the third to make it 5-3, but Paige hit a takedown with 48 seconds left for a 6-5 advantage.

Evans got the reversal with 20 seconds left, but was called for a penalty two seconds later for a 6-6 score.

Things couldn’t be decided by sudden victory, so they went into second tie-breaker.

Evans held Paige down for the whole 30 seconds, then got the escape when he was down for the win.

“It’s kind of nerve wracking,” Evans said about going into overtime. “I went out there, saw the match, saw the score, and did what I needed to do. I rode him out, then got my escape - it as a proud moment for me.”

In the finals Evans lost to 200 match winner, Montgomery’s Brandt Harer, by fall in 1:02, to finish with silver.

“It shows my improvement,” Evans said about climbing the ladder. “It’s just an overall boost seeing that I can put up with these tough kids.”

Last year Evans had a preliminary bout going into states, but now he’ll jump to the first round he looks to do better than 0-2.

“I want to go down there, do the best I can, and get as many wins as I can,” he said. “Hopefully, I can reach the podium this year.”

His teammates came up just short in the blood round.

Bryghton Yale (133) got a 6-5 win over Muncy’s Kase Snyder, then pinned Lackawanna Trail’s Riley Borruso in 4:07 to get the consolation semifinals.

There he got pinned by Honesdale’s Justin Scanlon in 30 seconds, then lost by fall to Wyalusing’s Cole Patrick by 35 seconds in the fifth place match to take sixth.

Hagen Jones (139) opened with a 4-0 win over Lewisburg’s Nolan Altoft, then pinned Lackawanna Trail’s Joshua Fowler in 4:24 to get to the blood round.

He lost 17-1 to Mifflinburg’s Ben Straub there, but got a forfeit win over Bloomsburg’s Anthony Barra to take fifth.

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PHOTOS BY LANCE LARCOM

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