Central York's Dylan Chatterton, top, works his way to a 3:26 pin of North Hills' Gage Curry at 106 pounds on Thursday in Hershey. (Bil Bowden)

HERSHEY -- For the last two weeks, he had watched videos of his first-round opponent to get ready for the PIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships.

So Central York freshman Dylan Chatterton (106 pounds) knew how North Hills' freshman Gage Curry would attempt to take him down Thursday afternoon.

"I knew he was gonna go for a sweep (of my legs)," Chatterton said.

After a scoreless first period, when both wrestlers defended takedown attempts, Curry took a 1-0 lead on an escape and soon tried shooting at Chatterton's legs. But the Panthers' wrestler was ready. Chatterton caught Curry and took him to his back, locked on a headlock and got the pin in 3 minutes, 26 seconds.

Realizing he had just earned the first

West York's Kyle Narber, left, earned an impressive win over Pocono Mountain East's Ernest Fogle in a battle of 170 pounders in the first round. Overall, 10 York-Adams wrestlers remained alive in the hunt for state gold. (Bil Bowden)
state tournament victory of his young career, Chatterton popped up off the mat and pointed to his family and friends in the crowd at Hershey's Giant Center.

"I've came here for the past four years and been watching this," Chatterton said. "My dad would say 'It's hard to believe I'm gonna watch you down there.' This is definitely big."

Chatterton's performance kicked off what turned out to be a rather successful day for York-Adams League grapplers in the Class AAA event. He was one of seven York-Adams wrestlers who won first-round bouts on the Class AAA side to advance to Friday's quarterfinals in the three-day tournament.

In Class AA, Hanover's Ian Brown (132) and Bermudian Springs' Briton Shelton (145) and Tristan Sponseller (170) each won their first-round bouts.

Overall, 10 York-Adams wrestlers remained alive in the hunt for state gold medals.

Narber: One of the more impressive AAA victories came from West York junior Kyle Narber (170), who spent the last two weeks practicing against Kennard-Dale phenom Chance Marsteller (160).

Pocono Mountain East senior Ernest Fogle, who entered with a 32-1 record, held a 3-2 lead on Narber in the third period when Fogle locked both hands

Spring Grove's Zack Clingan, top, works his way to a 4:32 pin of Pennridge's Ben Ross at 120 pounds in Thursday's first round. (Bil Bowden)
around Narber's right leg. As Narber laid on top of Fogle for the final 30 seconds, Narber used all his strength to straighten his right leg while trying to make Fogle as uncomfortable as possible in an effort to break Fogle's hold. Finally, Fogle's hands broke free just before the final buzzer sounded. Narber was awarded two points for the 4-3 win.

"I was just trying to get a cross-face on him while working his hands off me," Narber said.

It marked Narber's first state tournament win of his career, which has been somewhat of an uphill battle. As a freshman, he lost in the first round of sectionals to finish with a 10-19 record. Last year he went 0-for-2 at districts. Now, he's moving onto the second round of states -- this

Dallastown's Cooper Deller, left, earned a 15-4 major decision over General McLane's Chris Laird at 182 in the first round on Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey. (Bil Bowden)
after helping the Bulldogs' football team reach the District 3-AAA title game last fall.

"I've just been wrestling a lot in the offseason, getting into offseason tournaments, doing some freestyle and Greco-Roman (wrestling)," Narber said. "Plus it helps having that extra year of experience."

Winners, staying alive: Marsteller, Spring Grove juniors Zack Clingan (120) and Mason Bentzel (145) and Dallastown seniors Tanner Druck (152) and Cooper Deller (182) also won their first-round bouts to advance to the Class AAA quarterfinals Friday, which start at 1:30 p.m.

Of the 14 wrestlers who placed fourth at the District 3-AAA tournament two weeks ago to qualify for states, Clingan, Druck and Narber were the only ones to win their first-round bouts Thursday.

Eastern York senior Alex Cooley (195) and Dallastown juniors Rodney Sunday (126) and Wes Hoover (138) all lost in the first round but won their consolation matches to stay alive and move onto the second round of the Class AAA consolation bracket, which begins at 3:15 p.m. Friday.

In Class AA, Hanover's Tyler Shafer (138) and Biglerville's Jasper Hankey (138), Josh Asper (170) and Trevor Stover (285) all lost in the first round but won their consolation matches.

The wrestlers in the consolation bracket can still earn a state bronze medal.

Spring Grove senior Derek Carlisle (113), South Western senior Aram Moffitt (220) and Fairfield junior Nick Mort (160) all saw their seasons come to an end with losses in the first-round consolations.

-- Reach John Walk at jwalk@yorkdispatch.com.