HERSHEY - North Schuylkill's Auston Hummel glanced at the clock.
Twenty seconds to go in the third period.
Trailing Bethlehem Catholic's Nick Cortopassi by one point.
Hummel still stuck on the bottom.
"I saw 20 seconds and thought, 'I've got to go with my best move and try to win this match,' '' the senior 170-pounder said.
So Hummel switched on the whistle, kept moving and reversed Cortopassi with 10 seconds left. Hummel rode out the remaining time on top for a 3-2 victory Saturday in a seventh-place match at the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships.
Two of the area's other placewinners - Hamburg senior Cody Miller (182) and Panther Valley senior Richard Nase (195) - lost their final matches and placed eighth.
Hummel (41-5) and Cortopassi (35-8) have seen a lot of each other lately. Hummel won in the District 11 final and Cortopassi prevailed in the Southeast Regional final.
"That's my best move from the bottom,'' Hummel said. "I've been hitting it since fifth grade. ⦠That's my No. 1, go-to move, and I knew I had to go with it.''
Hummel suffered two close losses in Hershey but finished with a victory that improved his career record to 134-34.
Now he'll have time to look at colleges. He hopes to land somewhere that he can continue to compete in the sport he began in kindergarten and got serious about in fifth grade with the Black Diamonds.
"It feels great to go out with a win, even though I didn't place as high as I wanted to,'' Hummel said. "It's good to end my career with a win, go out the way I wanted to go out.
"I don't know what I would do if I didn't wrestle,'' he added. "I love it. I've been doing it for a while.''
The area's wins leader, Miller (47-8) got accustomed to the Giant Center by helping Hamburg reach the semifinals of the PIAA Class AA Team Championships. Going 2-3 at individual states, Miller ended his career 142-34. Bermudian Springs' Colton Dull pinned Miller in 2:17 in their seventh-place bout.
Now he'll look to find a college where he can play football or compete in track and field (javelin, shot put, discus).
"The season was a lot of fun. Being here already with the team made it a lot easier to come here and wrestle as an individual,'' Miller said. "It was an exciting season. I'm bummed it's over now.''
Nase, whose future features football at Shippensburg University, fell 3-1 to United's Tyler Oliver in their seventh-place match. Oliver's second-period takedown made the difference. Nase ended his season 33-10 and his career 79-32.
"To get a medal, it means a lot,'' Nase said. "(The tournament) had its ups and downs, the wins and losses, but all in all it's a great experience getting here ⦠everything about it is fun.''
NOTES: It wasn't announced at last month's tournament, but Tri-Valley's Steve Donofrio was voted District 11 Class AA Assistant Coach of the Year by his peers. ⦠The Tri-Valley Athletic Association released its wrestling all-star team, and Upper Dauphin junior Coy Campbell was named MVP and a first-teamer. UDA seniors Trey Campbell and Devon Hoffman and sophomore Conner Boyer also made the first team. The Trojans' Todd Rupp and Juniata's Mike Robinson shared Coach of the Year honors. ⦠North Schuylkill senior Maura Gownley sang the national anthem Saturday morning prior to the Class AAA semifinals.