Tanner Kennedy's drive has made him one of the top wrestlers in the area.

On Saturday, that determination got the Panther Valley junior a gold medal.Kennedy used a late takedown in the waning seconds of the 152-pound final at the Schuylkill League Wrestling Tournament to top Lehighton's Cody Scherer, 4-3."He doesn't stop," Panthers' head coach Tim Robb said of Kennedy. "He has that competitive edge."Against Scherer, he needed every bit of it, as Kennedy's takedown with 11 seconds left lifted him to his first league title."I was just trying to get the two (points) at the end of the match," Kennedy said. "He took me down in the second period, and I was kind of nervous. But I bounced back at the end, and in the third period just was able to dig deep and get the two and win the match."Scherer appeared to be in control after a scoreless first period, getting an escape and a takedown in the second for a 3-0 lead before Kennedy got on the board to make it 3-1 heading to the third.Kennedy chose bottom to start the third period, and got out to make it 3-2.That was the last of the scoring until Kennedy got the decisive takedown, and held off a near reversal by Scherer, to seal the match."I thought I was pushing the pace a lot. I kind of calmed down toward the end, and I didn't go as hard as I should have," said Scherer. "I really just tried to push it, and at the end, I almost got a reversal, but unfortunately, I couldn't come out on top."Saturday's final was also a rematch from earlier this season, when Kennedy topped Scherer 3-2 at the Anthracite Duals."Cody was smart," Robb said of Scherer. "Tanner's very defensive. Cody slowed it down and took really good shots, instead of taking a whole bunch of shots. Last time, I think he took more … he was just throwing shots at him, and Tanner would catch him and put him in a bad spot."So Cody wrestled smart. Cody put himself in a position to win the match. And Tanner just did his thing at the end there."And he did it with the match on the line."You can't beat getting that kind of competition, and putting that kind of stress and drama on a kid, and seeing how he responds," said Robb. "And he obviously responded well."Kennedy (21-5), the top seed at 152 pounds, made it into the finals by pinning Pine Grove's Marcus Kassab in 5:32 in the semis. Scherer (16-4), who was seeded second at 152, earned a 5-2 decision over Blue Mountain's Chase Sincavage to reach the finals.Like Kennedy and Scherer, Tamaqua's Tanner McHugh and Tri-Valley's Sammy Hepler also squared off in a battle of top seeds in the 138-pound final.Hepler, the top seed, earned an 11-3 major decision over McHugh to claim his fourth Schuylkill League title."He's tough," said McHugh. "I knew it would be a tough match."Hepler led 2-0 after the first period, and McHugh cut it to 2-1 after getting an escape early in the second.But Hepler (20-1) opened up his attack from there, recording two takedowns in the second period to take a 6-2 lead before taking control in the final period."I just tried to do what I do and wrestle my match," said McHugh. "It was working a little in the beginning. But Sammy's tough, and he did his thing, and I tried to do my thing, but it went the way it went."I just want to improve from here and take the mistakes I made there and improve on them for the end of the season."Hepler advanced to the finals by dispatching Mahanoy Area's Chris Kondash with an 18-3 (4:22) tech. fall in the semis. McHugh (19-3) won a 5-2 decision against Pine Grove's Dillon Kintzel to reach the finals.MEDALISTS … A total of 17 Times News area wrestlers stood on the podium Saturday at Jim Thorpe Area High School. In addition to Kennedy, Scherer and McHugh, the following area wrestlers finished in the top-six: Jim Thorpe - John Newhall (third, 113), Cameron Condly (fourth, 160), Ethan Mordaunt (sixth, 220); Lehighton - Nate Kemmerer (fourth, 120), Logan Pagotto (sixth, 126), Tyler Schock (third, 132), Chris Whiteman (sixth, 145), Dylan Schock (fourth, 170); Panther Valley - Derek Beckham (fifth, 145), Hunter Kennedy (third, 160), Chris Walkinshaw (sixth, 285); Tamaqua - Caleb Sell (fourth, 106), Pierce Demetriades (fourth, 113), Bronson Strouse (fourth, 220).TEAM SCORES … Pottsville won the team title with 216.5 points. Upper Dauphin (173.0), Tri-Valley (151.5), Blue Mountain (149.0) and Pine Grove (102.0) rounded out the top-five. Lehighton (95.0) was sixth. Panther Valley (72.5) was 11th, Tamaqua (70.0) 12th and Jim Thorpe (55.5) 14th.THAT'S A WRAP … The two-day event, which also included a JV tournament Saturday, was well-received.Jim Thorpe head coach Shawn Albert was eager to praise those who helped make the event a success."I thought it was a good weekend," he said. "I thought it was a good two days of wrestling. I couldn't be happier with our parents, and our wrestlers. It's the wrestling community here coming together to put on what I think is a good tournament."