Call it a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Alex Krom.

It's not the sort of statistic anyone would keep records on, but it's safe to say a high school wrestler rarely has the opportunity to face three state champions in consecutive matches.

Krom had that chance this week, and he capitalized on it.

After losing to Reading's Charles Griffin — a Pennsylvania Class 3A champ — on Thursday night, the Easton junior rebounded to beat Cameron Doggett of St. Paris Graham (Ohio) and Richard Fessler of Apple Valley (Minn.) on Saturday.

Krom earned a 4-2 decision in the morning over Doggett (who finished fifth at the Beast of the East), before defeating Fessler in the afternoon. And, with a 1-0 victory over Blair Academy's Chris Frederick at night, Krom completed a perfect day at 125 pounds.

He also took home the outstanding wrestler trophy at the National High School Coaches Association's Final Four of Wrestling at Easton High School.

''It meant a lot ,'' Krom said. ''After I wrestled a state champ on Thursday at Reading, it meant a lot to come back here and prove myself.''

''It kind of speaks for your schedule when you can wrestle three state champs in a row,'' Easton coach Steve Powell added. ''It's been a great week.''

But while Krom went 3-0 on Saturday, the Red Rovers had to settle for 2-1 at the Final Four. They opened the dual-meet event with a 36-33 victory over St. Paris Graham and then added a 41-23 victory over Apple Valley.

At the end of the night, though, Blair Academy was too much.

The Buccaneers used bonus points in seven matches — including four falls — on their way to a 46-20 win over the Rovers. Easton, in contrast, scored bonus points in three matches — Seth Ciasulli (119) and Mike Rogers (152) won major decisions, and Jason Groller (275) won by injury default.

Easton had a 10-0 lead after Josh Oliver (112) and Ciasulli (119) won the first two bouts and Krom escaped to beat Frederick with four seconds left in the third period.

''I was starting to get frustrated,'' said Krom, who almost escaped earlier in the period. ''But with six seconds left, I thought it was possible, and I didn't want to go into overtime.''

From that point, though, it was mostly Blair; the Bucs won nine of the final 11 bouts. Easton also wrestled Apple Valley and Blair without 160-pounder Sean Richmond, who injured his elbow earlier.

Oliver won three times (including two pins), and Rogers had one pin and two major decisions. Ciasulli and Groller (who was leading Blair's John Kane 7-1 when Kane defaulted in the third period) also went 3-0.

beth.hudson@mcall.com

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