HERSHEY — Louis Newell won three one-point decisions to get to the 106-pound finals at the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships.

And to make school history.

The Seneca Valley sophomore became the first Raider to reach a final since Rich Baron did it at 132 pounds in 1982.

Newell won his semifinal match against Brandon Meredith of Spring-Ford Saturday morning in Hershey, 3-2, thanks to an escape and a takedown late in the third period.

Newell was strong in the third period in all his matches, including the final against Tyson Klump of Nazareth.

Unfortunately for Newell, he fell into an 8-0 hole early against Klump and lost 9-3 to finish second in the state at 106 pounds.

“I think a good summary of Louis’ weekend was he went out and took care of business,” said Seneca Valley wrestling coach Kevin Wildrick. “He’s not a flashy wrestler. He’s not real fiery. He just goes out and calmly gets the job done.”

Even when Newell secured a spot in the finals, he showed very little emotion.

“I don’t think he even did an arm pump,” Wildrick said. “I think he expected to be there.”

Newell wrestled much of the season at 113 pounds. He began cutting weight down to 106 late in the season and had only two matches at that weight before the individual postseason began.

“We thought it was the best thing for him to stay at 113 most of the season, not only for the team because it was better for us for him to be up, but because it would be less wear on him trying to maintain that 106 weight all year,” Wildrick said. “It helped not having that toll on him all season.”

Newell adapted quickly.

“At section he looked better and at the regional we looked very strong,” Wildrick said.

Newell gutted out a 4-3 win in his first match of the tournament, getting a takedown to win with less than a minute remaining in that match.

In the quarterfinals, he pulled off another 3-2 win with an escape with 1:26 left in the match.

Wildrick said Newell’s penchant for scoring late was a testament to his calm approach.

“Coming close to the end of a match, he keeps his head,” Wildrick said. “Whether he needs to score to win or secure a lead, he wrestles the same way. He never got desperate.”