HERSHEY - The final step was the hardest one for Jordan Wood to take.
After two second-place finishes in the PIAA Wrestling Championships, the Boyertown junior had his heart set on winning a gold medal.
Even an injury that doctors said he shouldn't wrestle with this season didn't derail his plan of winning a state title Saturday night in Giant Center.
"For a lot of the season I thought I wasn't coming back," Wood said. "But then I started kind of not listening to doctors and started pushing myself more than they wanted me to. I felt good and I went with it."
Wood got the gold medal with a 4-0 decision over Seth Janney of South Western to cap a perfect but abbreviated season he didn't start until late January.
Wood was one of a record five Boyertown wrestlers to win state medals and one of 10 PAC-10 wrestlers to place in the top eight of the three-day tournament.
Boyertown finished fourth in the team standings, one point behind third-place Greater Latrobe.
First place was the only place Wood was interested in after losing in the 220-pound championship match in each of the last two years.
Wood (20-0) had two falls, a one-point win in the semifinals over Parkland's Omar Haddad and a dominating win over Janney (41-3).
"I got the monkey off my back," Wood said. "It's a good feeling. It was nice stepping on the 1 not a 2."
Wood nearly didn't even step on the mat this season because of an undisclosed injury he sustained wrestling in the offseason.
But he battled back to join the team late in the season, helping the Bears win a second straight District 1-AAA team title.
"When I told them (doctors) I was going to wrestle with it they said 'be careful,' " Wood said. "I felt 100 percent and I didn't reinjure it so I don't regret the decision. I'd do it all over again."
Wood was joined in the semifinals Saturday morning by Miller (41-12) and Killoran (42-13).
Miller suffered a 3-2 loss to Zack Trampe of Council Rock South. Killoran lost 15-5 to eventual champ Andrew Dunn of Bethlehem Catholic.
Wood got past Haddad 3-2 in the semifinals. Ironically, Boyertown coach Pete Ventresca pulled Wood from wrestling Haddad exactly one month earlier in the PIAA Team Tournament because Wood would have needed a technical fall to pull out the win and Ventresca said he didn't want to risk Wood getting injured.
"I didn't agree with at the time," Wood said. "But I guess he made the right decision."
In Class AA, Pope John Paul II senior Michael Collins was the only PAC-10 wrestler to place. Collins (34-4) placed fourth at 182 to become the first wrestling medalist in the school's four-year history.
In the bout for third place, Collins lost a 1-0 decision to Bermudian Springs' Colton Dull, who earned his 150th career win.
