BELLEFONTE — Everybody involved in the Red Raider Rumble received an extensive mid-January look at their dual meet teams.
After eight hours of wrestling, the reviews were mixed.
On the tournament’s top rung stood Central Mountain, which went 5-0 and ended Saturday with a 55-18 victory over Exeter Township in the title match. On the tournament’s other end rested State College, which went 0-5.
Somewhere between the Wildcats and Little Lions, lurked Bellefonte and Bald Eagle Area. The Red Raiders went 4-1 and finished fourth. The Eagles went 3-2 and placed fifth.
Twelve teams made it to Bellefonte despite a nasty snowstorm. Defending champion Fauquier (Va.) couldn’t defend its title because of the snow. James Wood (Va.), Pittston and Crestwood also missed the duals.
A reduced field left organizers scrambling to find a practical format. They settled on two pools of six teams, with schools wrestling four duals before the placement round. Central Mountain and Bellefonte both went undefeated in Pool A, but the Wildcats scored more team points to win the pool. Exeter Township went 5-0 in Pool B.
“At the end of the day, we got the wrestling in,” Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said. “Any day there’s wrestling, it’s a great day. Overall, I think all the teams were pleased. They get some good competition in.”
Bellefonte’s final two matches demonstrated the varying emotions of a dual meet tournament.
The Red Raiders went undefeated in pool wrestling by winning three of the final four bouts in a 38-33 victory over Downingtown West.
The closing stretch included pins by Nick Shaw-ley (182), Toby Cain (195) and Garrett Poorman (285).
Bellefonte endured an opposite ending in the third-place match, dropping four of the final five bouts in a 39-31 loss to Hempfield. The Spartans, who finished eighth at last month’s Powerade Tournament, received a meet-winning pin from star 106-pounder Ricky Cavallo.
The Red Raiders started Saturday by defeating Quakertown 46-30, Hazleton 49-18 and Lehighton 42-27. Poorman, Tom Traxler and Leo Wortman went 5-0 for Bellefonte (8-3).
“Last year this was kind of a turning point for us,” Maney said. “Hopefully, the same thing happens here. Some guys got some wins and some confidence. At the same time, there’s some tough competition, so guys know what they need to work on.”
The situation appeared bleak for BEA midway through the fifth-place match, but the Eagles won the final six bouts to edge Downingtown West 40-39. David Gawryla (182), James Grieb (195), Aaron Varner (220), Nate Sharkey (285) and Travis Giedroc (106) ended the meet with falls.
The Eagles defeated Midd-West 61-10 and Pius X 48-25 to begin the duals. But losses to Exeter Township 40-28 and Hempfield 38-33 dropped BEA into the fifth-place match.
“The competition was what we were looking for,” BEA coach Steve Millward said. “We had five decent outings. The excitement was there for the last match. We just got down by too much in a couple dual meets and we didn’t have enough to makeup those team points.”
Sharkey, Jake Taylor and Matt Dillon went 5-0 for BEA (8-4). Taylor notched an impressive win against Hempfield as he moved up from 170 to 182 and defeated Kyle Spangler 2-1 in sudden victory. Spangler, one of the state’s top 182- pounders, finished second at the Powerade Tournament.
Taylor and Spangler traded escapes during regulation. Neither wrestler scored during sudden victory. Taylor escaped in the first tiebreaker before riding Spangler out in the second 30-second period.
“He was a tough wrestler,” said Taylor, who improved to 23-1. “He was really tough to move, and I had a hard time getting my offense going. It’s a really big win. I’m glad to get that.”
State College had little to celebrate. The Little Lions fell to Pius X 50-21, Exeter Township 66-3, Hempfield 53-12, Hazleton 49-15 and Quakertown 48-21.
“As a team, we were outmanned, outhustled, outfought and outwrestled,” State College coach Chad Dubin said.
Mike Kauffman went 4-1 for State College in a difficult 106- pound weight class. Jack Haffner, the Little Lions’ explosive 195-pounder, missed the duals because of a football recruiting trip to Indiana (Pa.).
With its lineup approach full strength, Central Mountain dominated Pool A, defeating Quakertown 51-21, Hazleton 58-13, Downingtown West 47-21 and Lehighton 69-9. The Wildcats then turned the title match into a rout by winning the first four bouts. Central Mountain (10-0) captured 11 of 13 bouts against Exeter Township.
“This match tonight was the best they wrestled all day,” Central Mountain coach Doug Buckwalter said. “We had other matches where we didn’t do some things or didn’t have the right intensity. We lost a couple of matches I thought we could have won. But tonight the whole team came together and did a nice job.”
Guy Cipriano can be reached at 231-4643.
