St. Joe’s and Penns Valley wrestling stand out, and more: HS sports roundup

Big winners in wrestling

Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy and Penns Valley both turned in strong showings at the 2018 Panther Holiday Classic wrestling tournament over the weekend, finishing second and third, respectively, in the team standings.

St. Joseph’s Caleb Dowling (145) and Tyler Stoltzfus (160) brought home championships while Keegan Rothrock (152) and Kolby Franklin (195) finished second in their weight classes. Dowling won a 17-3 major decision over Father Judge’s Caesar Fountain in the 145 championship finals. Dowling reached the finals on two technical falls and a pair of major decisions.

Stoltzfus pinned five straight opponents leading up to the 160 finals, which he won with a 7-2 decision over Akron Coventry’s Liam Fagan. Two other wrestlers placed as well for the Wolves; Amonn Ohl (120) came in fifth place, and Zach Rosenberger (170) was eighth.

For Penns Valley, Baylor Shunk (120) finished in second place, Clayton Royer (138) came in third and Abraham Allebach (182) was fourth. Malachi Duvall (145), Carter Felker (195) and Dillon Covalt (285) all placed sixth.

State College, Bellefonte and Bald Eagle Area each had three wrestlers place at the King of Mountain tournament over the weekend. Cole Urbas took home the 195 championship, as he pinned three straight opponents then won the finals by medical forfeit. Owen Woolcott (126) and Harrison Schoen (285) placed fifth and eighth, respectively.

For Bellefonte, Ethan Richner (152) came in fourth. Ryan Smith (132) and Ethan Rossman (182) each finished eighth. Dylan Bisel (182) and David Close (220) were fourth-place finshers for BEA. Cooper Gilham (113) was fifth.

State College was 12th in the team results with 85.5 points. Bellefonte finished 19th with 72.5 points just ahead of Bald Eagle at 20th with 72 points.

Boys’ basketball

Bellefonte overcame a slow start Friday night with a big second quarter and went on to beat Philipsburg-Osceola 68-45. Trailing 8-6 after the first quarter, the Red Raiders outscored P-O 22-7 in the second for a double-digit halftime lead they would not relinquish.

Noah Badger led Bellefonte with a game-high 20 points, Nate Tice scored 18, and Caleb Rockey added 12 points. Carson Jones scored a team-high 15 points for the Mounties. Ryan Whitehead and Isiah Scalzo added eight points apiece. Bellefonte improves to 3-0 with the win. Philipsburg falls to 1-3.

Bald Eagle lost a defensive struggle Friday night against Central, 37-32. The host Eagles got 11 points a team-high 11 points from Jaden Jones and 10 from Drew Bucha. Nathan Hoover, Luke Wilson and Nick Maynard led BEA’s strong defensive effort.

Girls’ basketball

Bellefonte evened its record at 2-2 with a 64-46 win over Philipsburg-Osceola, which fell to 2-2 with the loss. P-O raced out to an early lead with a 23-point first quarter, but the Bellefonte defense held the Lady Mounties to just 23 points over the final three quarters combined.

Maddie Tice led the Lady Raiders with 23 points, Mal Smith scored 15, and Sara DeHaas added 12 points. Halle Herrington scored a game-high 34 points for the Lady Mounties.

Bald Eagle Area lost a hard-fought, defensive struggle Friday night at home against Central, 23-22. Lacee Barnhart scored a team-high 10 points for the Lady Eagles. “I couldn’t be more proud of the girls,” BEA coach Darin Hazel said. “The girls have bought into the philosophy and are playing some of the best I’ve ever seen. Their defense put us into position to beat one of the better teams in District 6.”

Penns Valley improved to 3-0 with a 48-42 win over Tyrone Friday. Hannah Montminy led the Lady Rams with 16 points, and Bella Culver scored 14.

Gymnastics

Sarah Connor won first place in three events to help Bellefonte down Ridgeway 125.10 to 106.325. Connor took first in the vault, bars and floor for the Lady Raiders. She scored an 8.625 in the vault, 7.85 in bars and 8.7 in floor.

Samantha Hackenberg took first in beam with a 7.6. She finished second in both the bars and the floor events with scores of 7.475 and 8.45, respectively. Ahleah Krout brought home a second place finish in beam with a 7.4. Evan McMullen was third in the vault with an 8.25 and third in floor with an 8.2. Emily Hovies scored a 7.0 on bars for a third place finish, and Emma Regal was third in beam with a 7.325.