New faces, leaders and more after plenty of tournament action for Centre County wrestlers

With 2018 drawing to a close, five of Centre County’s six teams made sure to get in some more competition.

Penns Valley was the lone team to not wrestle, which allowed for other wrestlers to surpass Rams wrestlers who held top spots in a couple of categories.

Bellefonte and Philipsburg-Osceola wrestlers squared off a couple of times in the Conestoga Valley Holiday Classic. The Red Raiders’ athletes got revenge in most of the matchups after suffering a 35-32 defeat to the Mounties in a dual before the Christmas break.

State College had a couple of champions in the Governor Mifflin Holiday Tournament, as Bald Eagle Area and St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy were on opposite ends of the state competing.

Here’s a look at the changes after this weekend’s tournament action.

Technical Falls

The top two in State College’s Owen Woolcott and Penns Valley’s Baylor Shunk didn’t change, but there was a lot of changes behind them.

There is a three-way tie for third with a trio of wrestlers having three such victories this year. Bellefonte’s Ethan Richner and the Wolves’ Caleb Dowling each added another technical fall this weekend, but it was Richner’s teammate Laine Aikey who had a pair to jump up the board.

Aikey’s first came in the consolation fourth round of the Conestoga Valley Holiday Classic against Philipsburg-Osceola’s Austin Foster in a 15-0 shutout in 4:10. Aikey followed that with another 15-0 win in 4:12 over Conestoga Valley’s Rafael Rodriguez to reach the consolation semifinals.

The Red Raider finished fourth in the 120-pound weight class. Richner opened his tournament with a 16-0 defeat of New Oxford’s Kinser Laughman in 2:54. Richner went on to finish second at 152 pounds.

Dowling, like Richner, opened his Powerade Tournament debut with a 16-1 win over Mount Lebanon’s Jackson Gray in 3:16.

P-O’s Chase Chapman and St. Joseph’s Keegan Rothrock each added a technical fall to break away from a giant pack of wrestlers who were tied with one technical fall. Chapman’s came in the second round over Northern York’s Graham Shumaker, 17-2, with one second left in the match. Rothrock made a Powerade debut with a 15-0 shutout of Erie Prep’s Marques McClorin in 5:21.

Bellefonte’s Ethan Rossman, the Mounties’ Foster and the Little Lions’ Clayton Leidy each climbed into a group of 12 wrestlers who have one technical fall this season.

Major decisions

Like the technical falls category, the top couple of guys didn’t change; the Wolves’ Dowling holds down the top spot one ahead of teammate Kolby Franklin and Rossman.

St. Joseph’s Zack Witmer leaped into a tie for fourth with two major decisions. He didn’t have any until the Powerade Tournament.

Witmer debuted with a 16-4 win over Pottsville’s Wiley Kahler. He fell into the consolation round and had a 13-1 victory over Thomas Jefferson’s Michael Zacur in the third round.

State College’s Evan Courts earned an 8-0 shutout of Neshaminy’s Liam Noss in the 138-pound quarterfinals of the Governor Mifflin Holiday tournament to stay in a tie for third with Witmer and Richner. Courts went on to win the title at his weight class.

There were seven wrestlers who joined a herd of athletes who have one major decision this year. They were Bald Eagle Area’s Alex Holt and Garrett Giedroc, Bellefonte’s Aaron Little and Alex Coppolo, Philipsburg-Osceola’s Nick Bryan, St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy’s Tyler Stoltzfus and State College’s Clayton Leidy.

Wins

A pair of Little Lions -- Cole Urbas and Woolcott -- leaped over the Rams’ Abraham Allebach for the top two spots.

Urbas is the leader with 16 wins, all of them coming with bonus points. He has 14 pins and the other wins were a forfeit and injury default. The injury default win came in the finals of the 195-pound weight class at the Governor Mifflin Holiday Tournament.

Woolcott earned four wins on his way to finishing fourth at 126 pounds. He now has 15 this year.

St. Joseph’s Franklin collected six wins over two days to climb into a tie with Allebach at 14 wins. He finished third at 195 pounds with wins over the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in the Powerade Tournament.

Leidy and Stoltzfus were one of six guys a week ago who needed just one win to eclipse 10 for the year. They each added four and are tied with Penns Valley’s Clayton Royer and Malachi DuVall with 13 at fifth.

Dowling, BEA’s Dylan Bisel and State College’s Jude Swisher also needed just one win to get No. 10. They all had three and are tied for ninth with 12 wins.

There were six county wrestlers who were able to get their 10th win or more this week. P-O’s Chase Chapman and Hunter Weitoish each had four wins to get to 11 on the year.

Bald Eagle Area’s Cooper Gilham had two wins to get 10 exactly. State College’s Courts, Harrison Schoen and Tate McLaughlin each had four wins to also get 10.

There are now seven wrestlers who just need one win to get to double digits.

Falls and fastest falls

Urbas had three pins on his way to his title this weekend. Those gave him 14 this year and he has a two-fall lead over Allebach.

Swisher added two falls this weekend to climb into a tie with a trio of Rams wrestlers (Clayton Royer, Dillon Covalt and DuVall) for fourth with eight on the year.

Swisher had a pin in the second round of the Governor Mifflin Holiday Tournament. He then made the 113-pound finals with a 43 second pin of Upper Perkiomen’s Matt Martin.

The Eagles’ David Close and Bisel each had multiple pins this weekend to get on the leaderboard. Close had three to get to six on the year as Bisel had two to be tied with Close.

Last year’s pin leader, Amonn Ohl, is slowly working his way up and is also tied with Close and Bisel. Ohl, who finished with 34 pins last season, is in a pack of seven wrestlers who have six pins this year.

There were no new times added to the fastest falls list this weekend.

Wins

Falls

Fastest Fall

Technical Falls

Major Decisions

This story was originally published December 30, 2018 at 12:48 PM.