Philipsburg-Osceola steals show at District 6 Class 3A wrestling championships

Once Philipsburg-Osceola’s Chase Chapman clinched the 120-pound title at the District 6 Class 3A Wrestling Championships, the Mounties fans rose to their feet and roared with pride.

The cheers picked up again when Chapman left the mat to head toward the bleachers in the Altoona Fieldhouse on Saturday. It was more of the same when Hunter Weitoish followed Chapman’s performance by winning the championship at 126 pounds. The back-to-back district titles highlighted an impressive showing by the Mounties, who finished third as a team with 177.5 points and led Centre County with 10 wrestlers clinching spots in the Northwest Class 3A Regional Championships.

“They definitely were very inspiring today,” P-O coach Brad Pataky said. “Every single one of them came out fighting and every single one of ‘em went down fighting. None of the guys quit. They continued to wrestle for six minutes, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Chapman and Weitoish won the first of six individual titles by county wrestlers Saturday. Bald Eagle Area teammates Seth Koleno and Garrett Rigg both won their weight classes, and the State College duo of Ian Barr and Cole Urbas also won titles. They’ll lead 26 wrestlers from Centre County into the Northwest Regionals, back in Altoona on March 2-3.

Chapman captured the 120 title by earning an 8-6 decision over Mifflin County’s Derek Burk in the finals. Chapman suffered an injury last year at the district tournament, resulting in a sixth-place finish and cutting his postseason short.

“It was kind of heartbreaking because I wanted to place and try to make it to states,” Chapman said.

But this year, Pataky saw Chapman consistently improve mentally and physically. He wrestled with poise and went into the district tournament as the No. 1 seed at 120. And he was ready to go, bringing the Mounties fans to their feet and eliciting cheers after his win in the finals.

“I’ll probably never forget it,” Chapman said.

After Chapman’s title-winning performance, Weitoish captured the 126-pound championship with a 2-0 decision over Bellefonte’s Ryan Smith. As the final two seconds of the match ran off the clock, P-O fans raised their arms and fired fist pumps in excitement.

The Mounties freshman proved to be the best in the district already.

“When you come in as a freshman at a weight where you’re going to run into sophomores, juniors and seniors, he’s not wrestling like a freshman,” Pataky said. “He’s wrestling to the caliber of his competition, if not above that.”

Weitoish became the first P-O freshman to win a district title since Russ Heeman achieved the feat in 1996.

“I didn’t know that it was that long,” Weitoish said. “I knew it was pretty long.”

Koleno, the BEA standout, accomplished the same feat when he was a freshman. The Eagles senior added his third district title Saturday.

“District 6 is a tough district,” said Koleno, who won the 138-pound title. “It’s one of the toughest ones, I think, and to come out having three district medals, it’s just an honor.”

But the Mounties stole the show at the district championships Saturday.

“They definitely exceeded our expectations,” Pataky said. “We knew they were going to come in fighting, but we didn’t know they were going to fight that hard. We’re just so happy for them. From the starters to the guys that are in the room fighting with them — second-string, third-string — it really is an overall team effort.”

The Mounties finished just ahead of BEA, which took fourth as a team with 156.5 points and will send eight wrestlers to regionals. Bellefonte (sixth; 110.5) and State College (seventh; 104.5) will both have four wrestlers competing at regionals.

This story was originally published February 24, 2018 at 11:07 PM with the headline "Philipsburg-Osceola steals show at District 6 Class 3A wrestling championships."