Pair of Centre County wrestlers surpass 20 wins and more in this week’s leaders

2019 opened with a flurry of action for Centre County’s wrestling teams.

Bald Eagle Area, Penns Valley, Bellefonte and Philipsburg-Osceola all had a dual this week. Over the weekend, the Eagles held their annual BEA duals, hosting State College and Bellefonte, among other schools.

The Rams traveled to Meadville for the two-day Tool City Tournament, taking a break from the Anthracite Duals this year. St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy took part in the Line Mountain Duals.

Let’s take a look of where some changes occurred in this week’s leaders with all the action.

Wins

There was no change at the top this week with a pair of Little Lions still there in Cole Urbas and Owen Woolcott.

Fittingly, they each became the first Centre County athletes to surpass the 20-win mark. Urbas now has 21, with Woolcott collecting No. 20 during the BEA duals.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy’s Kolby Franklin is right on their heels. Franklin went a perfect 5-0 in the Wolves’ action to remain in third with 19 wins.

A pair of Rams in Abraham Allebach and Malachi DuVall, and Franklin’s teammate Tyler Stoltzfus, are all tied for fourth with 18 victories. DuVall and Stoltzfus each had five wins like Franklin.

DuVall’s all came in the Tool City Tournament on way to a third-place finish at 138 pounds. Stoltzfus collected two pins, a technical fall and a forfeit for his victories at 160 pounds. He also earned career win No. 100.

Allebach had a pin in the dual against BEA and won three matches at the Tool City Tournament to finish second at 170 pounds.

Penns Valley’s Baylor Shunk and Dillon Covalt, and St. Joseph’s Caleb Dowling, also collected five victories this week.

Shunk earned a technical fall in the win over the Eagles, and then had four at the Tool City Tournament to finish third at 120 pounds. His 17 wins are tied for seventh with teammate Clayton Royer, Dowling and State College’s Jude Swisher.

There were several county wrestlers who were able to get their 10th win this past week. They included: Bellefonte: Alex Coppolo, Cole Stewart, Ethan Richner, Ethan Rossman, Lane Aikey, Ryan Smith; Bald Eagle Area: David Close, Garrett Giedroc; Penns Valley: Hadden Yearick, Zach Royer; St. Joseph’s: Amonn Ohl, Keegan Rothrock; State College: Bailey Weaverling, Tyler Price.

Falls

It remains a battle between Urbas and Allebach at the top. They each amassed three pins this week, so Urbas still holds a two pin lead.

Allebach earned his first pin in the dual against BEA. His other two came in the Tool City second round and quarterfinals.

Urbas’ pins all came during the BEA duals on Saturday. One of those pins took just 25 seconds to complete.

Urbas’ teammate Swisher had four pins in five duals for 12 on the year. He sits in third.

Teammates DuVall and Royer are tied for fourth with 11 a piece. They each collected three pins this week. DuVall had three in the Tool City Tournament to Royer’s two, but Royer earned one earlier in the week over the Eagles.

Penns Valley’s Dillon Covalt had two pins on way to his Tool City Tournament title to have 10 on the year and is in sixth all alone.

Last year’s pins leader, Amonn Ohl, earned three more pins this week and is tied for seventh with three other wrestlers. They include Ohl’s teammate Stoltzfus, BEA’s David Close and State College’s Clayton Leidy.

Technical falls

Woolcott mains a two technical fall lead over Shunk still as they each added two more this past week. The Little Lion has eight on the season.

Woolcott outscored his two BEA Duals’ opponents by a mark of 42-11. Shunk meanwhile had an 18-2 technical fall to close out the dual win over BEA on Thursday. He added his second in the quarterfinals of the Tool City Tournament.

St. Joseph’s Keegan Rothrock moved into a four-way tie for third with his third technical fall of the year. He topped Mifflinburg’s Cody Rokavec 18-3. Rothrock is tied with teammate Dowling and two Red Raiders in Ethan Richner and Lane Aikey.

The Wolves’ Zack Witmer wasn’t on the list all season until now. He had two this weekend, outscoring his opponents 34-2. He is tied for seventh with four other wrestlers. Bellefonte’s Ethan Rossman joins that group tied at two after adding another this weekend over State College’s Tate McLaughin 15-0.

Three athletes joined the list this week with earning their first technical fall. They were Penns Valley’s Andrew Sharer and St. Joseph’s Ohl and Stoltzfus.

Fastest falls and major decisions

Sharer continues to not wrestle full matches. He now holds four of the top-10 fastest times for the county.

The Rams’ wrestler tied himself for the seventh quickest time by recording his second 22-second pin. This one came over Franklin’s Christian Alcorn in the Tool City Tournament first round.

Bald Eagle Area’s Richard Taylor made his first appearance on the list this week. His 24-second fall over DuBois’ Gauge Gulvas in the BEA Duals is tied with Philipsburg-Osceola’s Austin Foster. Taylor and Foster are the only non-Penns Valley wrestlers in the top 10.

Dowling now holds a two-major decision lead over a trio of wrestlers. He added his fifth such victory this season and is ahead of Rossman, Franklin and Courts.

The Eagles’ Garrett Giedroc and the Rams’ Royer broke away from a pack of wrestlers to have two now this year. Giedroc’s came over DuBois’ Braxton Adams 12-1. Royer topped General McLane’s Matthew Leehan 10-1 to reach the 132-pound finals of the Tool City Tournament.

There are now 26 wrestlers that have one major decision this year. BEA’s Taylor and Dylan Bisel; Bellefonte’s Andrew Howe; Allebach and State College’s Julian Simmons joined the pack.

Follow Nate Cobler on Twitter all season long for high school wrestling updates and more

Wins

Falls

Fastest Falls

Technical Falls

Major Decisions

This story was originally published January 6, 2019 at 9:02 PM.