Here’s how 9 Centre County wrestlers reached Ultimate Warrior semifinals
West Branch’s Ultimate Warrior wrestling tournament is only in its fourth year, but it continues to grow in both size and prestige — and three Centre County teams experienced that firsthand Friday.
Bald Eagle Area, Philipsburg-Osceola and St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy combined to have nine semifinalists after the first day of the two-day tournament. As an indicator of the event’s toughness, state powerhouse Southern Columbia is participating this year and boasts eight semifinalists among the 32 teams.
The Wolves paced the local squads with six semifinalists in Amonn Ohl (120 pounds), Zack Witmer (132), Caleb Dowling (145), Keegan Rothrock (152), Tyler Stoltzfus (160) and Kolby Franklin (195). Joining the Wolves in the semifinals are BEA’s Cooper Gilham (113) and Dylan Bisel (182), and the Mounties’ Chase Chapman (132).
“It just goes to show you how tough wrestling is in Centre County,” Eagles coach Ron Guenot said. “I think it’s a tribute to the coaches of the county teams and what we have around this area, as far as offseason opportunities and in season, going to M2 and 4M clubs.”
St. Joseph’s sits in fourth place in the team race with 81.5 points. Southern Columbia (127.5 points), Mifflin County (101) and Brockway (83.5) are the top three. BEA is in sixth with 66 points and P-O is 17th with 45 points.
When the semifinals get underway Saturday, there will be an all-county matchup at 132 pounds with Witmer squaring off with Chapman.
The pair scored bonus points to get to their tilt. Witmer, who is the top seed, earned two pins totaling almost five minutes of action. He opened with a win over Clearfield’s Payton Smay in 1:30. In the quarterfinals, Witmer toppled Wilson’s Dustin Hunara in 3:29.
Chapman, who was the fifth seed, opened his day with a fall too. He took care of Moshannon Valley’s Micah Delattre in 4:31. He made the semifinals with a 13-4 major decision over Lake Lehman’s Bob Long.
“Witmer is a very seasoned wrestler. I think going into that match Chase has an opportunity to get the win,” Chapman’s P-O coach Brad Pataky said of the semifinal matchup. “If he has the same match that he had against Long against Witmer, really that’s anybody’s match. Going toe to toe with a kid like that is a confidence booster and helps him to realize what he is capable of doing.”
Added St. Joseph’s coach Pat Flynn: “Philipsburg is the new guy in town (2A) so I haven’t really watched Chapman wrestle for quite some time. I’m pretty sure the kids know each other. Zack will have his gameplan, and hopefully he can execute it.”
As for Flynn’s other semifinalists, all they did was win and win big.
Ohl, who is the top seed, added two more pins to reach 20 on the year. He wrestled a total of a little more than 3 minutes. Ohl beat Bentworth’s Noah Weston in 1:09 and Bradford’s Brett Thompson in 1:49.
Dowling had a major decision and technical fall as the top seed at his weight. He outscored his opponents 31-6. He began with a 14-4 win over Mifflin County’s Trey Shoemaker. Dowling followed that up with a 17-2 rout of Oswayo Valley’s Colton Gietler in 3:09.
Rothrock, another top seed for the Wolves, wrestled a total of 3:24 to make the semifinals. He opened the day with a pin of Towanda’s Riley Gowin in 47 seconds. In the quarterfinals, Rothrock took on Bellwood-Antis’ Alex Taylor and flattened him in 2:17.
Stoltzfus, who was the lone St. Joseph’s semifinalist to not go perfect on bonus points, opened with a pin of Tyrone’s Zach Lash in 1:11. The top seed grinded out a 4-0 win over Bradford’s Colby Keane to make the semis. The action was stopped numerous times in the bout due to the mat being right next to a wall.
Franklin had two pins on the day. He topped Lake Lehman’s Thomas Nalbone in 3:39. In the quarterfinals, Franklin took care of Blairsville’s Gabriel Kennedy-Citeroni in 5:52.
The Wolves also have Zach Rosenberger (170 pounds) alive in the consolations.
“We got a little slow start this morning,” Flynn said. “I don’t know what it was, maybe, it’s because we didn’t have practice (Thursday). The second round and quarterfinals were good rounds. We got some extra bonus points from the guys.”
Bisel also tallied bonus-point victories on his run to the semifinals. The senior opened with a 17-second pin of Hickory’s Caleb Benton. Bisel used a relentless attack against a much larger opponent in Latrobe’s Tyler Ross. He racked up a 12-2 major decision to advance.
Gilham had to put in a little work to reach his spot. After opening with a pin of Lake Lehman’s Jake Patlia in 1:23, Gilham had to get through P-O’s Nick Coudriet. Down 2-0, Coudriet rolled Gilham to his back for three near-fall points. In the third period, Gilham used two late tilts to come from behind for an 8-3 win.
BEA has David Close (195 pounds), Drake Holderman (126), Drew Koleno (145), Garrett Giedroc (120) and Richard Taylor (152) in the consolations.
“We are pretty happy,” Guenot said. “We are happy with the guys that got knocked off in the winner’s bracket and dropped down and rebounded in their next match. We picked up some falls and bonus points on the backside. Overall, we are pleased as of now. We’ve got a long day (Saturday).”
The Mounties nearly had two others in the semifinals in Hunter Weitoish (152 pounds) and Nick Bryan (106). The duo each suffered a quarterfinals los to drop into the consolations. Weitoish suffered a 2-1 setback to Johnsonburg’s Cole Casilio. Bryan was pinned by Southern Columbia’s Brady Feese.
However, P-O has three others alive in the consolations with Coudriet, Austin Foster (120 pounds) and Tristan Beauseigneur (145).
“Every single one of our guys has been wrestling really hard, that’s really the only thing we ask for,” Pataky said. “If they are going out there and giving everything they have, that’s a win on the day. We’ve got a couple of guys that are out of the lineup just banged up.
“Luckily, our guys responded really well. They are picking up bonus points in places they probably shouldn’t be. It’s just a team effort, and it’s really awesome to see.”
