Here’s how Bellefonte, State College wrestling fared on Day 1 of the Class 3A Northwest Regional

The ultimate goal this weekend is to win a Class 3A Northwest Regional title.

However, if Bellefonte and State College wrestlers want to get to the PIAA championships next weekend, they just need to finish in the top three.

Eight Centre County wrestlers reached the semifinals Friday night. That means they need just one more win to punch their tickets to Hershey.

Those who fell into the consolations aren’t eliminated just yet. But they’ll have a tougher road, needing to win four or five matches Saturday to continue to the state tournament.

Here’s a look at how the Red Raiders and Little Lions fared after Day 1:

Bellefonte

Semifinalists: Lane Aikey (120 pounds), Ryan Smith (132), Cole Stewart (138), Ethan Richner (152) and Ethan Rossman (182)

Others alive: Aaron Little (113), Alex Coppolo (126), Logan Simpson (160), Kyle Myers (170), Andrew Howe (195) and Max Barrier (220)

Team score: 32 points, 4th overall

Recap: The Red Raiders were originally going to come into the regional tournament with just 10 wrestlers, but Howe was able to become the 11th after the fourth- and fifth-place wrestlers from District 6 couldn’t go.

Bellefonte went 5-for-6 in the quarterfinals with four of those five winners earning bonus points.

“Once we found out that we had six in the quarters, we hoped to go 6-for-6,” Red Raiders coach Mike Maney said. “We got a little out of position there with Myers and cost (us) some points. Credit to the five guys that won in the quarters; it’s great that our guys keep focused on scoring points and not being satisfied.”

Aikey, Stewart and Rossman each wrestled two matches. Aikey used a pin to make the quarterfinals and 17-2 technical fall in 3:48 to reach the semifinals.

Rossman used two pins to set up a semifinals tilt against Penn State commit Carter Starocci of Cathedral Prep. Stewart began with a pin in 1:20 and ended the day with an 8-0 major decision.

Richner rattled off 17 straight unanswered points in 3:31 in his lone match of the day. Smith had to put in overtime in a 7-5 sudden-victory win to make the semifinals.

Myers was in too deep of a hole to climb out of and suffered an 11-2 loss in the quarterfinals. The day didn’t start out very well for the Red Raiders either, as they went 3-5 in the first round.

“The guys in the semis are one match away from states,” Maney said, “so that’s the focus of putting together six hard minutes all together. The first round wasn’t great, but we rebounded and wrestled really well in the quarterfinals, so hopefully we get that momentum going into (Saturday).”

State College

Semifinalists: Jude Swisher (113), Owen Woolcott (126) and Cole Urbas (195)

Others alive: Bailey Weaverling (106), Ty Price (160) and Tate McLaughlin (182)

Team score: 22.5 points, 9th overall

Recap: The Little Lions were able to send half of their entrants into the semifinals. However, Swisher especially had to work for it.

He breezed to an 18-2 tech fall in 3:15 to make the quarterfinals. But he was then forced to take on the District 4/9 champion in Williamsport’s Braden Bower, who was 31-2. Swisher gave up a late reversal in the third period and had to go to sudden victory.

After fighting off several Bower shots, Swisher used a takedown and straight to near-fall points for a 6-2 win at the buzzer of sudden victory.

“At this point in the year, he’s wrestling tough. He’s got a gas tank,” State College coach Ryan Cummins said. “A lot of these guys are cutting a lot of weight, so you don’t know what you’re going to get in the third period. He was pushing the pace the whole time. I think that might have been the difference there.”

Woolcott also wrestled two matches Friday — and he did so with ease. He outscored his opponents 30-3, opening with an 18-3 tech fall in 3:06 and then blanking his quarterfinals opponent 12-0.

Urbas went out looking for his 23rd pin of the season. He couldn’t get it but instead turned in a 16-1 technical fall in 3:24.

“They wrestled great today,” Cummins said of his trio in the winner’s bracket. “They showed up ready to wrestle, did what they had to do and won. They wrestled like they deserved to win.”

As for the other three still alive in consolations, McLaughlin used a 7-5 sudden-victory win to reached the quarterfinals. He just ran into a buzzsaw of Starocci, the Penn State commit, and was pinned in 1:18.

Price opened the day with a 14-3 win over District 8’s runner-up. In the quarterfinals, he was pinned by the District 4/9 champ in 2:51.

Weaverling suffered a heartbreaking 10-9 loss, giving up an escape late in the third period.

“I’m really impressed with their effort. They went after it,” Cummins said of his other wrestlers. “They fought hard the whole time. They are right there. We get all of those guys back next year, so it’s great experience whatever happens.”

Class 3A Northwest Regional

Friday at Altoona

Team key: Allderdice (AD), Altoona (A), Bellefonte (B), Bradford (BF), Brashear (BH), Carrick (C), Cathedral Prep (CP), Central Mountain (CM), Clearfield (CF), Cranberry (CB), DuBois (D), Erie (E), Hollidaysburg (H), Johnstown (JT), Juniata (J), McDowell (MD), Meadville (M), Mifflin County (MC), Obama (O), Perry (P), Punxsutawney (PT), Selinsgrove (S), Shikellamy (Shik.), St. Marys (SM), State College (SC), Warren (W), Westinghouse (WH), Williamsport (WS)

Team scores: 1. Cathedral Prep 56, 2. Mifflin County 40, 3. Central Mountain 35.5, 4. Bellefonte 32, 5. Shikellamy 30.5, 6. Clearfield 27, 7. Selinsgrove 26.5, 8. Cranberry 24, 9. State College 22.5, 10. St. Marys 20

Quarterfinals

113: Jude Swisher, SC, dec. Braden Bower, WS, 6-2 (SV); 120: Lane Aikey, B, tech. fall Avery Smith, W, 17-2 (3:48); 126: Owen Woolcott, SC, major dec. Coltyn Sempko, Shik., 12-0; 132: Ryan Smith, B, dec. Mitchell Rossey, CB, 7-5 (SV); 138: Cole Stewart, B, major dec. Aaron Sleeth, H, 8-0; 152: Ethan Richner, B, tech. fall Johnny Wittman, SM, 17-0 (3:31); 160: Anthony Robinson, WS, pinned Ty Price, SC, 2:51; 170: Evan Bingaman, Shik., major dec. Kyle Myers, B, 11-2; 182: Carter Starocci, CP, pinned Tate McLaughlin, SC, 1:18; Ethan Rossman, B, pinned Nazar Bubull, AD, 1:52; 195: Cole Urbas, SC, tech. fall Blaise Zeiders, S, 16-1 (3:24)

Preliminaries

106: Jacob Umstead, CB, dec. Bailey Weaverling, SC, 10-9; 113: Swisher, SC, tech. fall Aidan Northup, E, 18-2 (3:15); Aiden Gaugler, S, tech. fall Aaron Little, B, 15-0 (3:25); 120: Lane Aikey, B, pinned CJ Boyer, S, 2:28; 126: Woolcott, SC, tech. fall Tanner Ehrgott, M, 18-3 (3:06); Carter Dawson, WS, dec. Alex Coppolo, B, 6-4; 138: Stewart, B, pinned Teague Hoover, S, 1:20; 160: Seth Finnigan, C, pinned Logan Simpson, B, 5:13; Price, SC, major dec. Josh Morris, AD, 14-3; 182: McLaughlin, SC, dec. Derek Sunafrank, BF, 7-5 (SV); Rossman, B, pinned Mabrukhe Tagba, W, 2:16; 195: Brayden Crocker, CB, pinned Andrew Howe, B, 1:32; 220: Adam Young, Shik., tech. fall Max Barrier, B, 15-0 (4:14)