Here are Centre County’s high school wrestling leaders through Dec. 22
The high school wrestling season is now three weeks in for Centre County’s teams.
All the schools have competed in at least one tournament and have had several duals.
Philipsburg-Osceola leads the county with three dual wins, but Bellefonte is the only team undefeated after topping previously unbeaten Bald Eagle Area on Thursday. State College was undefeated until falling to Mifflin County on Thursday.
As for the individuals, here’s a look at which athlete leads the county in wins, pins, fastest fall, technical falls and major decisions.
Wins
There are eight county wrestlers to have 10-plus wins already this season. There is a three-way tie at the top between a pair of Penns Valley wrestlers and a freshman from State College.
The Rams’ Malachi DuVall and Clayton Royer along with the Little Lions’ Hayden Cunningham each have amassed 12 wins so far. All of these wrestlers have at least one loss, too.
State College has another duo in Lance Urbas and Eric Weaver one victory behind the leaders. Bellefonte’s Ethan Richner and Jude Swisher along with another Little Lion in Owen Woolcott have 10 exact wins. Richner is undefeated on the season.
There are four others needing just one more win after the Christmas break to get No. 10.
Pins
DuVall has been dominating his opponents this year. In his 12 wins, 11 of them are pins. He is the lone wrestler to have double-digit pins.
The only time he didn’t pin his opponent was in the consolation semifinals of the Penn Cambria Panther Holiday Classic last weekend. The junior holds a comfortable four-pin lead over Richner.
Richner, just like DuVall, has recorded bonus points in all of his victories except one, which was the finals of the King of the Mountain tournament last weekend.
A pin behind Richner with six sees Urbas and Cunningham, who have pinned at least half of the opponents they’ve beaten.
Bald Eagle Area’s Drew Koleno, Swisher, Penns Valley’s Dristen Wolfe and Weaver and Woolcott round out the top 10 with have five pins a piece.
Fastest Fall
Bellefonte’s Tyler Benner has wrestled seven matches this year.
He is 4-3, but his first win of the season was an eight-seconds pin of Southern Huntingdon’s Breydan Whisler in the season-opening St. Marys Kickoff tournament. It’s the fastest fall as of right now.
It may be the best of the season, much like two years ago when State College’s Jackson Heasley got a quick fall early in the year that lasted all season long.
Benner’s teammate Stephen Ivicic is in second with an 18-seconds fall of Cameron County’s Dein Snyder in the St. Marys tournament.
Bald Eagle Area’s Gage McClenahan is making a memorable return to the mat after missing his junior year with a knee injury suffered in the football season. He pinned Bellefonte’s Brady Martin in 21 seconds in the Thursday dual, which is third best.
Richner and Penns Valley’s Nate Long round out the top-5 fastest times with a 22-seconds and 24-seconds pin, respectively. Richner is on the list twice as he had a 26-seconds fall to follow that 22-seconds victory in the St. Marys Kickoff. The junior was on the mat a total of 48 seconds in his first two matches of the year.
DuVall had one his 11 falls in the top-10 fastest as he is tied with State College’s Bailey Weaverling with a 28-seconds victory.
Technical Falls
Just as Royer is tied for the county lead with wins, he is also tied for the lead of this category with St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy’s Caleb Dowling.
Each wrestler has four on the season.
Royer has outscored his opponents 66-4 in his victories. Dowling, who will continue his career at West Virginia, has outscored his opponents 66-5 in his victories. He used three straight technical falls to win the 152-pound Tom Best Memorial Top Hat crown to start the year.
Dowling’s teammate Tyler Stoltsfuz, who will wrestle at Lock Haven next year, and State College’s Clayton Leidy are tied for second with three technical falls a piece.
Woolcott, Bellefonte’s Ethan Rossman and the Wolves’ Zack Witmer are the only other county wrestles to have multiple technical falls on the season.
Seven other county wrestlers have at least one technical fall victory.
Major Decisions
There are just four wrestlers to have more than one major decision this year.
The Eagles’ Cooper Gilham is the leader with three this year. Two of them came in the King of the Mountain tournament last weekend and the other was in BEA’s dual victory over Central on Wednesday.
Gilham opened his King of the Mountain with a 10-2 defeat of West Chester Henderson’s Billy Wilson. His second came in the third round of consolations over Saegertown’s Brandon Gaus, 15-3. On Wednesday, he topped the Scarlet Dragons’ Ian Crouch 11-1.
Urbas, his teammate Tate McLaughlin and Philipsburg-Osceola’s Chase Chapman were the others to have multiple major decisions.
Urbas has outscored his opponents in his victories 19-1. McLaughlin’s advantage in his wins is 30-6. Chapman topped his opponents 28-5.
Outside of these four wrestlers, 19 others were able to record at least one major decision so far.
Wins
| Name | School | Total |
| T1. Malachi DuVall | Penns Valley | 12 |
| T1. Clayton Royer | Penns Valley | 12 |
| T1. Hayden Cunningham | State College | 12 |
| T4. Lance Urbas | State College | 11 |
| T4. Eric Weaver | State College | 11 |
| T6. Ethan Richner | Bellefonte | 10 |
| T6. Jude Swisher | Bellefonte | 10 |
| T6. Owen Woolcott | State College | 10 |
| T9. 4 wrestlers | 9 |
Falls
| Name | School | Total |
| 1. Malachi DuVall | Penns Valley | 11 |
| 2. Ethan Richner | Bellefonte | 7 |
| T3. Hayden Cunningham | State College | 6 |
| T3. Lance Urbas | State College | 6 |
| T5. Drew Koleno | Bald Eagle Area | 5 |
| T5. Jude Swisher | Bellefonte | 5 |
| T5. Dristen Wolfe | Penns Valley | 5 |
| T5. Eric Weaver | State College | 5 |
| T5. Owen Woolcott | State College | 5 |
| T10. 8 wrestlers | 4 |
Fastest Fall
| Name | School | Time |
| 1. Tyler Benner | Bellefonte | :08 |
| 2. Stephen Ivicic | Bellefonte | :18 |
| 3. Gage McClenahan | Bald Eagle Area | :21 |
| 4. Ethan Richner | Bellefonte | :22 |
| 5. Nate Long | Penns Valley | :24 |
| 6. Eric Weaver | State College | :25 |
| T7. Drew Koleno | Bald Eagle Area | :26 |
| T7. Ethan Richner | Bellefonte | :26 |
| T9. Malachi DuVall | Penns Valley | :28 |
| T9. Bailey Weaverling | State College | :28 |
Technical Falls
| Name | School | Total |
| T1. Clayton Royer | Penns Valley | 4 |
| T1. Caleb Dowling | St. Joseph’s | 4 |
| T3. Tyler Stoltzfus | St. Joseph’s | 3 |
| T3. Clayton Leidy | State College | 3 |
| T5. Ethan Rossman | Bellefonte | 2 |
| T5. Zack Witmer | St. Joseph’s | 2 |
| T5. Owen Woolcott | State College | 2 |
| T8. 7 wrestlers | 1 |
Major Decisions
| Name | School | Total |
| 1. Cooper Gilham | Bald Eagle Area | 3 |
| T2. Chase Chapman | Philipsburg-Osceola | 2 |
| T2. Tate McLaughlin | State College | 2 |
| T2. Lance Urbas | State College | 2 |
| T5. 19 wrestlers | 1 |