Here’s how State College wrestling claimed its first District 6 Class 3A dual title since 2003
State College senior Clayton Leidy couldn’t help but be overcome by emotion after the Little Lions’ dual with Mifflin County on Saturday during the District 6 Class 3A Championships at Tyrone High School.
Yes, No. 3 State College just clinched its first team dual title since 2003 with a 25-24 win over the top-seeded Huskies. This was also the first time Leidy and the Little Lions beat the Huskies during his time in high school.
“This is huge. I have never even been in this tournament my whole high school career,” Leidy said, trying to hold back tears of joy. “To come in my senior year and to finally beat Mifflin County, it is emotional. I’m really an emotional wrestler, so everything just clicked. I’ve loved every second of it.”
This is the first team title under coach Ryan Cummins in his seventh season at the helm of State College. He had a huge smile from ear to ear. It was a feat he knew his team could achieve after edging No. 2 Central Mountain 33-27 in the semifinals earlier in the day.
“We knew we had a shot, but the guys made it happen. I couldn’t be prouder,” Cummins said.
Leidy echoed his coach’s words: “We believed it (of becoming District 6 champions). The team captains in the room at the end of every practice, said this is what we are going to do. We came out, did it and now we are going to Hershey as a team.”
Leidy was part of five straight wins to start the dual, which the Little Lions used to help secure the crown.
Freshman Eric Weaver dominated Mifflin County senior Derek Burk, who was a PIAA qualifier two years ago, in a 7-2 match at 120 pounds. Fellow freshman Carter Weaverling followed with a 9-6 win over Lucas Sheetz.
Owen Barr got tossed into the lineup right before the dual began and made his coaches look like geniuses. Barr rattled off four takedowns in a 13-4 major decision over Marshall Maidens.
Owen Woolcott had four takedowns of his own in a 10-4 win over Kyler Everly at 138 pounds, which was a bump for Woolcott.
Leidy stepped to the mat against Ethan Kauffman at 145 pounds. It was a match that Cummins couldn’t have been prouder of his senior for.
“He wrestled as tough as I’ve ever seen him wrestle against a bigger opponent,” Cummins said. “He has just come miles in our program, just from a couple of years ago.”
Leidy frustrated the bigger Kauffman with a solid defensive base. Leidy got in Kauffman’s head so much that he was awarded a penalty point for Kauffman pushing him in the head. Leidy was able to escape from Kauffman in the third period and a stall point against Leidy made a final score of 2-1 for the Little Lions’ wrestler.
Leidy’s performance helped inspire his teammates the rest of the night.
“It shows that determination and hard work always gets the better half of it,” Leidy said. “Ethan Kauffman is a great competitor. I knew that coming into that match it was going to be a barn burner.”
State College was out to a 16-0 lead after Leidy’s victory. It was a lead that Huskies’ coach Kirby Martin said his team just couldn’t come back from.
“They got some early momentum. I don’t think we recovered from that,” he said. “They did a great job. They wrestled a very good dual meet.”
Martin’s team did respond though by winning the next four bouts to get within 16-15. Anson Wagner (152 pounds), Trey Shoemaker (160) and Trey Kibe (182) all secured decisions. Brycen Hassinger picked up a fall at 170 pounds.
The Little Lions’ Ty Price was able to swing the momentum back to his team’s favor at 195 pounds. He used a second period escape and a stall point from Jacob Krepps to pick up a 2-1 win.
Hayden Crum got Mifflin County back to within one with a 5-4 defeat of Tate McLaughlin at 220 pounds. At heavyweight, a bout that Cummins knew his team needed, saw the Huskies’ Blaine Davis secure just a 5-2 win over Harrison Schoen. In the December dual, Davis pinned Schoen. Mifflin County led the dual for the first time 21-19.
“The heavyweight match was big. Harrison did a great job keeping that close,” said Cummins. “At that point, we knew we had a real good shot. I knew Hayden (Cunningham) was going to wrestle really tough. Win or lose, he was going to keep it close. We can always count on him.”
Cunningham did exactly that against PIAA qualifier in Nic Allison at 106 pounds. Allison, who needed a major decision to at least have a tie dual score as a forfeit was coming at 113 pounds, came away with just a 3-1 win.
The Little Lions bench erupted. Coaches kept the team at bay until the forfeit was awarded and the match was completely over as to not lose a team point.
“This is huge for us. I’m so proud of every guy in the room,” Leidy said. “They push each other every single day. We have so much fun as a team. We came out today and showed we deserve to be at Hershey next week, so it’s awesome.”
Cummins and Co. are entering unchartered waters by reaching the PIAA team dual championships next week for the first time as a staff. Also, State College hasn’t been there since 2003, when it finished third.
The Little Lions will take on District 7 runner-up Seneca Valley in the first round of the Giant Center on Thursday evening at 6 p.m.
“We haven’t been here before at least in many, many years with the program,” Cummins said. “We haven’t been here before as far as our coaching staff. We are just going to keep grinding away and keep doing what we do.”
Mifflin County 47, Bellefonte 21
The Red Raiders, who were the No. 4 seed, looked poised to upset the Huskies. After dropping the first bout, Bellefonte won the next three.
Lane Aikey earned a 6-2 sudden-victory win over Burk at 120 pounds. Jude Swisher built up a 9-2 lead on Sheetz before pinning the Mifflin County wrestler in 2:26.
Alex Coppolo earned a fall of his own at 132 pounds in 3:18. Coppolo’s win gave the Red Raiders a 15-5 lead.
The Huskies responded in emphatic fashion with four bonus-point victories — three pins and an injury default. Everly, Kauffman and Wagner had consecutive falls to give Mifflin County a 23-15 lead.
At 160 pounds, Bellefonte’s Ethan Richner recorded a takedown on Shoemaker early. Shoemaker looked for a reversal on Richner, when Richner got injured. Richner grabbed his right knee and had to injury default only 50 seconds into the match.
“On paper, it looked like a match we could get momentum going,” Red Raiders’ coach Mike Maney said. “He goes down and it certainly takes some wind out of the sails. He’s a team captain and place winner. It definitely hurts.”
Mifflin County extended its lead to 47-15 by winning the next five bouts. They were all decisions except for Davis’ forfeit win at 285 pounds.
“It was a great start to the match,” Maney said. “We were able to run off three wins in a row and had some momentum going. We knew they had some tough guys there in the middle.
“Overall, happy with the team’s effort. Unfortunately, it didn’t come out best for us today. Hopefully, we can get healthy and compete for a team title in a couple of weeks.”
State College 25, Mifflin County 24
District 6 Class 3A Championship
Saturday at Tyrone
120: Eric Weaver, SC, dec. Derek Burk, 7-2
126: Carter Weaverling, SC, dec. Lucas Sheetz, 9-6
132: Owen Barr, SC, dec. Marshall Maidens, 13-4
138: Owen Woolcott, SC, dec. Kyler Everly, 10-4
145: Clayton Leidy, SC, dec. Ethan Kauffman, 2-1
152: Anson Wagner, MC, dec. Harrison Hoopes, 6-2
160: Trey Shoemaker, MC, dec. Noah Prewitt, 4-0
170: Brycen Hassinger, MC, pinned Braden Newby, 3:01
182: Trey Kibe, MC, dec. Lance Urbas, 4-2
195: Ty Price, SC, dec. Jacob Krepps, 2-1
220: Hayden Crum, MC, dec. Tate McLaughlin, 5-4
285: Blaine Davis, MC, dec. Harrison Schoen, 5-2
106: Nic Allison, MC, dec. Hayden Cunningham, 3-1
113: Bailey Weaverling, SC, won by forfeit
Takedowns: SC 13, MC 10
Records: State College 11-4, Mifflin County 14-2
State College 33, Central Mountain 27
District 6 Class 3A Semifinals
Saturday at Tyrone
113: Gino Serafini, CM, major dec. B. Weaverling, 14-2
120: Eric Weaver, SC, dec. Derek Keen, 7-5
126: Taylor Weaver, CM, major dec. C. Weaverling, 9-1
132: Woolcott, SC, pinned Zach Miller, 2:55
138: Leidy, SC, dec. Hayden Walizer, 9-2
145: Kaden Falls, CM, dec. Kyle Martin, 5-3
152: Lane Porter, CM, pinned Jason Dry, 1:07
160: Hoopes, SC, dec. Caleb Porter, 6-2
170: Damien Galentine, CM, major dec. Prewitt, 13-3
182: Urbas, SC, pinned Paul Risley, 2:22
195: Price, SC, dec. Nik Miller, 3-1
220: McLaughlin, SC, dec. Gage Sutliff, 9-4
285: Cyrus McCarl, CM, pinned Schoen, 5:26
106: Cunningham, SC, pinned Clayton Foster, 3:47
Records: State College 10-4, Central Mountain 10-4
Mifflin County 47, Bellefonte 21
District 6 Class 3A Semifinals
Saturday at Tyrone
113: Allison, MC, tech. fall Aaron Little, 16-1 (4:09)
120: Lane Aikey, B, dec. Burk, 6-2 (SV)
126: Jude Swisher, B, pinned Sheetz, 2:26
132: Alex Coppolo, B, pinned Maidens, 3:18
138: Everly, MC, pinned Brady Martin, 2:38
145: Kauffman, MC, pinned Alec Bossert, 1:40
152: Wagner, MC, pinned Andrew McChesney, 1:50
160: Shoemaker, MC, def. Ethan Richner, inj. def. (1:05)
170: Hassinger, MC, dec. Stephen Ivicic, 6-0
182: Kibe, MC, dec. Ethan Rossman, 8-2
195: Krepps, MC, dec. Tyler Benner, 5-4
220: Max Barrier, B, dec. Crum, 1-0
285: Davis, MC, won by forfeit
106: Aidan O’Shea, B, won by forfeit
Takedown: MC 12, B 8
Records: Mifflin County 14-1, Bellefonte 11-5
This story was originally published February 1, 2020 at 10:17 PM.
