HS roundup: Centre County teams have 3 nationally ranked wrestlers to end season

Here’s what happened in Centre County high school sports from March 8-14:

Wrestling

Centre County teams end season with 3 nationally ranked wrestlers

The PIAA season has come and gone, and three wrestlers from Centre County teams ended their seasons ranked nationally.

St. Joseph’s Tyler Stoltzfus, the Class 2A 170-pound state champ, ends his season ranked No. 2 at his weight by both InterMat and FloWrestling. The Lock Haven commit ended his season with 42 wins and 24 falls — his quickest coming in 12 second. The top-ranked wrestler at his weight is Penn State commit Alex Facundo, of Michigan.

Stoltzfus’ teammate Caleb Dowling has also earned himself a top-10 ranking. The Class 2A 152-pound state champ is ranked No. 5 at his weight by FloWreslting and No. 9 by InterMat. The West Virginia commit led the county in wins this season with 44 and in technical falls with 13. He had the second-fastest fall in the county this season in seven seconds.

Bald Eagle Area’s Class 2A 145-pound state champ Gage McClenahan ends his season ranked No. 16 at his weight by both InterMat and Flo. The Cornell commit ended his season with 39 wins, 23 falls and three techs.

St. Joe’s Stoltzfus named to PWC roster

St. Joseph’s Tyler Stoltzfus became the first wrestler in program history to be selected to compete in the prestigious Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic originally set for Saturday.

Formerly known as the Dapper Dan Classic, the tournament, which has annually pitted the best Pennsylvania high school wrestlers against the best in the U.S. since 1975, was suspended amid the growing concern surrounding the coronavirus.

“He’s disappointed,” SJCA coach Pat Flynn said. “He’s been training all week, and his weight is under control. He was looking forward to the challenge.”

Swimming

State College’s Brownstead makes history

Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium went wild Wednesday when State College swimmer Matt Brownstead clocked 19.24 seconds in the 50 freestyle, breaking the national high school record set by Olympian Caeleb Dressel in 2013, en route to PIAA gold.

The senior also turned heads in the 200 freestyle relay with his split of 18.67 seconds.

“I don’t know if we’ll ever see that again,” PIAA official Amy Crowe told the Centre Daily Times.

The team of Foster Heasley, John Brownstead, Will Ulmer and Matt Brownstead placed fourth in 1:24.67. State College also earned a top-10 finish in the 200 medley relay, as the team of Zachary Lambert, Foster Heasley, Garrick Zheng and Matt Brownstead placed sixth in 1:33.79.

Brownstead also went on to win another gold medal on Day 2, with a time of 43.29 seconds in the 100 freestyle. Heasley finished eighth in the 100 breaststroke in 56.57.

Neither swimmer took part in the finals, and medals were awarded based on preliminary times, because the PIAA canceled the finals and consolations Thursday due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

Class 2A championships postponed

The PIAA announced Thursday that it was suspending both the state basketball tournaments and the swimming and diving championships for a minimum of two weeks due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

While the announcement cut the Class 3A championships short, the Class 2A swimmers — including those from Penns Valley, Bellefonte, Bald Eagle Area and St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy — never made it into the pool.

“I feel bad for the kids because they’ve been working really hard and looking forward to this,” Rams coach Steve Duck said. “To get down there and be told it’s postponed, that’s just not good. And the way the virus has been going and things have been getting canceled, it wouldn’t be surprising if it does get canceled.

“I just feel bad for the kids.”

girls’ basketball

State College’s comeback effort falls short

Despite a second-half rally, State College saw its season come to an end with a 51-38 loss to North Allegheny Thursday in the second round of the PIAA championships.

The game started off poorly for the Lady Little Lions as the Tigers jumped out to a 14-0 lead, and ended the first half up 30-15.

In the third quarter, State College’s Jada Coleman kicked the scoring off as she added two points within the first minute. The two teams ended the frame with 10 points apiece.

Seniors Maya Bokunewicz and Isabelle Leazier combined for 13 total points in the fourth quarter, as the Lady Little Lions outscored the Tigers 13-11.

But the rally wasn’t enough as State College ended its season 14-7.

Unified bocce

BEA’s trip to Hershey postponed

Bald Eagle Area’s unified bocce team will have to wait a bit longer to defend its state title in Hershey.

The tournament, where teams are comprised of four high school students with special needs and four without, was officially postponed Monday when Special Olympics PA announced it was suspending “all training and competitive activities” through the end of the month. (Unified bocce is co-sponsored by both the PIAA and Special Olympics PA.)

A spokesperson acknowledged that the state tournament will be “re-evaluated” after March 31.

Bald Eagle Area won the state championship last season, and it won the regional tournament March 3 to again qualify for the state tournament.

However, the team that won this year’s regionals, BEA’s Blue Team, fell to BEA’s Gold Team last season in the regionals. So, although Bald Eagle Area is seeking its second straight state title, a new group of students was looking forward to the trip to Hershey.

“They wanted that so badly, so this was a very tough pill to swallow for a lot of them,” BEA coach Erica

Milliron said. “They handled it like champs, accepted it and came here ready to work. But that was a tough blow.”

boys’ tennis

State College tops Central Dauphin

State College boys’ tennis beat Central Dauphin 4-1 on Monday in its first competition of the season.

The Little Lions swept in doubles with the team of David Chong and Evan Jones beating CD’s Aiden Wallmer/Dan Little (6-2, 6-4), and Ethan Rowland/Matt Labosky defeating Zac McIntyre/Sean Murphy

(6-1, 6-0).

In singles play, State College’s Ronit Patel defeated Derwin Merca two sets to one (6-2, 1-6, 7-6), and Daniel Xu topped AJ Krasley in straight sets (6-2, 6-0). State College’s Alex Mullen fell in two sets to Ryan Hsing-Smith (6-3, 6-3).

This story was originally published March 15, 2020 at 3:20 PM.