Bellefonte, State College and BEA come away with 7 champs and a team title at Big 7 wrestling tournament
The Big 7 wrestling tournament was created to allow the eight member schools to gain more competition during the regular season rather than having to schedule each other for duals.
Well, the Big 7 Conference couldn’t account for a pandemic, but Saturday’s tournament served as a nice preview for what the District 6 Class 3A championships could look like for Bellefonte and State College.
The Red Raiders and Little Lions will face Altoona, Hollidaysburg and Central Mountain in the nine-team individual district championships. With a 1-2 finish in the team race on Saturday, Bellefonte and State College look like they are in prime position for a solid postseason.
The Red Raiders and Little Lions were joined by Bald Eagle Area, Altoona, Hollidaysburg, Central Mountain and Jersey Shore on Saturday. Shikellamy is the last school in the conference, but were was to compete due to COVID complications with the team. It was the first individual tournament this year for most, if not all, of the schools.
Bellefonte claimed the team crown with 187.5 points and four champions. State College finished as the runner up with 184 points and two champions. Central Mountain rounded out the top three with 174 points.
The Eagles finished fourth with 130 points.
Here’s a breakdown of how each of Centre County’s teams did:
Bellefonte
Champions: Jude Swisher (132 pounds), Ethan Richner (160), Ethan Rossman (189), Addison Shawley (285)
Other finishers: Garrett Choates (4th, 106 pounds), Aidan O’Shea (2nd, 113), Aaron McClusick (5th, 120), Nathan Smith (4th, 126), Gage Long (4th, 138), Dylan Dann (4th, 145), Andrew McChesney (5th, 152), Stephen Ivicic (4th, 172), Max Barrier (4th, 215)
Recap: It was clear that the Red Raiders were going to be good this year as they returned most of their starters from a squad that won a PIAA Northwest Regional crown.
The question was, how good would they be?
Saturday showed that this team is set up to repeat as region champs and possibly win a District 6 title.
“First and foremost, we are just grateful for the opportunity to compete,” Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said. “This year, any given day could be taken away or the season could be cut short. It was a great test to see where we were at in a tournament format.
“We’ll be here in Altoona in a couple of weeks for districts and regionals,” he said. “We definitely have some things to work on going forward, but I’m overall happy with the guys’ performance.”
The Red Raiders crowned four champions, but had five total finalists. Swisher and Shawley had memorable finals matchups for different reasons.
Swisher cruised to the 132-pound finals, where he took on State College’s Pierson Manville, who has been on several national teams, whether it be freestyle, folkstyle or Greco-Roman wrestling.
Manville caught and stuck Swisher on his back late in the first period, but the buzzer saved the junior. The four points the freshman scored on Swisher would be it.
Swisher showed off his maturity and focus to rally for a 10-6 victory. He trailed 4-3 to start the third period, but Swisher’s pace earned him seven points in the third period and nearly a fall.
“It was two of the best guys in country, and we got to witness it here,” Maney said. “Hopefully, we get to watch it a few more times this season. Credit to Jude, no one is going to keep up with his pace. He stayed focused and knew what he had in the gas tank. He strung together a series of points. It was a really good match for both guys.”
Shawley, who is a rookie on the varsity level, had a tremendous tournament and a coming out party. The sophomore took on top seed Trevor Manley, of Altoona, in the semifinals at 285 pounds.
Shawley trailed 1-0 late in the third period against the senior, who finished fourth in the regional tournament last year. The Red Radiers’ wrestler picked up a reversal with just over 30 seconds left in the bout and used his conditioning to top Manley to reach the finals.
In the finals, Shawley again kept it close with Central Mountain’s Gage Sutliff, who is a defending District 6 Class 3A champion. The pair went into overtime tied 1-1.
Shawley shot in on Sutliff for a winning takedown 19 seconds into the match.
“He is giving up weight. We knew he was scrappy,” Maney said of his wrestler. “He had a pretty successful junior high career. In the semis, he upset a kid from Altoona, a much bigger kid and upperclassman. It put him on the radar.”
Richner and Rossman cruised to their titles to join Swisher and Shawley.
Richner built up a 12-point lead on Jersey Shore’s Tyler Bauder, and then pinned Bauder in 3:04. Rossman scored nine unanswered points against Jersey Shore’s Hayden Packer to earn a 9-0 major decision.
Even though his team had all its success, Maney knows there is still work to be done, and winning the Big 7 title was just a step toward reaching their goals.
State College
Champions: Lance Urbas (172 pounds), Nick Pavlechko (215)
Other finishers: Maddy Baney (7th, 106), Tom Hill (5th, 113), Bailey Weaverling (3rd, 120), Owen Woolcott (2nd, 126), Pierson Manville (2nd, 132), Eric Weaver (2nd, 138), Kyle Martin (3rd, 145), Carter Weaverling (2nd, 152), Braden Newby (6th, 160), Ty Price (4th, 189), Harrison Schoen (4th, 285)
Recap: The Little Lions had the most finalists of any of the schools, but only came away with two wins.
State College wrestlers went 2-4 in the finals matchups, but the losses came against some really good wrestlers. Even though the record wasn’t great, coach Ryan Cummins was still pleased with his team.
“I think they wrestled well,” he said. “For the few (matches) we’ve had compared to other teams, we looked pretty good. Our conditioning looked good. The guys were scraping hard. I was impressed with what I saw today.”
Those two champs were Urbas and Pavlechko. They are guys who are at opposite ends of their careers.
Urbas is in his final high school season before heading to the University of Pennsylvania, where he’ll join big brother Cole.
On Saturday, the senior outscored his opponents 34-3 to claim the 172-pound title. Urbas opened with a 16-0 shutout of Bellefonte’s Stephen Ivicic in 4:15 of wrestling action.
In the finals, Urbas held a 10-0 lead heading to the third period against Hollidaysburg’s Aaron Sleeth. Urbas rattled off four takedowns to secure an 18-3 technical fall in 5:25
“He is very methodical. He does everything right,” Cummins said. “He makes it look easy. He is a solid wrestler all the way around. He’s a good leader.”
Pavlechko is just starting his high school career as a freshman. He entered Saturday coming off a loss on Thursday.
Pavlechko earned three wins. He started and ended the day with falls. However, the 3-2 decision in the semifinals over Central Mountain’s Nikolas Miller, who was the top seed, was the biggest win so far in his career.
In the finals, the freshman out paced Altoona’s Colin Allmond to the tune of a 6-1 lead before pinning the Mountain Lion in 4:49.
“He has come miles since last year. He has really matured,” Cummins said. “He has become a heck of a wrestler. We are excited for this season and the seasons to come with him.”
As previously mentioned, Manville suffered a loss to Swisher. Eric Weaver was pinned by Central Mountain’s Taylor Weaver in the finals at 138 pounds.
Carter Weaverling suffered a heart-breaking 4-3 loss to Central Mountain’s Griffin Walizer, after giving up a late takedown. Owen Woolcott fell to Central Mountain’s Luke Simcox 2-0 with Simcox’s reversal in the third period the winning points.
Bald Eagle Area
Champions: Coen Bainey (113 pounds)
Other finishers: Lucas Fye (2nd, 106), Hunter Gardner (4th, 120), Cooper Gilham (3rd, 126), Jeffre Pifer (7th, 132), Mason Reese (3rd, 138), Grace Stem (5th, 145), Cameron Dubbs (4th, 152), Noah Foltz (3rd, 160), Brady Proctor (6th, 172), Matt Knepp (5th, 189), Nathan Antonuccio (6th, 285)
Recap: The Eagles are a young group with only three seniors on the team.
Having such a young squad will be tough to manage even in a normal year. This season can’t be very easy for coach Ron Guenot, especially since the team just had their first dual on Thursday against a powerhouse in Central Mountain, and they haven’t had a whole lot of practices.
“We saw some improvement in certain areas. There are still a lot of things we need to work on,” Guenot said. “Conditioning, we have a way to go with that. We knew it was going to be something we’ll have to build on with how our practice schedule has fallen. There are some positives we can take from this. We are young and just going to keep improving every day.”
BEA had two finalists, which were at the lowest two weights. Those finalists were also underclassmen.
Bainey, who is a sophomore, was the lone title winner for the Eagles. He took on Bellefonte’s Aidan O’Shea for the 113-pound title.
Last season, Bainey and O’Shea made a name for themselves. Bainey came in with high expectations as a freshman after having a very successful youth and junior high career. O’Shea came out of nowhere to qualify for the PIAA championships.
Bainey seemed to have no problems with the longer O’Shea. He racked up a 7-3 win over the Red Raiders’ wrestler, but really wanted a fall. Bainey nearly had it as he had O’Shea locked up in a cradle, but O’Shea was injured and time was called. Bainey was fired up about the stoppage.
“Coen continues to do what we expect him to do,” Guenot said. “O’Shea is a tough kid and returning state qualifier, that is a good win for Coen. This time of year, we want to see those tough matchups right now, because we are not far from the postseason.”
Fye, who is a freshman, opened his first varsity tournament with a pin in 40 seconds. He followed up with an 11-9 win in the semifinals over Bellefonte’s Garrett Choates.
In the finals, Fye met his match in Jersey Shore’s Brock Weiss, who is also a freshman. Weiss controlled the 106-pound final from start to finish. After giving up a penalty point, the Bulldogs’ wrestler scored nine unanswered points to lead 9-1 after two periods.
Fye was able to score a reversal in the third period, but it was too late in an 11-3 loss.
“Lucas is going to do some great things,” Guenot said. “He is a hard worker. He just needs to work on some positioning situations and not get himself in danger. At this level, it’ll cost you.”
Even though the day may not have gone the way Guenot would’ve liked, Guenot still explained the day as fun. He was able to see his team on the mat again and to see their improvements.
Big 7 Tournament
Saturday at Altoona
Team key: Altoona (A), Bald Eagle Area (BEA), Bellefonte (B), Central Mountain (CM), Hollidaysburg (H), Jersey Shore (JS), State College (SC)
Team scores: 1. Bellefonte 187.5, 2. State College 184, 3. Central Mountain 174, 4. Bald Eagle Area 130, 5. Jersey Shore 121, 6. Altoona 119, 7. Hollidaysburg 77
Finals
106: Brock Weiss, JS, major dec. Lucas Fye, BEA, 11-3; 113: Coen Bainey, BEA, dec. Aidan O’Shea, B, 7-3; 120: Caleb Fasick, A, major dec. Zane Cooper, CM, 11-1; 126: Luke Simcox, CM, dec. Owen Woolcott, SC, 2-0; 132: Jude Swisher, B, dec. Pierson Manville, SC, 10-6; 138: Taylor Weaver, CM, pinned Eric Weaver, SC, 2:26; 145: Gabe Andrus, JS, dec. Rocco Serafini, CM, 6-1; 152: Griffin Walizer, CM, dec. Carter Weaverling, SC, 4-3; 160: Ethan Richner, B, pinned Tyler Bauder, JS, 3:04; 172: Lance Urbas, SC, tech. fall Aaron Sleeth, H, 18-3 (5:25); 189: Ethan Rossman, B, major dec. Hayden Packer, JS, 9-0; 215: Nick Pavlechko, SC, pinned Colin Allmond, A, 4:39; 285: Addison Shawley, B, dec. Gage Sutliff, CM, 3-1 (OT)
Third-Place Matches
106: Noah Horne, H, pinned Garrett Choates, B, 2:08; 120: Bailey Weaverling, SC, dec. Hunter Gardner, BEA, 4-2; 126: Cooper Gilham, BEA, dec. Nate Smith, B, 6-2; 138: Mason Reese, BEA, pinned, Gage Long, B, 1:21; 145: Kyle Martin, SC, pinned Dylan Dann, B, 4:41; 152: Adam Zerbee, A, dec. Cameron Dubbs, BEA, 10-4; 160: Noah Foltz, BEA, dec. Damien Galentine, CM, 6-5; 172: Gabe Packer, JS, dec. Stephen Ivicic, B, 4-0; 189: Josh Keirn, A, injury def. Ty Price, SC; 215: Nikolas Miller, CM, major dec. Max Barrier, B, 15-1; 285: Trevor Manley, A, dec. Harrison Schoen, SC, 3-1
Fifth-Place Matches
113: Tom Hill, SC, major dec. Eli Wisor, A, 10-1; 145: Grace Stem, BEA, dec. Matt Bowser, A, 9-5; 152: Andrew McChesney, B, dec. Cade Vuocolo, JS, 2-1; 160: Campbell Walls, H, dec. Braden Newby, SC, 3-0; 172: Caleb Porter, CM, dec. Brady Proctor, BEA, 7-1; 189: Matt Knepp, BEA, dec. Brayden Blackwell, CM, 5-1; 285: Springman Lee, JS, pinned Nathan Antonuccio, BEA, 2:37
Consolation Semifinals
106: Choates, B, tech. fall Madison Packer, CM, 21-6 (3:50); 113: Clayton Foster, CM, dec. Hill, SC, 9-4; 120: B. Weaverling, SC, pinned Aaron McClusick, B, 2:13; 126: Gilham, BEA, pinned Jordan Carlucci, A, :49; Smith, B, pinned Brian Praul, H, 3:38; 138: Reese, BEA, pinned Wyatt Young, A, 2:12; Long, B, pinned Weston Barnes, H, 4:10; 145: Martin, SC, major dec. Matt Bowser, A, 11-3; Dann, B, dec. Stem, BEA, 6-5; 152: Dubbs, BEA, dec. McChesney, 2-1; 160: Foltz, BEA, dec. Newby, SC, 4-2; 172: Ivicic, B, major dec. Proctor, BEA, 12-4; 189: Price, SC, major dec. Knepp, BEA, 11-0; 215: Barrier, B, dec. Dylan Ross, JS, 6-5; 285: Schoen, SC, dec. Springman Lee, JS, 9-4; Manley, A, pinned Antonuccio, BEA, 2:01
Consolation Quarterfinals
106: Degennaro, A, pinned Maddy Baney, SC, 2:47; 132: Gaige Rabenstein, H, major dec. Jeffre Pifer, BEA, 10-0; 172: Proctor, BEA, pinned Austin Kravetz, A, 2:59
Semifinals
106: Fye, BEA, dec. Choates, B, 11-9; 113: Bainey, BEA, pinned Hill, SC, 1:10; O’Shea, B, pinned Xavier Adams, H, 3:08; 120: Cooper, CM, dec. Gardner, BEA, 7-1; Fasick, A, dec. B. Weaverling, SC, 5-4; 126: Woolcott, SC, major dec. Smith, B, 10-0; Simcox, CM, dec. Gilham, BEA, 3-0; 132: Swisher, B, tech. fall Finnegan, A, 24-9 (4:54); P. Manville, SC, tech. fall Goodrich, JS, 16-0 (4:04); 138: Weaver, CM, pinned Long, B, 2:42; Weaver, SC, dec. Reese, BEA, 5-2; 145: Andrus, JS, pinned Stem, BEA, 2:36; Serafini, CM, dec. Martin, SC, 9-2; 152: C. Weaverling, SC, tech. fall McChesney, B, 15-0 (1:47); 160: Richner, B, tech. fall Foltz, BEA, 16-0 (2:53); 172: Urbas, SC, tech. fall Ivicic, B, 16-0 (4:15); 189: Rossman, B, pinned Keirn, A, 7-6; Packer, JS, pinned Price, SC, 4:11; 215: Pavlechko, SC, dec. Miller, CM, 3-2; Allmond, A, major dec. Barrier, B, 10-1; 285: Shawley, B, dec. Manley, A, 2-1; Sutliff, CM, dec. Schoen, SC, 4-3
Quarterfinals
106: Choates, B, pinned Degennaro, A, :41; Fye, BEA, pinned Baney, SC, :40; 113: Hill, SC, major dec. Wisor, A, 12-0; 120: Gardner, BEA, pinned McClusick, B, 1:04; 126: Smith, B, pinned Carlucci, A, 1:27; Gilham, BEA, pinned Praul, H, 4:39; 132: Manville, SC, tech. fall Pifer, BEA, 16-0 (3:57); 138: Long, B, pinned Young, A, 3:33; Reese, BEA, pinned Barnes, H, 2:58; 145: Stem, BEA, major dec. Bowser, A, 15-5; Martin, SC, major dec. Dann, B, 9-1; 152: McChesney, B, dec. Vuocolo, JS, 2-0; Zerbee, A, pinned Dubbs, BEA, 5:57; 160: Foltz, BEA, dec. Galentine, CM, 3-1 (OT); Bauder, JS, dec. Newby, SC, 12-5; 172: Ivicic, B, dec. Porter, CM, 7-2 (OT); Sleeth, H, dec. Proctor, BEA, 4-0; 189: Keirn, A, dec. Knepp, BEA, 7-6; Price, SC, tech. fall Blackwell, CM, 16-1 (4:57); 215: Pavlechko, SC, pinned Ross, JS, 1:14; 285: Shawley, dec. Lee, JS, 2-0; Schoen, SC, pinned Antonuccio, BEA, :34
This story was originally published January 23, 2021 at 7:27 PM.
