Who is this week’s Centre Daily Times high school athlete of the week? Vote here
Editor’s note: The Centre Daily Times will publish a weekly poll on Monday mornings for readers to choose the Athlete of the Week for the previous week of competition. Please go to CentreDaily.com and click on this story to cast your vote.
Here are this week’s nominees for the Centre Daily Times high school athlete of the week presented in alphabetical order. They were selected by the Centre Daily Times sports staff via stats compiled by the CDT or sent to cdtscores@centredaily.com. Vote for your favorite.
If you’d like to nominate a player’s performance for future weeks, or believe a deserving nominee is missing from this week’s poll, please contact the CDT via email at cdtscores@centredaily.com.
The poll closes at noon Friday, and a short profile of the winner will appear in Sunday’s paper.
Lane Aikey, Bellefonte
Aikey claimed his third straight PIAA Class 3A Northwest Regional wrestling title on Saturday. The senior amassed bonus points the whole way through his 120-pound title run. He opened with a pin in 51 seconds, added a 15-0 technical fall in the semifinals and shut out Altoona’s Caleb Fasick, 8-0, in the finals. Because of an injury, Aikey has wrestled just five matches this season, all of them in the postseason.
Carson Manville, State College
Manville won his first PIAA Class 3A Northwest Regional title on Saturday. He topped Bellefonte’s Ethan Rossman, who he beat in the District 6 finals last week. The senior wrestler used an 18-3 technical fall to make the finals. Manville, who won a Minnesota state championship last year, is closing in on a PIAA title and is 9-0 on the year.
Kiaha McCool, Bellefonte
McCool won the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke in Bellefonte’s swim meet against Tyrone and Penns Valley. McCool’s time of 58.91 in the backstroke was a new school record, marking the second school record she’s set this year after setting the 100 freestyle record with a time of 54.62 earlier this season.
Ethan Richner, Bellefonte
Richner dominated on his way to his third consecutive PIAA Class 3A Northwest Regional wrestling title. The senior used a pin in the semifinals to make the finals. In the finals, Richner shut out General McLane’s Jackson Spires, 15-0 in 5:24 to win the 160-pound title. Richner is 19-0 this season.
Grace Stem, Bald Eagle Area
Stem competed in the junior card portion of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club’s event held Tuesday night. The Eagles’ junior defeated Elleni Johnson, 7-4, in the freestyle wrestling event. Johnson, who wrestles for Wyoming Seminary, entered the match as the No. 6-ranked wrestler nationally at 132 pounds.
Jude Swisher, Bellefonte
Swisher won his third straight PIAA Class 3A Northwest Regional wrestling title when he edged State College’s Pierson Manville 7-6 in the 132-pound finals. It was Swisher’s second regional crown with the Red Raiders. He won one his freshman year at State College. The junior is 20-1 year, with that lone loss coming from Manville in the District 6 finals last weekend.
This story was originally published February 28, 2021 at 3:55 PM.
