Bald Eagle Area wrestling to host district semifinals, finals after topping Penns Valley
Twenty days ago, Bald Eagle Area traveled to Penns Valley’s gym for a regular season dual.
On Tuesday, the Eagles hosted the Rams and Mount Union for the first round and quarterfinals of the District 6 Class 2A dual championships.
The Centre County programs clashed in the quarterfinals with the top seed in BEA coming out on top, 45-24. With the win, the Eagles locked up the opportunity to host the district semifinals and finals on Saturday.
“It means a lot to wrestle in your own gym,” BEA coach Ron Guenot said. “You weigh in, in your own locker room, and work out in your own room before the match. The familiarity is obviously a plus for us instead of being on the road. To be here on Saturday, we have to bring the enthusiasm and the passion we had today.”
Penns Valley set up the quarterfinals match by routing the Trojans, 56-15, in the first round.
Guenot was asked what he saw differently from his team from that previous dual with the Rams. He said it was all about closing the gap of the matches his wrestlers lost previously.
“Some matchups that we lost, we turned them around and won those matches,” he said. “As a coach, that’s what you want to see. In some of the matchups that we felt were toss-ups, we came out on top.”
The dual had quite an interesting and fast start with both teams forfeiting to one another.
Penns Valley’s Jack Darlington received the forfeit at 106 pounds, with Gavin Guenot bumping up to 113 for the Eagles.
It was a move that Rams’ coach Joel Brinker figured was going to happen.
“You go over every scenario. I thought that was something they might do,” he said, “and they did (by) bumping (Lucas) Fye up. You go over scenario, who can bump, who can move, where can they get advantages and vice versa.”
As Brinker said, BEA bumped Fye up to 120 pounds from his usual 113 pound weight class. He took on Penns Valley’s Colten Shunk.
Fye got on the board first with a takedown over 30 seconds into the bout for the lone points of the period. Shunk responded with a quick takedown to start the second period.
However, Fye escaped and tacked on another takedown before the period ended to lead, 5-2. Fye added one more takedown in the third period to secure a 7-2 win.
The Eagles kept the momentum rolling by winning the next three bouts to run out to a 24-6 lead.
Coen Bainey, who was fresh off of winning an Ultimate Warrior title, collected a pin in 58 seconds at 126 pounds. Kevin Taylor was nearly pinned by the Rams’ Nate Long in the second period of their 132-pound bout, but came away with a 12-5 decision.
Jeffre Pifer needed just 21 seconds to stick Nick Cain at 138 pounds.
Penns Valley responded by earning back-to-back falls to get back in the dual.
Ty Watson seemed like he was a predator playing with his prey in his 145-pound bout with Tayten Yoder. Watson amassed an 8-0 lead while trying to turn Yoder several times for nearfall points. In the end, Watson was able to get Yoder to his back for his 24th pin of the season, this one coming in 2:47.
David Martin hit the mat at 152 pounds for the Rams. He was in an early scramble with Mason Reese, and eventually came out on top for a takedown.
Martin then cranked Reese to his back for a fall in 1:12 to get Penns Valley to within 24-18.
“I was a little bit nervous, Penns Valley is a tough team and well coached, “ Guenot said. “They are always in good shape. They are scrappy. It was a tough matchup right out of the gate in the quarterfinals of districts.”
Guenot’s mind was put a little at ease after 160 pounds.
BEA’s Cameron Dubbs took on Micah Fetterolf in a match that was set up for fireworks as each wrestler looked to try and go with upper body throws. Dubbs was able to secure a takedown and collected nearfall points, but was reversed by Fetterolf.
Dubbs escaped to close out the first period with a 6-2 lead. Dubbs felt comfortable on his feet, so he choose neutral to start the second period, and it paid off.
The sophomore took Fetterolf down and pinned him in 2:49.
“After Cameron Dubbs got the fall at 160,” said Guenot when asked when he felt the dual was in hand, “I felt pretty confident after that with our guys up top bringing it home. They’ve done a lot for us this year as far as scoring points and earning falls.”
The Rams’ Cole Felker earned the final win of the night for his team at 172 pounds, where he took on Nathan Fry.
Felker went to work early collecting a 5-0 lead after one period of wrestling with a takedown and three nearfall points. In the second period, Felker started in the top position, and cranked Fry to his back for a fall in 2:31.
Penns Valley was within 30-24, but that was the closest it would be.
Guenot’s big guys brought it home winning the final three bouts.
Caleb Close bumped up to 189 pounds, and earned a 6-0 shutout of Hunter Lyons. Noah Foltz built up a 12-0 lead on Josh Spahr, before putting Spahr on his back in 1:16.
Matthew Knepp caught Kollin Brungart on a reversal and stuck him in 2:41 to close out the dual.
BEA will now host Tyrone, Huntingdon and two-time defending District 6 champ Forest Hills on Saturday. The semifinals are slated to start at 11 a.m. with the finals to go off after that.
“We just got to take that momentum and take care of things we can take care of,” Guenot said. “We got to get our weigh in done, and keep our routine the way we did this evening. Hopefully, like I said, the momentum will carry over into Saturday morning.”
Penns Valley 56, Mount Union 15
As mentioned, the Rams had to take on Mount Union in the first round to start the evening off.
The dual began at heavyweight, and Penns Valley was in a 12-0 hole.
The Trojans’ Haiden Inch pinned Spahr in 2:55 as Mason Beatty picked up a forfeit at 106 pounds.
Penns Valley picked up back-to-back major decisions from Darlington and Shunk to get within, 12-8.
Mount Union’s Caden Chilcote picked up his team’s last win of the dual with a 5-1 defeat of Carter Homan at 126 pounds.
Then, the Rams went on a roll.
Chase Fleshman had a forfeit win at 132 pounds. Long went from trailing 8-1 after one period, to pinning his opponent in 2:44. Watson received a forfeit at 145 pounds to give Penns Valley a 26-15 lead.
From there, the Rams pinned their way to the end of the dual with Martin, Fetterolf, Felker, Lyons and Brungart collecting those wins. Brungart’s was the fastest in 42 seconds.
“We wrestled well. Mount Union, we took care of business,” Brinker said. “Here (against BEA), we got out of position a few times, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. The guys wrestled hard and tough. We knew on the outside looking in, we thought we could make it interesting. We battled, so I’m proud.”
Mounties fall in quarterfinals
Philipsburg-Osceola traveled to Sidman to square off with Central Cambria in the first round of the dual championships on Tuesday.
The winner took on Forest Hills later in the evening for a spot in the semifinals.
The Mounties came out and followed coach Justin Fye’s game plan from the get go by racking up a 49-18 win.
“We talked about going out and making a statement to start the evening,” Fye said, “because we knew the team we were possibly going to wrestle would be watching us. We talked about going out, getting falls and staying in good positions. The guys came out and wrestled really well in that first match. It made a statement for the evening, so we were really excited with how we started.”
P-O won the first six bouts — five with bonus points — of the dual against the Red Devils.
Ben Gustkey (126, major decision), Scott Frantz (132, forfeit), Marcus Gable (138, pin), Ian Phillips (145, pin), Austin Foster (152, pin) and Luke Hughes (160, decision) were those six winners.
Cental Cambria responded by winning the next four with two decisions and two pins.
Sam McDonald (106, forfeit), Hunter Kephart (113, forfeit) and Nick Coudriet (120, pin) closed the dual out for the Mounties, who advanced to take on the defending District 6 champs in the Rangers.
Things didn’t go quite as planned for P-O against Forest Hills.
The Rangers came out and imposed their dominance early and often. They opened with a technical fall at 132 pounds and a decision at 138 pounds.
Nate Fleck stepped into the lineup for the Mounties to earn a 2-0 in at 145 pounds. From there, it was all Forest Hills.
The Rangers won the next eight bouts, six of which with bonus points, to blow open a close dual to that point.
“We knew Forest Hills was going to be tough,” Fye said. “They’ve been good for years now. Coach Strayer and his staff does a good job there.”
District 6 Class 2A Championships
Quarterfinals
Bald Eagle Area 45, Penns Valley 24
Tuesday at Wingate
106: Jack Darlington, PV, won by forfeit
113: Gavin Guenot, BEA, won by forfeit
120: Lucas Fye, BEA, dec. Colten Shunk, 7-2
126: Coen Bainey, BEA, pinned Carter Homan, :58
132: Kevin Taylor, BEA, dec. Nate Long, 12-5
138: Jeffre Pifer, BEA, pinned Nick Cain, :21
145: Ty Watson, PV, pinned Tayten Yoder, 2:47
152: David Martin, PV, pinned Mason Reese, 1:12
160: Cameron Dubbs, BEA, pinned Micah Fetterolf, 2:49
172: Cole Felker, PV, pinned Nathan Fry, 2:31
189: Caleb Close, BEA, dec. Hunter Lyons, 6-0
215: Noah Foltz, BEA, pinned Josh Spahr, 1:16
285: Matthew Knepp, BEA, pinned Kollin Brungart, 2:41
Takedowns: PV 6, BEA 13
Records: Penns Valley 10-5, Bald Eagle Area 11-2
Next match: Clearfield at Penns Valley, Tuesday, 7 p.m.; Forest Hills at BEA, District 6 Class 2A semifinals, Saturday, 11 a.m.
Forest Hills 51, Philipsburg-Osecola 9
Tuesday at Sidman
132: Hunter Forcellini, FH, tech. fall Scott Frantz, 20-4 (5:18)
138: Easton Toth, FH, dec. Marcus Gable, 7-1
145: Nate Fleck, P-O, dec. Chance Gorzelsky, 2-0
152: Noah Teeter, FH, dec. Austin Foster, 11-4
160: Jackson Arrington, FH, pinned Jim Richtscheit, :36
172: Dustin Flinn, FH, pinned Luke Hughes, 4:43
189: Tye Templeton, FH, pinned Dominic Shaw, 2:29
215: Kory Marsalko, FH, injury def. Andrew Hensal, 2:15
285: Kurt Bearjar, FH, dec. Chase Klinger, 5-2
106: Isaiah Shilcosky, FH, major dec. Sam McDonald, 9-1
113: Brevin Michuk, FH, pinned Hunter Kephart, 1:19
120: Nick Coudriet, P-O, won by forfeit
126: TJ Carroll, FH, dec. Ben Gustkey, 5-1
Records: Philipsburg-Osceola 11-7, Forest Hills 12-3
Next match: Hollidaysburg at P-O, Wednesday, 7 p.m.; Forest Hills at BEA, District 6 Class 2A semifinals, 11 a.m.
First Round
Penns Valley 56, Mount Union 15
Tuesday at Wingate
285: Haiden Inch, MU, pinned Spahr, 2:55
106: Mason Beatty, MU, won by forfeit
113: Darlington, PV, major dec. Terran Bookwalter, 11-2
120: Colten Shunk, PV, major dec. AJ Chilcote, 12-1
126: Caden Chilcote, MU, dec. Homan, 5-1
132: Fleshman, PV, won by forfeit
138: Long, PV, pinned Hunter Steel, 2:44
145: Watson, PV, won by forfeit
152: Martin, PV, pinned Deegan Rittenhouse, 2:25
160: Fetterolf, PV, pinned Jase Ripple, :48
172: Felker, PV, pinned Jayce Reck, 4:58
189: Hunter Lyons, PV, pinned Josh Ryan, 5:48
215: Kollin Brungart, PV, pinned Will Harkleroad, :42
Takedowns: MU 6, PV 11
Records: Mount Union 12-7, Penns Valley 10-4
Philipsburg-Osecola 49, Central Cambria 18
Tuesday at Sidman
126: Gustkey, P-O, major dec. Jacob Wilson, 12-3
132: Frantz, P-O, won by forfeit
138: Gable, P-O, pinned Donavin DeRubis, 1:07
145: Ian Phillips, P-O, pinned Jamison O’Brien, 1:52
152: Foster, P-O, pinned Robert Lazer, 1:52
160: Hughes, P-O dec. Deklan Estep, 2-0
172: Jonathan Hajzus, CC, dec. Richtscheit, 9-2
189: Ethan Kubat, CC, pinned Shaw, 4:52
215: Jake Wentz, CC, pinned Andrew Hensal, 5:16
285: Karter Quick, CC, dec. Chase Klinger, 2-1
106: McDonald, P-O, won by forfeit
113: Kephart, P-O, won by forfeit
120: Coudriet, P-O, pinned Madison Rigsby, :10
Records: Central Cambria 9-7, Philipsburg-Osceola 11-6
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 11:12 PM.
