21 Centre County wrestlers look to claim a District 6 Class 3A title. Here’s what to know
There will be 21 Centre County wrestlers looking to claim a District 6 Class 3A title on Saturday.
Bellefonte and State College begin their runs to Hershey inside Altoona High School’s Fieldhouse with the teams combining to nab three of the 13 top seeds.
The Raiders are one of two teams to send 12 wrestlers to the championships, joining Central Mountain. Mifflin County and Altoona are the lone teams to have a full lineup set to compete.
The Little Lions will have the remaining nine county wrestlers competing.
Below is a look at how each team is set up for the postseason opener, as the wrestlers’ goals will be to finish in the top four of their weights to advance.
Bellefonte
Top seeds: Jude Swisher (145 pounds)
Other seeds: Cameron Garcia (106, 3rd), Garrett Choates (113, 2nd), Noah Weaver (126, 3rd), Aidan O’Shea (132, 2nd), Gage Long (138, 3rd), Nate Smith (152, 4th), Grady Garrison (160, 6th), Nash Irwin (172, 6th), Wyatt Lowry (189, 5th), Addison Shawley (215, 3rd), Tyler Putnam (285, 3rd)
Outlook: As mentioned, the Raiders have a near full lineup set to take on the postseason.
The only weight they don’t have a wrestler at is 120 pounds. However, half of those 12 wrestlers set to compete will get their first taste of the postseason.
“We told them some things at practice. One nice thing is the Big 7 tournament was at Altoona,” said Bellefonte coach Mike Maney when asked how his staff has prepared the rookies, “so be mindful of that. We talked about routines. We had some mat simulations, like wrestling two and three matches, but you can only simulate so much.”
Even though the Raiders have a lot of first-time postseason wrestlers, they still have several set to move on should they wrestle to their seeds. They have eight wrestlers seeded in the top three of their weights with nine total in the top four — the amount of wrestlers advancing to the PIAA Northwest Regional from each weight.
Bellefonte will be led by Swisher, its lone top seed. The Penn commit enters his final postseason looking for that ultimate prize — PIAA gold medal.
“I know he has some high goals for himself, but just be in the mindset to enjoy this ride. He’s put himself in that conversation of winning a state title,” Maney said. “Each week is an opportunity to further cement his legacy. He’s already a great wrestler and great person. He’s always finding ways to get better. He just needs to believe that he can end at the top of the podium. All of these accomplishments and accolades are through a lot of blood, sweat and tears. This is a culmination celebration of all that hard work.”
Also leading the way for the Raiders will be fellow senior O’Shea. The Franklin & Marshall commit enters his final postseason looking to make his way back to Hershey for the first time since his sophomore campaign.
O’Shea, who is only four wins away from 100 for his career, would’ve made the trip to the Giant Center last season, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he needed to finish in the top two of the regionals. He finished third.
“He’s an example that time flies. I remember having a conversation with him as a freshman,” Maney said, “if he wanted to stay on varsity or not. Now, fast forward, it’s his final postseason. Four wins shy of 100, so that’s something else that he has on his mind. He certainly has some caliber of competition starting this week.”
Smith got a lucky weight class in that there are only four wrestlers entered, so he is automatically through to next week’s regional tournament. However, Maney knows his wrestler still has to wrestle to the best of his abilities.
“He’s a senior looking for a last opportunity. He’s got to leave it on the line,” Maney said. “He’s going in as the four seed, but he’s got to have the mindset to place as high as you can. No pressure, but you want to try and place as high as you can to set yourself up for the following weekend.”
So, with one automatically through, how many more does Maney think will join Smith?
Maney felt double digits was an attainable goal for his squad. He went on to say that with what he has seen from his guys over the past two weeks, all of them could make it through.
“The way our guys have been wrestling, I firmly believe we can get everyone through,” he said. “We’re going to need some upsets. If our guys wrestle the way they are capable of and believe, I firmly believe we can take everyone. In a tournament like this, there are upsets, so you got to be ready to go. We are going to try and get all of the guys through, but probably 8-10 would be a pretty good weekend.”
State College
Top seeds: Pierson Manville (138) and Nick Pavlechko (215)
Other seeds: Jonathan Coates (106, 5th), Asher Cunningham (120, 2nd), Jacob Campbell (126, 4th), Josh Hershbine (160, 5th), Braden Newby (172, 2nd), Carter Weaverling (189, 2nd), Shane Focht (285, 5th)
Outlook: When the Little Lions get the district tournament underway, it will the first action they’ve had in almost a month.
A long layoff isn’t usually something a coach loves to have, but coach Ryan Cummins felt it was necessary.
“We spent quite a bit of time trying to get healthy. We were so banged up,” he said. “That’s the one thing that’s not great about all of those (regular season) tournaments (King of the Mountain, Escape the Rock and Powerade) — you get beat up. It’s not easy. It took its toll.
“We’ve been building them back up and resting them. We got them back to where they needed to be. I think they are ready to go. I think if they do what they are suppose to do and wrestle like they can, we should be in good shape.”
Those injuries kept State College from competing in the District 6 Class 3A dual team tournament, which would’ve been its last action.
Just as much as those regular season tournaments might have banged the Little Lions up, Cummins feels they helped his wrestlers prep for the postseason.
“That’s the nice part about going to those tournaments, you are hitting so many tough guys,” he said. “You get up there in the top five or ten guys in those tournaments are usually nationally ranked. You are having really good competition. Hopefully, our guys will kind of fall back on that. Like, ‘I’ve been here before. I’ve wrestled really tough kids, so I just have to wrestle the way I did, and I’ll be just fine.’”
State College has two No. 1 seeds in Manville and Pavlechko — wrestlers who couldn’t be more different, Cummins said.
He said Manville is always pacing and sticking to his routine before hitting the mat. As for Pavlechko, Cummins said he’s at his best when he is calm and smiling.
Cummins said Manville is a role model for his teammates because of the physicality he brings.
“He works hard. He’s such a tough kid. He’s a kid you have to reel back, like, ‘Hey, hey you’re working too hard,’” Cummins said. “He wrestles all the time. He’s always pushing himself. In the room, he’s always going 100 percent. When he steps on the line, it’s time to go, there is no playing around.”
For Pavlechko, it will be his first taste of the postseason as his shortened season last year was cut even shorter due to an injury. Cummins is looking forward to what the sophomore will bring to the table.
“I want to see where he is at. He’s been so solid all year that it’ll just be little things that we’ll be looking at,” Cummins said. “His conditioning is good. His technique is great. We’re really just kind of watch and see how he does with the pressure and all that stuff. I mean it’s districts, but there isn’t going to be ton (of pressure), but leading up to the next few weeks, there will definitely be more. We have to keep him calm before he goes out. I think he wrestles the best when he is calm and loose beforehand.”
Next to Johnstown’s six wrestlers competing, the Little Lions have the next least amount of guys with their nine wrestlers.
It’s not the ideal situation for Cummins’ squad, which has some wrestlers still banged up and others just decided not to compete in the postseason.
Even though there are only nine competing, Cummins feels confident that all of them can get through to next week’s PIAA Northwest Regional tournament.
“I really think we can get every guy through. I believe that,” he said. “They are going to have to wrestle well. They look confident. They’ve shown that they are ready. Everything looks good in the room, now that doesn’t always carry over, but I think they are back to being healthy again, which is a big part of it.”
District 6 Class 3A Championships
When: Saturday — First session (Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Consolation Quarterfinals, Consolation Semifinals), 10:30 a.m.; Second session (Hall of Fame Inductions, Finals, Consolation Finals, Fifth-place matches), 2:45 p.m.
Where: Fieldhouse, Altoona
Brackets: FloArena
Tickets: Sold at door, $10 per session, $18 for day
