Four District 6 Class 3A champions part of 17 wrestlers heading to PIAA NW Regionals
Saturday was the starting point for Bellefonte and State College wrestlers looking to make the PIAA Championships.
When everything was settled inside Altoona High School’s Fieldhouse, four Centre County wrestlers claimed District 6 Class 3A titles. There will be 13 other athletes with those champs moving onto next weekend’s PIAA Northwest Regional Championships.
The Little Lions had three champions in Asher Cunningham (120 pounds), Pierson Manville (138) and Nick Pavlechko (215). The Raiders had one champion in Jude Swisher (145).
Mifflin County won the team race with 201.5 points with Central Mountain finishing 12 points behind in second.
State College was third with 160 points as Bellefonte was fourth with 133.5 points. Altoona rounded out the top five with 113 points.
Here’s a more in depth look of who all moved on for the Little Lions and Raiders:
State College
Champions: Cunningham (120 pounds), Manville (138), Pavlechko (215)
Other qualifiers: Jonathan Coates (106, 3rd), Jacob Campbell (126, 3rd), Josh Hershbine (160, 3rd), Braden Newby (172, 2nd), Carter Weaverling (189, 2nd), Shane Focht (285, 3rd)
Eliminated: None
Team score: 3rd, 160 points
Recap: The Little Lions had the second fewest amount of wrestlers in the District 6 3A Championships — nine.
However, they can say they are the only team that has all of their wrestlers moving on to next weekend’s regional tournament. Also, outside of the two losses in the finals, State College won all of their placement matches
“I really couldn’t be happier. They came out ready to go,” State College coach Ryan Cummins said. “They were confident. They came out and gave it everything they had. We want them to go after it like that. Guys were cheering each other one. We love that. I couldn’t be prouder.”
The Little Lions had five finalists, which Cummins thought his team could have. Saturday’s action was the first competition for State College since their Jan. 31 dual against Williamsport.
Tuesday after the seeding meeting, Cummins said the time off was needed to help his guys recover from injuries.
“It was great. They definitely have been looking good the last few weeks,” Cummins said. “Five in the finals was awesome. They wrestled really well all through the tournament. I’m excited to move on to next week.”
Of the three champions, Manville had the biggest margin of victory in his finals match.
He also earned his second straight district title.
“It’s just another trophy. I’m happy with what I’m able to do,” Manville said, “and what State College is able to do. I’m just so happy.”
The sophomore went to work early on Central Mountain’s Taylor Weaver. Manville took Weaver down right away and threw him to his back looking for the fall early.
Weaver did well fighting off his back, but Manville collected more nearfall points for an 8-0 first period lead. In the second period, Manville snapped off two takedowns and amassed more nearfall points to lead 15-1.
Manville quickly collected three nearfall points to secure an 18-1 technical fall.
“He’s a mauler. He goes after guys and doesn’t let up,” Cummins said. “He puts guys on their heels. It’s tough to wrestle a guy like that. He wins the way he does it best, he smothers a guy and takes control. He’s going to give some people some tough times here in the postseason.”
Pavlechko and Cunningham were each getting a taste of their first postseasons for different reasons.
Pavlechko had to miss the postseason after suffering an injury. He said that sitting in the stands of last year’s district tournament fueled him for this year.
“It sucked pretty bad. It was hard,” the champ said. “I was in the stands watching and stuff, it was horrible.”
Pavlechko collected three first period takedowns on Mifflin County’s Anson Wagner. He kept with a relentless pressure adding three more takedowns over the final two periods.
Pavlechko secured a 14-5 major decision for his first title.
“It’s super exciting,” Pavlechko said of winning. “Pierson and Asher are two of my best friends. It’s great to have us three have a lot of success together, so it’s awesome.”
Cummins had high praise for his champion.
“He’s worked so hard and come so far in a short amount of time here. He’s a bear out there,” Cummins said. “He moves so well at that 215 weight class. He’s so athletic there, that it’s tough for guys to keep up with him. Once he gets in on a leg, he almost always finishes it. I’m really happy for him.”
Cunningham was experiencing his first postseason as he is a freshman.
He took on a junior in Juniata’s Casey Smith in the finals. Cunningham had an early takedown in the first period, and used a reversal to hold a 4-1 after two periods.
Cunningham used a full period rideout in the third period to secure that 4-1 win. However, he wasn’t too happy about it.
“I should’ve scored more points out there. I think I could’ve done better than that too,” he said.
Cunningham said that his goal is to win a state title, so this was just step number one in that process. He said he’s using this tournament to see how his familiar opponents adjust to him, so he can adjust and get better.
“He works hard and is very confident. He knows what he is doing,” Cummins said. “All of those weird scrambling positions, he finds a way to come out on top. It’s a strength for him. Most guys get in those positions, they don’t know what to do. He’s so comfortable there, it makes him really dangerous.”
Bellefonte
Champions: Swisher (145)
Other qualifiers: Cameron Garcia (106, 2nd), Garrett Choates (113, 2nd), Noah Weaver (126, 4th), Aidan O’Shea (132, 2nd), Gage Long (138, 3rd), Nate Smith (152, 4th), Tyler Putnam (285, 4th)
Other placewinners: Grady Garrison (160, 6th), Addison Shawley (215, 6th)
Eliminated: Nash Irwin (172, 0-2), Wyatt Lowry (189, 0-2)
Team score: 4th, 133.5 points
Recap: As the Raiders sent four wrestlers into the finals, the finals weren’t friendly.
Bellefonte went 1-3, but in all fairness some of the opponents that its wrestlers had were some of the best in the state.
“It wasn’t a great round. We came out not real excited,” Raiders coach Mike Maney said, “so I think we need to talk about that this week. You can’t afford to have any sort of let down. We got off to a slow start. There are certainly things we need to fix.”
Swisher, who was named the Outstanding Wrestler, was making an appearance in the finals for the fourth time in his career.
He finished as a runner-up as a freshman for State College. He won his sophomore year, which was his first year with Bellefonte.
Last season, he lost to Manville in the finals.
“I always want to win. I told Pierson,” Swisher said with a laugh, “‘I’m going to win today because you beat me last year.’ With that being said, I’m grateful that I have competitors in my district that I know that I have to be on my A-Game. Hats off to Griffin Walizer, he goes out and wrestles extremely hard. He wanted to beat me, not everyone can say that. I’m grateful that they can push me to get better as I push them to get better.”
As Swisher mentioned, he took on Walizer, who is a sophomore from Central Mountain.
The Penn commit went to work right away, recording a takedown 45 seconds into the bout. He took Walizer to his back for nearfall points, and led 5-0 at the end of the period.
Swisher quickly escaped to start the second period and tacked on another takedown to hold an 8-0 lead after two periods. In the third period, Walizer wanted to go from the wrestlers’ feet, and Swisher made him pay with another takedown.
Swisher stayed solid with his ride game to secure the 10-0 major decision title win.
Swisher’s opponents are going to have their hands full the rest of the postseason too. He mentioned he feels he’s at his prime, and this final district tournament has him seeing things in himself that he never saw before.
“Honestly, from start to finish in my matches (today), I can truly say I was looking to score every second,” Swisher said. “It’s not something that I’ve always been able to say. A person who looks to score every second of the match is a dangerous person. I believe I’m that guy.”
Maney basically echoed his champ’s words.
“He’s wrestling at a high-level right now. We just want to keep the momentum going,” he said. “We firmly believe the only one that can beat him is himself, so as long as he’s staying attacking and offensive, he’s going to be hard to beat, so looking forward to the next two weeks hopefully.”
As for the three finalists that loss, again, they ran into some buzzsaws.
Garcia, who is just a freshman, took on Altoona’s Luke Hileman, a senior that was 29-3. Hileman took the rookie down immediately and stacked him for a fall in 29 seconds.
“He had a great tournament. I think maybe too much respect to a really good guy in the finals,” Maney said of his freshman, “but in the semis he wrestled a guy that beat him 5-2 (earlier in the year), but due to his coach-ability and work effort, to beating the guy 8-0 and controlling the match. We are proud of that.”
Choates, who was in the district finals for the second time, followed by taking on Mifflin County’s Nic Allison, who was a three-time district champ, three-time regional finalist (won once), and three-time PIAA qualifier (placed eighth his sophomore year).
Allison took Choates down, locked up a cradle and pinned the Bellefonte wrestler in 32 seconds to secure his fourth district crown.
“Again, I think a little too much respect,” Maney said. “Allison is an experienced guy, but you just got to believe. It’s going to be hard to beat someone if you don’t believe.”
O’Shea, who was in the finals for the third time, took on Central Mountain’s Luke Simcox, who won a district and regional title last year as a freshman, and placed fifth in the state.
Simcox led 5-0 after two periods thanks to two takedowns and an escape. O’Shea escaped quickly to open the third period.
He was in on a takedown attempt in the same period, but Simcox came out on top of a scramble situation to secure a 7-1 victory.
“Aidan had a really good guy, one of the best in the state,” Maney said. “He was close to getting a takedown there, but happy with the fight. That was a first period pin earlier in the year. He’s just got to believe in himself.”
Maney went on to say that the day had “ups and downs.” However, his squad got through the amount of guys he thought they would, but felt a couple of others could’ve gotten through too.
He was pleased with everything and had praise for all of his qualifiers.
“I’m happy for guys like Tyler Putnam, who is a senior and only a handful of wins in his career,” Mane said. “This year, he has over 20 (wins) and moving on to the regional tournament, so those are things that maybe not the champion that gets as much recognition, but certainly things those guys should be proud of, the great year they had.”
District 6 Class 3A Championships
Saturday at Altoona
Team key: Altoona (A), Bellefonte (B), Central Mountain (CM), Hollidaysburg (H), Johnstown (JT), Juniata (J), Mifflin County (MC), State College (SC)
Team scores: 1. Mifflin County 201.5, 2. Central Mountain 189.5, 3. State College 160, 4. Bellefonte 133.5, 5. Altoona 117, 6. Juniata 90.5, 7. Hollidaysburg 86, 8. Johnstown 14
Finals
106: Luke Hileman, A, pinned Cameron Garcia, B, :29; 113: Nic Allison, MC, pinned Garrett Choates, B, :32; 120: Asher Cunningham, SC, dec. Casey Smith, J, 4-1; 126: Dalton Perry, CM, tech. fall Taylor Smith, J, 20-5 (5:33); 132: Luke Simcox, CM, dec. Aidan O’Shea, B, 7-1; 138: Pierson Manville, SC, tech. fall Taylor Weaver, CM, 18-1 (4:20); 145: Jude Swisher, B, major dec. Griffin Walizer, CM, 10-0; 152: Luke Sipes, A, major dec. Parker Kearns, MC, 9-1; 160: Kyler Everly, MC, dec. Rocco Serafini, CM, 9-3; 172: Aaron Sleeth, H, dec. Braden Newby, SC, 1-0; 189: Trey Shoemaker, MC, pinned Carter Weaverling, SC, 1:41; 215: Nick Pavlechko, SC, major dec. Anson Wagner, MC, 14-5; 285: Jaxson Pupo, MC, dec. Brayden Blackwell, CM, 5-1
Consolation Finals
106: Jonathan Coates, SC, dec. Carson Krupka, H, 4-2; 126: Jacob Campbell, SC, major dec. Noah Weaver, B, 13-4; 138: Gage Long, B, major dec. Jake Cunningham, MC, 13-5; 152: Braylen Corter, CM, dec. Nate Smith, B, 6-1; 160: Josh Hershbine, SC, dec. Josh Bomberger, J, 4-3; 285: Shane Focht, SC, dec. Tyler Putnam, B, 2-1 (UTB2)
5th-Place Match
160: Alijah Gibson, J, dec. Grady Garrison, B, 5-2; 215: Alexander Yost, A, dec. Addison Shawley, B, 6-3
Consolation Semifinals
106: Coates, SC, dec. Joey Bomberger, J, 5-0; 126: Campbell, SC, pinned Mason Schenck, H, 1:27; Weaver, B, dec. Jordan Carlucci, A, 6-0; 138: Long, B, tech. fall Mitchell Baronner, H, 16-0 (4:23); 160: Hershbine, SC, dec. Garrison, B, 8-2; 215: Jonathan Kauffman, J, dec. Shawley, B, 11-6; 285: Putnam, B, pinned Michael Riccio, A, 1:29; Focht, SC, dec. Rally Hoover, H, 7-1
Consolation Quarterfinals
160: Garrison, B, major dec. Zach Reimer, A, 14-6; 172: Harrison Mummah, J, pinned Nash Irwin, B, 3:58; 189: Lane Peiper, pinned Wyatt Lowry, B, 3:37
Semifinals
106: Garcia, B, major dec. Bomberger, J, 8-0; 113: Choates, B, major dec. Clayton Foster, CM, 14-0; 120: Cunningham, SC, dec. Hunter Johnson, MC, 5-4; 126: Perry, CM, tech. fall Campbell, SC, 15-0 (4:00); Smith, J, major dec. Weaver, B, 19-8; 132: O’Shea, B, major dec. Blake Aumiller, MC, 15-3; 138: Manville, SC, pinned Jake Cunningham, MC, 1:50; Weaver, CM, pinned Long, B, 1:32; 145: Swisher, B, pinned Will Young, A, 2:21; 152: Sipes, A, tech. fall Smith, B, 17-2 (3:51); 160: Everly, MC, pinned Hershbine, SC, 1:35; 172: Newby, SC, dec. Jacob Weaver, CM, 3-0; 189: Weaverling, SC, dec. Damien Galentine, CM, 3-2; 215: Pavlechko, SC, pinned Nicklas Eppihimer, H, 2:27; Wagner, CM, pinned Shawley, B, 4:51; 285: Pupo, MC, pinned Focht, SC, 4:54; Blackwell, CM, dec. Putnam, B, 2-1 (UTB2)
Quarterfinals
106: Carson Krupka, H, pinned Coates, SC, 4:35; Garcia, B, pinned Styers Oden, MC, 3:45; 126: Campbell, SC, pinned Carlucci, A, 4:33; Weaver, B, dec. Schenck, H, 7-1; 138: Long, B, pinned Wyatt Young, A, 5:20; 160: Hershbine, SC, pinned Alijah Gibson, J, 4:28; Josh Bomberger, J, major dec. Garrison, B, 13-2; 172: Jacob Weaver, CM, pinned Irwin, B, 3:32; Newby, SC, tech. fall Mummah, J, 20-5 (5:57); 189: Connor Reimer, A, tech. fall Lowry, B, 19-4 (4:49); Weaverling, SC, pinned Luke Onkst, H, :34; 215: Pavlechko, SC, pinned Tajon Irvig, J, 1:05; Shawley, B, dec. Micah Walizer, CM, 8-2; 285: Focht, SC, pinned Riccio, A, 4:52; Putnam, B, pinned Charles Yingling, J, 1:16
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 8:40 PM.
