Vote now: Who should be the Centre Daily Times’ 2022 Athlete of the Winter Sports Season?
The winter high school sports season has come to an end in Centre County. With a number of top-flight performances, there are 11 student-athletes who have been nominated for Centre Daily Times’ Athlete of the Season award.
Below are the nominees for the Centre Daily Times’ high school Athlete of the Winter Sports Season, presented in alphabetical order. They were selected by the CDT sports staff via stats compiled by the CDT, sent to cdtscores@centredaily.com or kandrews@centredaily.com, and by readers’ votes in the weekly polls.
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 Saturday, and a short profile of the winner will appear in Monday’s paper.
Blair Eckley-Jones, Bellefonte boys basketball
Eckley-Jones continued to increase his scoring output in each season of his career and fought through the teeth of double teams during his senior year. He went on to lead his team to a 19-5 overall record and a 10-4 mark in Mountain League play.
Eckley-Jones was selected as a two-time CDT Athlete of the Week winner, having won the award for the weeks of Jan. 10-15 and Jan. 31-Feb. 5. The senior forward finished with 52 points in victories over Philipsburg-Osceola and Juniata on Jan. 10 and Jan. 12, respectively. Eckley-Jones had 11 points in a 45-35 win over Dubois on Jan. 31 and added a team-high 19 points in the Red Raiders’ 64-56 defeat of Clearfield to total 30 points in the week.
Braeden Shrewsberry, State College boys basketball
In his first season playing with State College, Shrewsberry made a splash on the court. The transfer from West Lafayette High School in Indiana broke the 1,000-point mark on Feb. 2.
“It’s been an easy transition,” Shrewsberry said on Feb 2. “Just coming to State High, I like all of my teammates, I love playing with them. But honestly, I didn’t know they were going to do the 1,000-point ceremony because I didn’t know that it would transfer over from my last school, but I’m thankful that they did that tonight.”
Prior to his major career milestone, he committed to Penn State to play for his father, Micah Shrewsberry, as a 2023 commit. The younger Shrewsberry averaged 20.8 points per game, 3.3 assists per game, 5.6 rebounds per game and 1.4 steals per game during the 2021-2022 season.
Coen Bainey, Bald Eagle wrestling
Bainey (120) defeated the reigning PIAA Class 2A state runner-up Burrell’s Cooper Hornack in the state consolations this year to win bronze. The junior held a 37-5 record during the season, winning the District 6 Class 2A championship and advancing to the state championships with a victory in the PIAA Class 2A Southwest Regionals.
“You got to wrestle every match like it’s your last one. You got to win no matter what,” Bainey said during the state championships, “so I went out there and did what I could. Last year, all I know I was laying on the mat for a little bit because I was not happy with myself. This year, a lot different coming out with the win. It’s definitely motivating me for next year to climb even higher on the podium, and make (the) finals.”
Jade Castro, State College girls swimming
As far as elite swimmers in Pennsylvania go, Castro has to be extremely high on the list. The junior won silver in the 100-yard backstroke at the PIAA 3A swimming championships at Bucknell University with a time of 54.53. She won the same event at the PIAA District 6 Class 3A championships.
“Coming into finals tonight, I just really wanted to put my head down, get to that wall as fast as I could and hopefully come home with a first, second or third place finish. I really just wanted to focus on my own race rather than everyone else’s around me,” Castro said on March 18 at Bucknell.
Jeremy Whitehead, Philipsburg-Osceola boys basketball
The senior forward was at the forefront of Philipsburg-Osceola boys basketball’s rebuild under head coach TJ Anderson. The new-look Mounties went 15-8 on the year and 8-6 in Mountain League play with Whitehead’s physical play in the post. Whitehead used his size to grab putbacks, finishing with a number of double-doubles on the year.
Whitehead was voted as the Centre Daily Times’ Athlete of the Week for Feb. 5-12. During that week, he scored 53 points and grabbed 30 rebounds in three games. He had 13 points and 10 boards in a 69-65 victory in overtime on Feb. 8 against Hollidaysburg. Whitehead went on to score 14 points and grab 10 rebounds in a 65-32 victory over Saint Joe’s on Feb. 9. He had a game-high 26 points and had 10 rebounds against Bellefonte in a 55-50 victory on Feb. 11.
Jude Swisher, Bellefonte wrestling
Swisher (145) has had an exceptional high school career. He capped it off with a victory in the PIAA Class 2A state championship consolations, holding an 8-0 major decision over Nazareth’s Nicholas Foster. The Bellefonte senior finished off his career with a District 6 Class 3A championship and a Northwest Regional championship, holding a 42-2 record in the 2021-2022 season.
The soon-to-be Penn wrestler took a fond look back on his high school career during the Northwest Regionals.
“I’ve wrestled a lot of matches in my high school career, and now that I’m toward the end of it, I think my appreciation for not only the wrestlers, but also the officials, the coaches and the fans and all of the people who care about amateur wrestling, has grown,” Swisher said on March 5. “I am so grateful to be here competing and to have people sitting in my corner who want nothing more for me than to succeed. That is really special.”
Kailen Winkelblech, Penns Valley girls basketball
Winkelblech came off of a successful volleyball season and transitioned into basketball smoothly. The senior averaged 12.2 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game, 1.1 assists per game and 2.6 steals per game.
She was named CDT Athlete of the Week for Jan. 24-29. During that week, Winkelblech scored 18 points in a 47-36 victory over Bellefonte on Jan. 24. She netted a game-high 20 points in a 53-24 win over P-O two nights later. Then, she scored 18 points in a 51-46 loss to Bald Eagle on Jan. 27 and led with 13 points in a 48-39 loss to Saint Mary’s on Jan. 28.
The senior had a 24-point game in a 63-44 Rams victory over Clearfield on Feb. 8 and discussed the importance playing at a high level to cap off her career.
“I started out a little bit slower, but now that I’ve picked it up, I feel like the whole team has come together more,” Winkelblech said on Feb. 8.
Kiaha McCool, Bellefonte girls swimming
Sophomore McCool won the 200-yard freestyle and finished with silver in the 100-yard backstroke at the PIAA District 6 Class 2A championships. The second-year swimmer competed in four events (50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke) in the PIAA Class 2A state championships.
Nick Pavlechko, State College wrestling
The State College sophomore competed in the 215-pound weight class this season. He was a District 6 Class 3A champion, a Northwest Regional champion and finished third at states. Pavlechko compiled a formidable record of 32-4 during the year.
With a bronze medal victory at states under his belt, the sophomore wrestler held his head high.
“It feels pretty good. It’s not really what I came here to be or do,” Pavlechko said on March 13. “It’s good to come back from a loss and wrestle harder.”
Pierson Manville, State College wrestling
It took State College 19 years to win another state title in wrestling. Manville (138) accomplished the feat on March 13, defeating Hempfield Area’s Briar Priest in a 5-4 decision. The sophomore wrestler went 38-3 on the season, winning the District 6 Class 3A championship and the Northwest regional championship en route to his state title.
Bringing the title home meant the world to the young wrestler.
“(I was thinking about) how proud my grandparents, and my granddad especially, is being in Alabama. He brags about me in the paper all the time,” Manville said after winning his medal. “I was just so happy. (I thought) about all the time I wrestled with my brother, Mason, and John (Ross), a younger coach who graduated from Lock Haven. He was coaching junior high, and volunteered his time to help me in the mornings of the last two days, and my brother for the last four afternoons. I’m just really happy that I have people that care about me, and want to see me succeed in life. It’s probably the greatest thing to happen.”
Ty Watson, Penns Valley wrestling
The sophomore wrestled in the 145-pound class in the 2021-2022 season, putting together a 40-3 record. He won the District 6 Class 2A championship and went on to win the PIAA Class 2A Southwest Regional. Watson finished sixth at states, his first appearance at the tournament.
“It’s going to help me so much. Last year as a freshman, I didn’t get to wrestle a lot,” Watson said during the state championships. “This year, I got on the podium. It’s going to help me a lot, (to) get better, stronger and faster. I’ll be able to develop some technique in the wrestling room more this year. I’ll be ready. I’ll be back next year.”
Zach Braucht, Penns Valley boys basketball
Braucht arguably had the most dominant basketball season of any player in the Mountain League. While he didn’t land any CDT Athlete of the Week awards, his averages of 22.2 points per game, 5.8 rebounds per game, 2.1 assists per game and 1.8 steals per game were among the highest in the conference. His thunderous dunks gave the Penns Valley community something to look forward to, while he also broke the 1,000 career points seal.
“Fans like to see dunks,” Penns Valley athletic director Nate Althouse said on Feb. 10. “If you’re going to come to a game and you think to yourself and you know in advance, ‘There’s a good chance that this guy is going to throw down,’ that puts people in the stands. People want to come see that, it’s exciting. He’s a once in a generation talent for sure. It’s cyclical — we get athletes that come through here, but Zach could pick up a sport — he could pick up darts or football. Whatever sport that he decided he wanted to play, he could be the best at it.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
