Three champs crowned from Centre County’s teams in Big 7 Conference wrestling tourney
The Big 7 Conference had its third individual wrestling tournament on Saturday, since the conference was created three years ago, but it wasn’t in its usual location.
This season saw Bald Eagle Area host the seven other schools in the conference as opposed to everyone traveling to Altoona.
When all the dust settled, the Eagles along with Bellefonte and State College combined for nine finalists. Only three of those nine grabbed titles, but one final had an all-county matchup.
Shikellamy won the team title with 184.5 points. The Braves had three champions, but six finalists.
Central Mountain finished second with 175 points. The Wildcats had four champions crowned of their five finalists.
Bellefonte rounded out the top three with 158.5 points. The Red Raiders had five finalists, but none were able to get to the top of the podium.
Here’s a look at how each Centre County team finished:
Bald Eagle Area
Team finish: 4th, 137 points
Champions: Coen Bainey (127), Caleb Close (172)
Other placewinners: Liam Purcell (7th, 107), Kayson Tice (3rd, 114), Gavin Guenot (5th, 121), Connor Maney (5th, 133), Hunter Ishler (7th, 139), Mason Reese (3rd, 145), Alex Surovec (4th, 145), Jeffre Pifer (2nd, 152), Gavin Bennett (6th, 152), Cameron Dubbs (6th, 160), Shawn Knepp (6th, 189), Nate Fry (7th, 189), Gage Gardner (3rd, 215), Eric Clark (6th, 285)
Recap: The Eagles had three finalists in Bainey, Pifer and Close, but the two winners and coach Ron Guenot weren’t too pleased with how the day went.
“It wasn’t one of our best performances. I don’t know if it’s a different atmosphere with an individual tournament setting,” Guenot said. “There were some places that we weren’t ready to wrestle. As the tournament went on, we responded a little bit. We have a lot of work to do moving forward if we are going to improve. There are a lot of mixed emotions from different places.”
Close added: “We could’ve wrestled a lot better. We work hard at practice. Our wrestling today didn’t reflect that. I don’t know if it’s mental or what, but I guess it’s just a mindset thing.”
Bainey agreed: “We have the potential to be one of the best teams in the state. We didn’t wrestle like that today. We have (wrestled like that) before this tournament. We will after, but we have to keep persevering and keep working hard.”
Bainey earned his title first, but didn’t have a whole lot of time on the mat.
He had just two matches since there were only six other wrestlers in his weight class. The senior took just over 1.5 minutes to complete his two matches that were pins.
The American commit opened his day in the semifinals, where he decked Hollidaysburg’s James Bialo in 11 seconds. In the finals, Bainey took on fellow Centre County wrestler in Bellefonte’s Jackson Long.
As soon as the official blew his whistle, Long snapped off a shot attempt that Bainey said surprised him. The BEA wrestler woke up, collected a takedown and pinned Long in 1 minute, 21 seconds.
“I feel it went well. I kind of didn’t expect the shot right off the whistle, but it’s all good and worked out fine,” said Bainey when asked to assess his finals bout.
Close like Bainey opened his tournament by pinning his semifinals opponent in the Red Raiders’ Grady Garrison in 1:34. In the finals, the No. 1 seed took on Jersey Shore’s Tyler Bauder, who was the No. 2 seed.
The sophomore recorded a takedown in every period of the finals match, but seemed rather stalled. He wasn’t very happy with the 7-0 win.
“I didn’t get to my shots. I didn’t get to my offense. I need to score more points,” Close said.
Pifer had some work to do, to make the finals.
He opened by pinning Bellefonte’s Jack McHail in 2:31. The senior took out the No. 2 seed in Shikellamy’s Cole Wetzel with a 5-2 win in the semifinals.
Pifer took on a buzzsaw in Altoona’s Luke Sipes, who was the No. 1 seed, in the finals. However, the No. 3 seed didn’t just lay down or give up.
The Eagles wrestler went down 8-0 early, but he battled. In the second period, he tilted Sipes to his back for some nearfall points, but ultimately fell, 11-4.
“It was a positive. I guess you could say it was a good loss,” Guenot said. “He (Pifer) wrestled him (Sipes) well. He stuck with him after the first period. It is something positive to build with.”
Bellefonte
Team finish: 3rd, 158.5 points
Champions: None
Other placewinners: Wyatt Long (2nd, 107), Cameron Garcia (2nd, 114), Ezra Swisher (2nd, 121), Jackson Long (2nd, 127), Gavin DuFour (7th, 133), Noah Weaver (3rd, 139), Gage Long (2nd, 145), Jack McHail (7th, 152), Max Murray (3rd, 160), Grady Garrison (4th, 172), Addison Shawley (4th, 189), Nash Irwin (5th, 215)
Recap: Coach Mike Maney has continually talked about the need for his yound squad to improve.
Over half of his lineup is made up of either freshman or wrestlers getting their first taste of varsity action.
With the postseason looming, Saturday’s tournament could not have come at a better time for the Red Raiders.
“It was a small tournament, but there were a lot of really good individuals. Hopefully in a few weeks, the state tournament, we’ll have a lot of these guys in this league on the medal stand,” Maney said. “I think it is certainly capable of that. From where we were two months ago, we’ve made some gains, but we need to make some more, especially with the postseason right around the corner. We are definitely happy with some of the improvements and the effort today. A couple of tough matches in the finals, but we got to expect that, and see what the next level is, especially for our younger guys. We gotta get back to work and close the gap.”
Bellefonte had five finalists on Saturday — four of them were freshman. The finals weren’t very friendly to the Red Raiders either as they went a combined 0-5.
However, Maney feels just having that finals feeling will pay dividends when it comes to the postseason that is roughly three weeks away.
For four straight finals matches, Bellefonte’s coaches never left the same corner as the Red Raiders were represented from 107 pounds to 127 pounds. The other finals match was at 145 pounds.
Wyatt Long, who was the No. 2 seed, took on the No. 1 seed in Altoona’s Braiden Weaver in the 107 final. Weaver is a phenomenal freshman for the Mountain Lions.
He looked poised for a freshman by racking up a 9-0 lead on Long before pinning the Bellefonte wrestler in 4:57.
Long had no problems making the finals by shutting out his opponents in the quarterfinals and semifinals round. He topped State College’s Mason Sanderson, 5-0, in the semifinals.
The Red Raiders’ Cameron Garcia made the 114 pound finals by pinning his way there. He took out BEA’s Tice in the semifinals.
In the finals, Garcia, who is a freshman, was pinned by Shikellamy’s Alex Reed in 1:42. Reed was the No. 1 seed as Garcia was the No. 2 seed.
“This kind of environment. You look at all the weight classes, I think there could be a state placewinner or champion in multiple of the weight classes,” Maney said. “You get that tournament mindset, the last time at least for us, to have before the postseason. It was a good tuneup and test. For the younger guys, to see the tough competition and not have to travel far for it, we just got to keep building.”
Another freshman in Ezra Swisher was the No. 1 seed at 121 pounds for Bellefonte and was automatically in the semifinals without a full bracket. He pinned Jersey Shore’s Mason Winter to make the final.
Swisher took on Shikellamy’s Eben Kisner, who was the No. 2 seed. Kisner raced out to a 4-0 lead after one period, but Swisher added a takedown in the second and escaped early in the third to get within 4-3.
The junior in Kisner picked up a late takedown and pinned Swisher in 5:03.
Jackson Long made the 127-pound finals by pinning his way there. He flattened State College’s Brady Bucher in the semifinals.
Long took on Bainey in those finals and suffered the previously mentioned defeat.
For Gage Long, he opened with a pin to make the semifinals at 145 pounds. He used late nearfall points to rally past the Eagles’ Mason Reese, 12-10, in the semifinals.
In the finals, Long faced off with Central Mountain’s Griffin Walizer, who tallied 11 total takedowns in the final before sticking Long on his back in 4:57. Eight of those takedowns for Walizer came in the first period.
“Collectively, there are certainly more positives than negatives. If you leave any competition completely satisfied,” Maney explained, “then maybe you’re not doing your job, because there are always things you want to improve on. Collectively, the effort was there. Yeah, you want to win all the matches and a team title, but (we are) being realistic with the young guys on our team and making progress. We want to be a little better each day. We are trending in the right direction. We got to get back to practice and keep working. If we want to surprise some guys and have some success in a couple of weeks, we have to have that right mindset to keep getting better.”
State College
Team finish: 7th, 78 points
Champions: Nick Pavlechko (285)
Other placewinners: Mason Sanderson (4th, 107), Nick Berrena (6th, 121), Johnathan Coates (6th, 121), Brady Bucher (3rd, 127), Eric Weaver (5th, 139), Wyatt Angeli (8th, 152), Taylor Sunday (7th, 215)
Recap: The Little Lions looked like a shell of themselves on Saturday.
They were missing defending PIAA champion Pierson Manville, who appeared to have injured his right knee during the Escape the Rock Tournament on Jan. 15. State College was also missing the Cunningham brothers, Hayden and Asher.
A coach mentioned that the flu bug was running through the team. It was evident with only eight Little Lions competing.
Even without a full lineup and those three key pieces missing, coach Ryan Cummins felt it was a good day.
“A lot of our guys that don’t get a ton of varsity time, got a lot of mat time today, and got some experience, so that was a good thing,” he said. “Guys that we’ve had in the lineup still had good matches and were challenged. It was good, all in all, for everybody.”
Pavlechko has been steady day in and day out for State College, and Saturday was no different. He just was only on the mat for a total of 1:25.
The junior opened by flattening Jersey Shore’s Preston Spontarelli in 1:14. In the finals, if fans blinked, they missed Pavlechko’s match with Altoona’s Hayden Speece.
Pavlechko locked up a cradle while taking Speece down to the mat. He then rocked the Mountain Lions wrestler to his back for a fall in 11 seconds.
“Nick is a high-level kid. He works hard all the time. He’s always doing the right things,” Cummins said. “He had a nice tournament. He got it done where he had to. Again, good experience and another weekend in the books toward the end of the year here.”
State College had five make the semifinals with Bucher having the next highest finish behind Pavlechko.
The sophomore was getting his very first taste of varsity action on Saturday. He opened by pinning Shikellamy’s Daniel Hernandez in 3:45.
Bucher was then kicked into the consolation bracket by being pinned by Bellefonte’s Jackson Long. Bucher then pinned his way to the third place finish.
Mason Sanderson has found himself in the Little Lions’ starting lineup now for the past month or so. He just missed the top three.
Sanderson edged BEA’s Liam Purcell, 3-2, in his opener. Then, the freshman suffered a 5-0 loss to the Red Raiders’ Wyatt Long.
Sanderson rebounded to make the consolation final by topping Altoona’s Nick Irwin, 9-4. Sanderson was shut out by Central Mountain’s Collin Bauman, 4-0, to end his day.
“I think for the guys that we brought, they did a nice job. They got a great experience,” Cummins said. “While everyone else is healing up, it was a great weekend for them to get some more matches under their belt.”
Big 7 Tournament
Saturday at Wingate
Team key: Altoona (A), Bald Eagle Area (BEA), Bellefonte (B), Central Mountain (CM), Hollidaysburg (H), Jersey Shore (JS), Shikellamy (S), State College (SC)
Team scores: 1. Shikellamy 184.5, 2. Central Mountain 175, 3. Bellefonte 158.5, 4. Bald Eagle Area 137, 5. Altoona 118.5, 6. Jersey Shore 94, 7. State College 78, 8. Hollidaysburg 64
Finals
107: Braiden Weaver, A, pinned Wyatt Long, B, 4:57; 114: Alex Reed, S, pinned Cameron Garcia, B, 1:42; 121: Eben Kisner, S, pinned Ezra Swisher, B, 5:03; 127: Coen Bainey, BEA, pinned Jackson Long, B, 1:21; 133: Luke Simcox, CM, tech. fall Caleb Fasick, A, 16-1 (4:30); 139: Dalton Perry, CM, pinned CJ Keener, S, 4:18; 145: Griffin Walizer, CM, pinned Gage Long, B, 4:57; 152: Luke Sipes, A, dec. Jeffre Pifer, BEA, 11-4; 160: Connor Wetzel, S, dec. Gino Serafini, CM, 3-2; 172: Caleb Close, BEA, dec. Tyler Bauder, JS, 7-0; 189: Rocco Serafini, CM, major dec. Brody Rebuck, S, 15-4; 215: Hadyn Packer, JS, dec. Mason Rebuck, S, 6-4; 285: Nick Pavlechko, SC, pinned Hayden Speece, A, :11
Consolation Finals
107: Collin Bauman, CM, dec. Mason Sanderson, SC, 4-0; 114: Kayson Tice, BEA, dec. Carson Krupka, H, 5-1; 127: Brady Bucher, SC, pinned Daniel Hernandez, S, 2:07; 139: Noah Weaver, B, dec. Luke Ananea, CM, 4-3; 145: Mason Reese, BEA, pinned Alex Surovec, BEA, 2:00; 160: Max Murray, B, pinned Mitchell Baronner, H, :54; 172: Jacob Weaver, CM, major dec. Grady Garrison, B, 13-4; 189: Slate Sechrist, JS, dec. Addison Shawley, B, 3-1; 215: Gage Gardner, BEA, dec. Giovanni Tarantella, CM, 7-5
5th Place Match
114: Jaggar Pardoe, CM, pinned Nick Berrena, SC, 4:11; 121: Jonathan Coates, SC, dec. Gavin Guenot, BEA, 3-2; 133: Connor Maney, BEA, dec. Mason Schenck, H, 6-0; 139: Eric Weaver, SC, pinned Wyatt Young, A, 1:53; 152: Hunter Donley, CM, pinned Gavin Bennett, BEA, 2:03; 160: Kaden Walker, JS, dec. Cameron Dubbs, BEA, 2-0 (SV); 189: Evan Boose, A, pinned Shawn Knepp, BEA, 2:19; 215: Nash Irwin, B, dec. Rally Hoover, H, 8-2; 285: Preston Spontarelli, S, pinned Eric Clark, BEA, 4:27
7th Place Match
107: Liam Purcell, BEA, dec. Max Hallman, S, 2-1; 139: Hunter Ishler, BEA, dec. Jacob Brua, H, 7-2; 152: Jack McHail, B, pinned Wyatt Angeli, SC, 1:30
Consolation Semifinals
107: Sanderson, SC, dec. Nick Irwin, A, 9-4; 114: Tice, BEA, pinned Pardoe, CM, 4:36; Krupka, H, dec. Berrena, SC, 7-4; 121: Philip Sarbo, A, dec. Coates, SC, 6-0; Mason Winter, JS, pinned Guenot, BEA, :56; 127: Bucher, SC, pinned Zachary St. Clair, CM, 1:48; 133: Carnell Noone, CM, dec. Maney, BEA, 4-3; 139: Weaver, B, dec. Weaver, SC, 8-2; 145: Reese, BEA, pinned Eli Wisor, A, 2:15; Surovec, BEA, pinned Trason Danley, S, 2:01; 152: Wetzel, S, dec. Bennett, BEA, 4-0; 160: Murray, B, pinned Dubbs, BEA, 1:28; 172: Garrison, B, pinned Wyatt Kramer, CM, 3:51; 189: Shawley, B, pinned Knepp, BEA, 1:49; 215: Gio Tarantella, CM, dec. Irwin, B, 5-2; Gardner, BEA, dec. Rally Hoover, H, 8-4; 285: Owen Vandruff, JS, pinned Clark, BEA, 2:58
Semifinals
107: Long, B, dec. Sanderson, SC, 5-0; 114: Garcia, B, pinned Tice, BEA, 1:56; 121: Swisher, B, pinned Winter, JS, 2:39; 127: Bainey, BEA, pinned James Bialo, H, :11; Long, B, pinned Bucher, SC, 2:55; 133: Simcox, CM, pinned Maney, BEA, 1:47; 139: Perry, CM, pinned Weaver, SC, 1:24; 145: Walizer, CM, tech. fall Surovec, BEA, 28-13 (4:35); Long, B, dec. Reese, BEA, 12-10; 152: Pifer, BEA, dec. Wetzel, S, 5-2; 160: Wetzel, S, pinned Murray, B, 2:19; 172: Close, BEA, pinned Garrison, B, 1:34; 189: Brody Rebuck, S, dec. Shawley, B, 3-0; 215: Packer, JS, pinned Gardner, BEA, 1:27; 285: Pavlechko, SC, pinned Preston Spontarelli, S, 1:14; Speece, A, pinned Clark, BEA, 4:46
Consolation Quarterfinals
107: Collin Bauman, CM, pinned Liam Purcell, BEA, 2:25; 114: Berrena, SC, pinned Jewlius Morales, S, 1:13; 133: Noone, CM, pinned Gavin DuFour, B, 1:44; 139: Weaver, B, tech. fall Jacob Brua, H, 15-0 (3:00); 152: Bennett, BEA, pinned Wyatt Angeli, SC, :54; Hunter Donley, CM, major dec. Jack McHail, 9-0; 189: Evan Boose, A, pinned Nate Fry, BEA, :17; 215: Hoover, H, pinned Taylor Sunday, SC, 2:47
Quarterfinals
107: Sanderson, SC, dec. Purcell, BEA, 3-2; Long, B, major dec. Bauman, CM, 8-0; 114: Tice, BEA, pinned Berrena, SC, 1:54; Garcia, B, pinned Morales, S, 1:56; 121: Coates, SC, dec. Guenot, BEA, 5-3; 127: Bucher, SC, pinned Daniel Hernandez, S, 3:45; Long, B, pinned Camden Baker, JS, 2:54; 133: Maney, BEA, dec. Mason Schenck, H, 6-0; Isaac McGregor, S, pinned DuFour, B, :34; 139: Perry, CM, pinned Ishler, BEA, :16; Weaver, SC, pinned Young, A, 3:27; CJ Keener, S, major dec. Weaver, B, 8-0; 145: Surovec, BEA, dec. Eli Wisor, A, 12-5; Long, B, pinned Trason Danley, S, 1:02; 152: Sipes, A, pinned Angeli, SC, :38; Braylen Corter, CM, dec. Bennett, BEA, 9-4; Pifer, BEA, pinned McHail, B, 2:31; 160: Kaden Walker, JS, dec. Dubbs, BEA, 4-2 (SV); Murray, B, dec. Bryce Brungard, CM, 8-3; 172: Garrison, B, dec. Matt Shaffer, S, 7-1; 189: Slate Sechrist, JS, pinned Knepp, BEA, 1:04; Rebuck, S, pinned Fry, BEA, 1:55; Shawley, B, pinned Boose, A, 3:36; 215: Gardner, BEA, pinned Irwin, B, 2:42; Mason Rebuck, S, pinned Sunday, SC, :54; 285: Clark, BEA, pinned Lucas Wetzel, S, 2:00
