Bald Eagle Area’s Coen Bainey falls in Ultimate Warrior finals as 5 others place
The Ultimate Warrior Tournament has consistently grown over the years.
It’s become a rival of the Thomas Automotive Family Tournament in Bedford County that’s held the same weekend.
Bald Eagle Area and Philipsburg-Osceola were a part of a 42 team field, which was six more teams than last year. Some of the teams included in the Ultimate Warrior Tournament were top tier squads that usually make the PIAA dual championships every year in Central Mountain, Mifflin County, Central York, Reynolds and Southern Columbia.
Central Mountain won the team title with 174 points and three champions. Mifflin County finished second with 152.5 points and three finalists — two champs. Central York rounded out the top three with 134.5 points and two finalists.
Here’s a look at how the Eagles and Mounties fared:
Bald Eagle Area
Team finish: 9th, 92.5 points
Champions: None
Other placewinners: Coen Bainey (2nd, 127), Mason Reese (8th, 145), Caleb Close (3rd, 172), Gage Gardner (7th, 215)
Recap: The Eagles brought 14 guys to the Ultimate Warrior Tournament.
They ended up with just four placewinners.
“If you can place here, you did something. If you are on the podium, there’s definitely a pretty good chance you are going to be at the state tournament,” BEA coach Ron Guenot said, “it’s that tough. We had some seeded guys that lost in the first round. The weights are deep with a lot of talented kids. It’s been a really tough tournament no doubt about it.”
The Eagles had just two in Bainey and Close make it to the semifinals. However, Bainey was the only one to make the finals.
He took on a familiar foe in Bentworth’s Chris Vargo. Before Saturday night, the pair had wrestled five times before, with Vargo holding a 3-2 advantage.
Bainey jumped out to the lead first with a takedown in the first period. In the second period, the senior was on the bottom to start.
He went for a granby roll to try and escape from Vargo, who caught the American commit and stuck him on his back in 3:50.
“He rolled there and got caught in the roll. He has to be careful in that situation. It’s happened before,” Guenot said. “Vargo is very tough on top. Two great wrestlers that I think we are going to see here in the next few weeks, possibly banging heads again.”
Bainey had no problems making the finals by bonusing his way there. He opened with a 17-1 technical fall in 3:23 of wrestling.
He pinned Juniata Valley’s Lucas Dick in 33 seconds to make the quarterfinals. It was the senior’s 120th career win.
Bainey then flattened Tyrone’s Remington Fleck in 49 seconds to make the semifinals. In the semifinals, he shut out Midd-West’s Matthew Smith, 9-0.
Close, like Bainey, bonused his way to the semifinals with two pins and a major decision.
He opened with a fall in 1:18, and then collected a 13-3 major decision. In the quarterfinals, Close pinned Claysburg-Kimmel’s Ethan Claycomb.
Close took on Reynolds’ Jalen Wagner, who beat him in last year’s tournament, in the semifinals. Wagner’s tough top game stifled Close, and used an escape with 10 seconds remaining to secure a 1-0 win.
“It was pretty upsetting. The kid in the finals, that I would’ve wrestled, I lost to at King of the Mountain, so I wanted another chance at him,” Close said of the loss. “I won’t get to see him again because he is AAA. I feel like I wrestled his (Wagner’s) match, and didn’t stick to my stuff. I let the win get away from me, I guess.”
The sophomore showed mental toughness to respond in the consolation bracket. He could’ve easily folded, which happens most of the time to wrestlers that get so far in the championship bracket.
Instead, Close responded with a dominating 14-0 major decision over Johnsonburg’s Rayce Milliard to make the consolation finals. Close took on Tyrone’s Kyle Scott, who he beat on Tuesday, 4-2, in the consolation finals.
Close used an escape and a takedown all in the second period to earn a 3-1 win and finish third.
“After a loss, you can get upset about it and feel sorry for yourself, or you can just get mad and make up for everything,” he said. “ I lost to a kid that I’ll hopefully see at states, and I can beat him at states. I know what I need to work on, so I just have to keep my head down and work from here on out.”
Gardner and Reese have been having impacts for the Eagles over the whole month of January.
Gardner was just hitting the mat for the first time at the beginning of the month as he had to recover from a football injury. The freshman had a tremendous tournament.
He made the quarterfinals with a 7-1 win over Pen Argyl’s Michael Culver after almost losing in the first round. Gardner was pinned by the No. 2 seed in Port Allegany’s Miska Young in 1:00 of their quarterfinals match.
The BEA wrestler responded by edging Reynolds’ Kolton Wilkinson, 2-1, in the blood round to secure his podium spot. He suffered an 11-7 loss in the consolation quarterfinals, but rebound to close out his tournament with a 3-1 win over Indiana’s Griffin Prebish in the seventh-place match.
“We knew he was a very talented freshman. He’s starting to come into his own,” Guenot said. “We never doubted that. We knew he was capable of doing well, and hopefully he continues to use this tournament as a building block for the postseason.”
Close added: “Gage Gardner is a freshman at 215. He came in and placed, that’s pretty impressive, and that’s good for his confidence. He can definitely have a successful high school career, he just needs to start believing.”
Reese won his opening match by shutting out Midd-West’s Jay Yount, 13-0, but was kicked into the consolation bracket with a 6-2 loss to Mifflin County’s Jake Cunningham.
He went to work in the consolation bracket by opening with a pin of Bellwood-Antis’ Elias Alley in 1:47. Reese tallied a 9-4 win over United’s Trayslin Thompson.
The Eagles’ wrestler sneaked by Bradford’s Jordan Thompson, 4-3, in the blood round. Reese was then pinned by Marion Center’s Gage Heilbrun in the consolation quarterfinals, where he suffered an injury, which forced him to medically forfeit the seventh-place match.
“It was nice to see him get on the podium here. It’s the second year he’s been here. It was great to see,” Guenot said. “It was a good confidence builder. He’s been wrestling well for the last month or so. We are hoping he keeps that momentum and peaking at the right time.”
Philipsburg-Osceola
Team finish: T-24th, 50 points
Champions: None
Other placewinners: Caleb Hummel (7th, 107), Marcus Gable (3rd, 152)
Recap: Mounties coach Justin Fye knew how important it was to have his team at the Ultimate Warrior Tournament with the postseason looming.
His squad entered 11 wrestlers but only two were able to make the podium. Still, Fye hopes the experience will help.
“We talked to the guys that this is a great tournament to be at. Some of these kids are going to be tougher than some of the kids at districts. Everyone knows District 2A is very tough,” Fye said. “It gives the kids a little preview of where they need to be to get to the next step. Some of our guys didn’t meet their goals.”
Gable was the highest finisher, but he had to put in a lot of work to get to that point.
The No. 5 seed earned a pin in 5:38 of his opening match, but was then kicked to the consolation bracket with a 5-4 upset loss to No. 12 seed Kaden Barnhart of River Valley. Gable responded by pinning Towanda’s Aiden Miller in 37 seconds.
“Whenever I was going through the championship bracket, I had a tough loss there. I was just like, ‘I have to come back and get the best option,’ ” Gable said of his mindset. “I went right for third, and I ended up getting it.”
Gable made the consolation fourth round by edging Indiana’s William Turner, 7-6. In the blood round (consolation fourth round), he took on BEA’s Jeffre Pifer, who Gable topped, 3-1, in sudden victory.
Gable used a solid ride to sneak by Clarion’s Mason Gourley, 2-1, in ultimate tiebreaker No. 2. He received a medical forfeit in the consolation semifinals.
In the consolation finals, Gable trailed 3-0 midway through third period. He went for a dump throw that he got and collected nearfall points for a 5-3 win.
“Marcus lost a tough match in the round of 16. When we looked at the brackets, we were looking forward to maybe getting the kid from Johnsonburg and maybe another match with Sipes, but it just didn’t happen that way,” Fye said. “Marcus did a good job of having a short-term memory. It was good to see that because the last time we were in the consolations at the Panther Holiday Classic, we didn’t respond well.”
Hummel got the furthest in the championship bracket by getting to the quarterfinals.
He opened by sticking Pen Argyl’s Blayke Lacey in 28 seconds. Hummel grinded out a 7-5 win over Marion Center’s Griffin Tinsman to make the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Hummel suffered a tough 8-6 loss to Mount Union’s Mason Beatty, who Hummel could see in a couple of weeks at the District 6 Class 2A tournament. He bounced back by shutting out Central York’s Harris Keares, 11-0, in the blood round.
Hummel was then kicked into the seventh-place match by suffering a 5-3 loss to Muncy’s Gage Swank. He ended his tournament with a 2-0 win over Wilson’s Santino Micci.
“Caleb wrestled well this weekend. His two losses are guys ranked in the top 10 right now. They were close losses. He is right there with them,” Fye said. “Wrestling Beatty this weekend was a good match. We were hoping to get Beatty and (Tyrone’s Korry) Walls just to see where we are at within the district. Our district is really tough at 107.”
Ultimate Warrior Tournament
At West Branch High School
Team key: Altoona (A), Armstrong (AS), Bald Eagle Area (BEA), Bellwood-Antis (BA), Bentworth (BW), Bradford (B), Brockway (BY), Canton (C), Central Mountain (CM), Central York (CY), Clarion (CL), Claysburg-Kimmel (CK), Hickory (H), Hollidaysburg (HB), Indiana (I), Johnsonburg (JB), Juniata (J), Juniata Valley (JV), Lake Lehman (L), Marion Center (MC), Midd-West (MW), Mifflin County (MCY), Moshannon Valley (MV), Mount Union (MU), Muncy (M), Oswayo Valley (O), Pen Argyl (P), Peters Township (PT), Philipsburg-Osceola (P-O), Port Allegany (PA), Reynolds (RY), Richland (R), River Valley (RV), Southern Columbia (SC), Sullivan County (SCY), Towanda (T), Tyrone (TY), United (U), West Branch (WB), Westmont Hilltop (WH), Wilson (W), Wyalusing (WY)
Team scores: 1. Central Mountain 174, 2. Mifflin County 152.5, 3. Central York 134.5, 4. United 123.5, 5. Reynolds 122.5, 6. Tyrone 112, 7. Bentworth 107.5, 8. Canton 102, 9. Bald Eagle Area 92.5, 10. Hickory 90, T24. Philipsburg-Osceola 50
Saturday’s Results
Finals
107: Braiden Weaver,A, dec. Brody Bishop, H, 1-0; 114: Landon Bainey, WB, dec. Colton Wade, SC, 2-1; 121: Hunter Johnson, MC, dec. Logan Rumberger, TY, 8-1; 127: Chris Vargo, BW, pinned Coen Bainey, BEA, 3:50; 133: Luke Simcox, CM, dec. Scott Johnson, M, 5-1; 139: Dalton Perry, CM, med. forfeit Conner Heckman, MW; 145: Griffin Walizer, CM, dec. Wyatt Dillon, CY, 6-4 (SV); 152: Luke Sipes, A, pinned Parker Kearns, MC, 6:59; 160: Deakon Scheaffer, MC, dec. Vito Gentile, RY, 5-3; 172: Jalen Wagner, RY, dec. Macon Myers, CY, 8-5; 189: Seth Stewart, BY, dec. Vitali Daniels, BW, 7-4; 215: Connor Jacobs, AS, pinned Michael Davis, C, 4:39; 285: Carson Neely, PA, dec. Braden Ewing, TY, 3-1 (SV)
Consolation Finals
152: Marcus Gable, P-O, dec. Carter Davis, CY, 5-3; 172: Caleb Close, BEA, dec. Kyle Scott, TY, 3-1
5th Place Match
215: Gage Gardner, BEA, dec. Griffin Prebish, I, 3-1
7th Place Match
107: Caleb Hummel, P-O, dec. Santino Micci, W, 2-0; 145: Santino Gentile, RY, med. forfeit Mason Reese, BEA
Semifinals
127: Bainey, BEA, major dec. Matthew Smith, MW, 9-0; 172: Wagner, RY, dec. Close, BEA, 1-0
Consolation Semifinals
152: Gable, P-O, med. forfeit Kaden Dennis, JB; 172: Close, BEA, major dec. Rayce Milliard, JB, 14-0
Consolation Quarterfinals
107: Gage Swank, M, dec. Hummel, P-O, 5-3; 145: Gage Heilbrun, MC, pinned Reese, BEA, 3:56; 152: Gable, P-O, dec. Mason Gourley, CL, 2-1 (UTB2); 215: Zack Stromock, PT, dec. Gardner, BEA, 11-7
Consolation Fourth Round
107: Hummel, P-O, major dec. Harris Keares, CY, 11-0; 114: Waylon Waite, RY, major dec. Sam McDonald, P-O, 8-0; 145: Reese, BEA, dec. Jordan Thompson, B, 4-3; 152: Gable, P-O, dec. Jeffre Pifer, BEA, 3-1; 160: Andrew Weaver, TY, dec. Cameron Dubbs, BEA, 5-0; 215: Gardner, BEA, dec. Kolton Wilkinson, RY, 2-1
Friday’s Results
Quarterfinals
107: Mason Beatty, MU, dec. Hummel, P-O, 8-6; 127: Bainey, BEA, pinned Remington Fleck, TY, :49; 172: Close, BEA, Ethan Claycomb, CK, 1:38; 215: Miska Young, pinned Gardner, BEA, 1:00
Consolation Fifth Round
139: Colbey Seiler, MC, major dec. Nate Fleck, P-O, 10-1; 160: Dubbs, BEA, Bryce Brungard, CM, 4-1
Consolation Fourth Round
133: Holden Ward, C, major dec. Connor Maney, BEA, 16-3; 139: Fleck, P-O, major dec. Easton Robertson, R, 14-1; 160: Dubbs, BEA, pinned Jacob Aldrich, OV, 2:21
Consolation Third Round
114: Wyatt Stranger, T, dec. Kayson Tice, BEA, 5-4; McDonald, P-O, pinned Tyler Boyle, H, 3:55; 133: Max Formaini, AS, dec. Ben Gustkey, P-O, 11-5; 133: Maney, BEA, pinned Logan Kent, H, 2:59; 139: Colton Ross, BY, dec. Alex Surovec, BEA, 3-1 (SV); 145: Reese, BEA, dec. Traysin Tomalson, U, 9-4; 152: Gable, P-O, dec. William Turner, I, 7-6; 160: Dubbs, BEA, pinned Ethan Totin, AS, :38; Kyle Setler, CY, dec. Matthew Rowles, P-O, 11-4
Third Round
133: Blake Aumiller, MC, pinned Gustkey, P-O, 2:23; 139: Lukas Walk, TY, dec. Fleck, P-O, 3-2; 152: Carter Davis, CY, dec. Pifer, BEA, 6-0
Consolation Second Round
107: Lex Schechterly, L, dec. Ace Foster, P-O, 6-0; 114: Tice, BEA, pinned Kamden Beatty, MU, 4:49; McDonald, P-O, major dec. Jaggar Pardoe, CM, 11-1; 121: AJ Chilcote, MU, pinned Gavin Guenot, BEA, 4:10; 133: Maney, BEA, dec. Mason Schenk, HB, 2-0; 139: Surovec, BEA, dec. Nathon Nowikowski, AS, 7-0; Seiler, MC, tech. fall Hunter Ishler, BEA, 17-2 (2:14); 145: Tristan Minnich, W, pinned Ian Phillips, P-O, 3:46; Reese, BEA, pinned Elias Alley, BA, 1:47; 152: Caden McCully, U, major dec. Gavin Bennett, BEA, 9-1; Gable, P-O, pinned Aiden Miller, T, :37; 189: Dylan Stephens, U, dec. Shawn Knepp, BEA, 4-3; Josh Ryan, L, dec. Andrew Hensal, P-O, 6-4; 285: Brandyn Parcell, I, pinned Eric Clark, BEA, 3:00
Second Round
107: Hummel, P-O, dec. Griffin Tinsman, MC, 7-5; 127: Bainey, BEA, pinned Lucas Dick, JV, :33; 133: Chaney Paige, MW, dec. Maney, BEA, 9-2; Gustkey, P-O, dec. David Ferguson, H, 3-1; 139: Paxton Derr, M, pinned Ishler, BEA, :30; Fleck, P-O, dec. Surovec, BEA, 7-0; 145: Jake Cunningham, MC, dec. Reese, BEA, 6-2; Wyatt Dillon, CY, pinned Phillips, P-O, :25; 152: Kaden Barnhart, RV, dec. Gable, P-O, 5-4; Pifer, BEA, pinned Kyle Ferster, MW, 1:27; 160: Nuallan King, P, dec. Rowles, P-O, 8-3; Vito Gentile, RY, dec. Dubbs, BEA, 7-0; 172: Close, BEA, major dec. Aiden Bliss, PA, 13-3; 215: Gardner, BEA, dec. Michael Culver, PA, 7-1; 285: Ian Scully, CY, pinned Clark, BEA, 1:11
Consolation First Round
127: Phil McCormick, M, dec. Hunter Kephart, P-O, 3-1; 145: Chase Geurin, T, major dec. Haydyn Kephart, P-O, 12-3; 152: Bennett, BEA, dec. Alex Moser, P, 1-0
First Round
107: Hummel, P-O, pinned Blayke Lacey, P, :28; Harris Keares, CY, tech. fall Foster, P-O, 18-3 (4:37); 114: Waite, RY, pinned Tice, BEA, 5:21; Josef Garshnick, U, pinned McDonald, P-O, 1:23; 121: Aiden Knorr, P, pinned Guenot, BEA, 5:38; 127: Aric Learn, AS, dec. Hu. Kephart, P-O, 7-1; Bainey, BEA, tech. fall Carnell Noone, CM, 17-1 (3:23); 145: Avery Bittler, JB, pinned Ha. Kephart, P-O, :55; Reese, BEA, major dec. Jay Yount, MW, 13-0; Phillips, P-O, pinned Liam Slicker, H, 1:47; 152: Rylan Arnold, PA, dec. Bennett, BEA, 11-6; Gable, P-O, pinned Jimmy Mitkowski, L, 5:38; Pifer, BEA, pinned Jackson Millen, W, 1:30; 172: Close, BEA, pinned Greg Fullmer, SC, 1:18; 189: Parker, C, pinned Knepp, BEA, 2:19; Serafini, CM, pinned Hensal, P-O, 2:36; 215: Gardner, BEA, dec. Dakota McDermott, CM, 3-1 (SV); 285: Clark, BEA, pinned Noah Schmitt, H, 1:20
