Penns Valley takes care of P-O for 3rd time this year to make District 6 wrestling semis
The saying goes: The third time is the charm.
On Tuesday night, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola met on the mat for the third time this season with a spot in the District 6 Class 2A team dual semifinals on the line.
The previous two meetings saw the Rams come away with some pretty lopsided wins — one which came with a title in the Babbit Duals at the beginning of the season.
Well, Penns Valley came away again with another lopsided 56-12 victory to set up the chance to host the semifinals and finals on Saturday at 10 a.m.
“We’ve just been consistent,” said Rams coach Joel Brinker. “It’s the third time we saw them, so familiar opponent, some different matchups, some we saw the first time around, but I was glad to see some of the matchups we saw. I was pleased. It was a good win. We move on and got another opportunity coming up here. I see us improving in areas. There are still some things you are always going to see, we’ll just keep chipping away.”
To talk about consistency, Penns Valley (13-0) tallied nine bonus-point victories. There were two instances in the match with the Mounties (12-8) that saw the Rams string together four straight of those bonus-point wins.
The dual began at 285 pounds, and Penns Valley’s Landen Hess receiving a forfeit, so it was an early 6-0 lead.
P-O’s Caleb Hummel didn’t let the lead get too far away though at 107 pounds. He took on Connor Myers, and got a takedown just over 15 seconds into the match. He collected some nearfall points before the first period was over for a 4-0 lead.
In the second period, Hummel opened with a reversal and tilted Myers for some more nearfall points. It was 9-0 to start the third, and Myers didn’t want to be under Hummel, so they started from their feet.
Hummel secured another takedown and went back to work looking for a fall. He nearly had it multiple times, but finished with a 16-0 technical fall in 5 minutes, 53 seconds.
Then came the first run of bonus-point victories for Penns Valley.
Jack Darlington took down Ace Foster 20 seconds into their 114-pound bout, and pinned him with 1:09 left in the first period. Brayden Lisowski built up a 8-0 lead on Sam McDonald at 121, before flattening McDonald in 3:58.
Zach Rummel followed by putting Hunter Kephart on his back in 5:33. Colten Shunk finished off the barrage with a commanding 17-2 technical fall in 3:30 over Isaiah Smeal. Shunk had three takedowns, three sets of nearfall points and a reversal in the win.
The Rams went from leading by one to leading by 24.
“The name of the game is to try and pin, and get points. These guys wrestle aggressive for the most part, top to bottom, for six minutes,” Brinker said. “It gives you a good chance to win, when you keep trying to score. Even the guys that lost, I don’t think they were out there not fighting or trying. They scrapped and fought, and didn’t give up bonus points, so a total team effort.”
Ben Gustkey and Nate Fleck stopped the bleeding momentarily for the Mounties.
Gustkey clawed his way to a 3-2 win over Max King at 139 pounds. He used an escape with 47 seconds left in the third period for the winning score.
Fleck put on a takedown clinic on Chase Fleshman at 145 pounds. He tallied three in the first period, two more in the second and one last takedown in the third for a 14-4 major decision.
P-O trailed 29-12.
“We just don’t match up well with Penns Valley. They are solid throughout their entire lineup,” Mounties coach Justin Fye said. “We have a couple of guys that were out of the lineup tonight. We have some guys banged up. We won a couple of matches there. Caleb had a good win for us. He tried to get bonus points, and was close to a fall a couple of times. Ben Gustkey had a good win. Nate Fleck had a bonus-point win.”
A highlight of the match came at 152 pounds, where the Mounties’ Marcus Gable squared off with Ty Watson.
Watson tallied the first points of the bout with 45 seconds remaining in the first period. Gable reversed him, but Watson achieved an escape before the period ended.
Watson’s escape in the second period were the lone points, so he led 4-2 to start the third. Gable picked up another reversal at the start of the third period, but Watson escaped again.
The Rams junior tallied a takedown with 2 seconds remaining to secure a 7-4 win.
“I was happy for that. Those two guys need to see each other. It helps both of them,” Brinker said. “It’s two high-caliber kids. Gable wrestled a great match. He is a tough opponent, credit to him. I’m glad Ty got the win.”
After Watson’s win, Penns Valley strung together that second set of bonus-point victories, which were all pins.
David Martin flattened Matthew Rowles in 1:51. Ethan Fetterolf made short work of Jake Bainey at 172 pounds in 39 seconds.
Brandon Corl’s pin never came until the second period, when he decked Andrew Hensal in 3:09. Kollin Brungart finished the dual off by sticking Jacob Shaw in 1:25.
The Rams will now shift their focus to hosting No. 2 Huntingdon, No. 3 Bald Eagle Area and No. 4 United. Penns Valley will get the Lions with the Eagles and Bearcats tussling in the other semifinal.
Brinker is sure glad his team gets that hosting responsibility because he feels the support his team gets from fans, parents, school district and the community is second to none. Plus, he likes the idea of not having to travel, but he knows what lies ahead.
“Being very honest, We don’t really talk a lot about state duals. It’s just, ‘Hey guys, this is our next match, and let the chips fall where they may,’” Brinker said. “Obviously, whoever we are wrestling this weekend, they are a good team. I know what we are up against. We’re not looking past anybody. We just do the best we can, and be pleased with the outcome. We preach just go hard for six minutes and whatever happens, happens. We just live with it.”
P-O had one match before tangling with Penns Valley as it took on No. 9 Juniata to start the night in the first round of competition.
The Mounties got behind from the first bout, but were able to dig their way out thanks to pins from Dom Davis (285), Hummel (107), McDonald (121), Gustkey (133) and Gable (152). However, Fye wasn’t too pleased with the effort as he felt his squad didn’t seem like they were ready to go right away.
P-O will now shift gears and get ready for the individual postseason. However, it still has a couple of duals left.
Even though the team postseason is over for P-O, it is something to continue to build on for next year.
“It’s exciting to be in the postseason again. One of our goals was to be here in the district duals,” Fye said. “We won a match for the second year in a row. I know they have goals. They understand that two years in a row we’ve gone to some teams that are pretty good and wrestled.”
BEA cruises to semifinals
The Eagles were the No. 3 seed, so they had the luxury of already being in the quarterfinals. They just had to wait and see who they got.
Well, BEA got to see a familiar team in Forest Hills, which has been a thorn in BEA’s side for two years now in the district duals.
The Rangers have knocked the Eagles out of the team duals for the last two years. This time BEA got some revenge — even though coach Ron Guenot didn’t want to admit it — by topping Forest Hills, 52-18.
“It’s just nice to get the win. We just wanted to wrestle solid and tough. The score would take care of itself, and it did,” he said. “It’d be no different if it was the other way. They’re (Forest Hills) going to come after you. It was nice to finally beat them, from them beating us the last two years. The main thing is, we’re looking into Saturday, and keeping our eye on the big prize, which is winning a District 6 title.”
The dual began at 145 pounds, which was one of the Rangers top wrestlers in Dustin Flinn. He came through and got his team a fall in 4:46.
BEA responded with three straight victories.
Mason Reese pinned Nicholas Noon in 5:43 of their 152-pound bout. Reese had a 16-2 lead before putting Noon on his back.
Jeffre Pifer came close to a bonus-point win, but picked up an 8-2 victory over Mason Papinchak. Caleb Close took care of Darin Rodgers in 2:20 after racking up a 10-0 lead.
After the Rangers got another win at 189, newcomer Gage Gardner stuck Trevor Burkett in 3:05 to give the Eagles a 21-9 lead. Forest Hills responded again with a 1-0 win from Lucas DeLoatch at 285 over Eric Clark.
Then came the turning point in the match according to Guenot.
“One of the big highlights of the match was Liam (Purcell) getting the fall there against (Landon) Arrington. That was a match going in, could have been a toss up match,” he explained. “For him, to get the fall there, that’s a big swing in the match. It swung the momentum around. Our kids fed off of it from there on up.”
Purcell needed just 1:37 to put the Rangers’ wrestler on his back at 107. Kayson Tice received a forfeit at 114 and the bonus-point run was on.
Lucas Fye made a return to the lineup for the Eagles by pinning Isaiah Shilcosky in 2:14. Coen Bainey followed with his 64th career fall, taking care of TJ Carroll in 45 seconds.
BEA led 45-12 at that point.
Forest Hills’ Hunter Forcellini got one last win for his squad when he flattened Connor Maney in 2:48, but the Eagles had the last laugh when Alex Surovec closed out the dual with a pin in 3:30.
BEA’s semifinals opponent is Huntingdon, who edged Bellefonte, 33-28, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
“What more could you ask for? It’s going to be exciting. Four very good teams going at it in one gym,” Guenot said. “This is what it’s all about. I’m excited for the kids. It might be a little bit stressful as a coach, but we’re just looking forward to going there and competing. It’s just going to come down to the close matches and bonus points.”
District 6 Class 2A Championships
Tuesday
At Spring Mills
No. 1 Penns Valley 56, No. 8 Philipsburg-Osceola 12
285: Landen Hess, PV, won by forfeit; 107: Caleb Hummel, P-O, tech. fall Connor Myers, 16-0 (5:53); 114: Jack Darlington, PV, pinned Ace Foster, :51; 121: Brayden Lisowski, PV, pinned Sam McDonald, 3:58; 127: Zach Rummel, PV, pinned Hunter Kephart, 5:33; 133: Colten Shunk, PV, tech. fall Isaiah Smeal, 17-2 (3:30); 145: Ben Gustkey, P-O, dec. Max King, 3-2; 152: Ty Watson, PV, dec. Marcus Gable, 7-4; 160: David Martin, PV, pinned Matthew Rowles, 1:51; 172: Ethan Fetterolf, PV, pinned Jake Bainey, :39; 189: Brandon Corl, PV, pinned Andrew Hensal, 3:09; 215: Kollin Brungart, PV, pinned Jacob Shaw, 1:25
Takedowns: P-O 9, PV 15
Records: Philipsburg-Osceola (12-8), Penns Valley (13-0)
No. 8 Philipsburg-Osceola 36, No. 9 Juniata 33
215: Lane Peiper, J, pinned Hensal, P-O, 5:51; 285: Dom Davis, P-O, pinned Jason Goss, 4:21; 107: Hummel, P-O, pinned Anthony Maradiaga, 3:01; 114: Joey Bomberger, J, dec. Foster, P-O, 5-0; 121: McDonald, P-O, pinned Colton Rowles, J, :30; 127: Ryder Smith, J, pinned Hu. Kephart, 5:21; 133: Gustkey, P-O, pinned Quintin Parrish, 1:06; 139: Taylor Smith, J, pinned Layne Russell, :33; 145: Fleck, P-O, won by forfeit; 152: Gable, P-O, pinned Charlie Telfer, :51; 160: Javier Lopez, J, dec. Dawson Snyder, P-O, 4-3; 172: Harrison Mummah, J, dec. Rowles, P-O, 4-3; 189: Kelton Bonnell, J, pinned Bainey, 1:09
Records: Juniata (12-7); Philipsburg-Osceola (12-7)
At Wingate
No. 3 Bald Eagle Area 52, No. 6 Forest Hills 18
145: Dustin Flinn, FH, pinned Hunter Ishler, 4:46; 152: Mason Reese, BEA, pinned Nicholas Noon, 5:43; 160: Jeffre Pifer, BEA, dec. Mason Papinchak, 8-2; 172: Caleb Close, BEA, pinned Darin Rodgers, 2:20; 189: Kory Marsalko, FH, dec. Cameron Dubbs, 3-2; 215: Gage Gardner, BEA, pinned Trevor Burkett, 3:05; 285: Lucas DeLoatch, FH, dec. Eric Clark, 1-0; 107: Liam Purcell, BEA, pinned Landon Arrington, 1:37; 114: Kayson Tice, BEA, won by forfeit; 121: Lucas Fye, BEA, pinned Isaiah Shilcosky, 2:14; 127: Coen Bainey, BEA, pinned TJ Carroll, :45; 133: Hunter Forcellini, FH, pinned Connor Maney, 2:48; 139: Alex Surovec, BEA, pinned Jacob Gould, 3:30
Records: Forest Hills (12-4), Bald Eagle Area (10-3)
This story was originally published January 31, 2023 at 11:35 PM.
