District 6 dual wrestling: Bald Eagle Area, Penns Valley, State College come up short
When the District 6 Class 2A dual championships got underway Saturday, Centre County had a 50 percent chance of a team making it to the PIAA Championships.
No. 1 Penns Valley hosted No. 2 Huntingdon, No. 3 Bald Eagle Area and No. 4 United for the semifinals, the championship and a possible true second-place match.
After the dust settled, neither Centre County team was able to punch their ticket to the state tournament.
The Rams and Eagles squared off in the consolation finals after they each dropped their semifinals bouts. However, each team still had an outside shot, it just depended on the championship match.
Penns Valley dropped a heartbreaking 32-27 loss to United to start the day as BEA fell 42-27 to Huntingdon. The Eagles led 27-24 with three bouts left in their loss.
“We use an analogy that you got to get off the bus, and you hope everybody gets off the bus. That match, we just didn’t get off the bus,” Rams coach Joel Brinker said. “I just don’t think some of us wrestled to our potential. Definitely wasn’t what I predicted, not taking anything away from United. They are a very good team. We just didn’t execute today like I think we normally do”
Eagles coach Ron Guenot added: “There’s not much room for error. You have a bad match in a dual, and that’s what happens. Not taking anything away from Huntington. They wrestled really well up and down their lineup, and beat us.”
It really came down to missed opportunities for both schools in those opening losses.
For Penns Valley, it wasn’t able to collect all the falls it was used to from guys in the lineup against the Lions. The Rams also were giving up pins that they aren’t known for.
Brinker noted that in four of the bouts his guys lost, three of them were pins, they were matches that he felt his squad should’ve won coming in. However, he felt his squad was in good shape after freshman Brayden Lisowski pinned United’s Gideon Bracken in the second bout of the dual.
“Him sticking with it and getting the fall, I felt that was definitely a plus,” Brinker said. “I wasn’t expecting that, so I thought things were pretty good. But, you can’t give up falls and expect to win too many matches. If we didn’t get pinned, we win, that’s a huge difference.”
For BEA, it raced out to an early 15-6 lead on the Bearcats in a dual that began at 114 pounds thanks to back-to-back pins from Coen Bainey and Lucas Fye. However, Huntingdon battled back to take a 24-15 lead after four straight wins with two pins in there.
Guenot’s squad dropped bouts at 145 and 152 in those four straight losses, which were matchups that Guenot knew his team should’ve won.
“We were honest, but after that, you just have to say, ‘Hey, we got to try to go get the next best thing, and that was a true second,” said Guenot on his message to his team after the Huntingdon loss. “We were disappointed in certain efforts.”
The Eagles and Rams squared off to keep their playoff hopes alive. Earlier this year, the duo faced off with Penns Valley winning 31-27.
On Saturday, BEA got its revenge in a 32-31 win. Although the final score was close, the match really wasn’t.
The Eagles opened up by winning the first three bouts. Fye pinned Lisowkski in 1:10 at 121 pounds.
Connor Maney followed by racking up an 8-2 win over Zach Rummel. Bainey pinned Chase Fleshman in 1:43.
“You can’t get pinned. A lot of it’s positioning. I don’t feel at times so much what they’re doing,” Brinker said, “it’s what we’re doing. We’re just getting out of position and kind of beating ourselves.”
Colten Shunk stopped the bleeding momentarily for Penns Valley at 139 by earning a 12-3 major decision over Alex Surovec.
The teams traded pins over the next two bouts. Mason Reese earned a fall at 145 pounds in 30 seconds for BEA. Ty Watson replied with a fall for the Rams in 1:49 at 152.
The Eagles got back-to-back wins from Jeffre Pifer and Caleb Close to give themselves a 29-10 lead with five bouts left. Penns Valley got to within 29-19 thanks to a 5-0 win from Brandon Corl and a pin from Kollin Brungart.
However, when BEA’s Gage Gardner picked up a 3-2 win over Landen Hess at 285, the dual was sealed.
“They rebounded and avenged a loss. I was proud of them for doing that. To bounce back there and beat a tough team like Penns Valley, it makes it a little bit better,” Guenot said. “It seems like sometimes, even in the tournaments, we have a rough time with the first round. It showed again today. We got to figure that out, especially come individual district time.”
The Eagles forfeited the finals two weights to make the final score. Their match was over early enough that they focused their attention on to the championship match to see if they were going to wrestle one more match.
In the end, United topped Huntingdon, 33-30, for the district crown, which kept BEA from having a shot of making the state tournament.
“We put ourselves in a situation where we needed to rely on another team to have a shot to go to state duals,” Guenot said. “We didn’t control our own fate. (We are) Definitely disappointed that we’re close again and didn’t make the trip.”
Little Lions come up short against Wildcats
The District 6 Class 3A dual championships on Saturday at Central Mountain High School in Mill Hall was supposed to have four teams.
The No. 1 Wildcats were to host No. 2 Mifflin County, No. 3 State College and No. 4 Altoona. The Huskies and Mountain Lions decided not to compete in the postseason, so that left the Little Lions.
Central Mountain and State College squared off for the district title in a battle of very similar teams. The final score showed just how identical they are in the Wildcats’ 36-34 come-from-behind victory.
“They got some hammers. We’ve got some hammers as well,” Central Mountain coach Biff Walizer said. “We (both) have some spots with young and inexperienced kids. A lot of them matched up tonight. 107 is a couple of freshmen. 114 are young kids.”
The match started at one of the Little Lions’ hammers in Nick Pavlechko at 285 pounds.
The junior had no problems racking up a 10-1 lead on Brayden Blackwell, before sticking him in 3:56. At 107, a pair of freshman in State College’s Mason Sanderson took on Collin Bauman.
Bauman tied the dual up for Central Mountain by putting Sanderson on his back in 42 seconds.
Sophomore Nick Berrena hit the mat for the Little Lions against freshman Jaggar Pardoe at 114 pounds. The pair had a flurry of action in the first period that saw Berrena nearly pin Pardoe, and Pardoe nearly do the same to Berrena.
When the period was over, Berrena had a 7-5 lead. In the second period, Berrena continued to pour it on to build up a 13-8 lead.
The duo again were trading opportunities to pin one another in the third period, but Berrena had the best chance. However, he couldn’t finish it off, instead he settled for an 18-9 major decision.
“(He) gave me a heart attack, back and forth like that. He fights tough too. He’s really come a long way this season,” State College Ryan Cummins said. “He does some unorthodox things that drive us a little crazy, but he seems to make it work. He did a nice job, I’m proud of him.”
The Little Lions kept things rolling. They needed to as some of the Wildcats’ hammers were lurking.
Johnny Coates and Hayden Cunningham put together back-to-back falls in just under two minutes of wrestling.
Coates took care of Caden Stoner, who Walizer said is a light 107 pounder, at 121 pounds in 1:30. Cunningham, who has dropped down to 127 for the postseason, needed just 27 seconds to stick Carnell Noone.
State College led 22-6.
“We knew we had to get ahead. Those guys did their job, and got the bonus points that we needed,” Cummins said. “They certainly did what they had to do to keep our team rolling.”
Luke Simcox and Dalton Perry, who is a Penn State commit, were those lurking hammers for Central Mountain. They each collected falls to get their team to within 22-18.
The Little Lions responded with wins from some more of their hammers in Pierson Manville and Asher Cunningham.
Manville pinned Luke Ananea in 57 seconds. Cunningham used an early second period escape hold up in a 1-0 win over Walizer’s son Griffin at 152 pounds.
Cunningham rode Walizer out for the entire third period.
“Asher is always tough. He’s one of those kids, who is mentally tough and knows what to do,” Cummins said. “He’s really competitive and wants to win. He’ll do anything he can to get it, and he did.”
Following Cunningham’s win, State College led 31-18 with the Wildcats’ third hammer in Gino Serafini stepping on the mat at 160.
He needed just 13 seconds to earn his win over Rudy Skucek.
The Little Lions’ Carter Weaverling hit the mat at 172, and took on Jacob Weaver, who was 18-14 coming into the bout. If Weaverling pinned Weaver, he sent his team to the PIAA Championships as the dual was secured with two bouts left.
Weaverling took down Weaver three times in the bout, and tried his best to get that dual-sealing pin, but it never came. Instead, it was a 6-1 win.
“Jake’s a strong kid. I think if he goes out to win the match and so forth, he can have a tight match like that, but he knew the circumstances,” Walizer said. “He knew what we had coming up there at (1)89 and 215. We felt pretty good finishing with those two weights. He stayed in good position and didn’t give up. Weaverling is a veteran and tough kid.”
State College still had a shot leading 34-24 with two bouts left, but as Walizer said his squad still had one more hammer left.
Rocco Serafini was that guy that stepped onto the mat at 189. Like his brother, Gino, Rocco didn’t need much time to care of his opponent in Adam Bell.
Rocco pinned Bell in 36 seconds to make the dual score 34-30 with one bout left.
In the final bout, State College’s Lucas Anderson took on Giovanni Tarentella. Anderson was 0-3 on the year, but it didn’t stop him from doing what his team needed him to do.
He came out and was able to pick up two takedowns on Tarentella. On the second takedown, Tarentella picked up a reversal and pinned Anderson in 3:38 to finish off the rally for the Wildcats.
The loss ended State College’s dual season. Now, the Little Lions turn their eyes to the individual postseason.
“I’m proud of the guys effort. I think where we are now as compared to where we were at the beginning of the season is a huge improvement. That’s the biggest thing that I look at,” Cummins said. “We’ve improved quite a bit, gained confidence and some grit. We’ve got two weeks now to get ready for the postseason. We’ve got some work to do and some things to fix, but I like the way we look. I’m ready for districts.”
District 6 Dual Championships
Class 2A
At Spring Mills
Finals
No. 4 United 33, No. 2 Huntingdon 30
121: Gideon Bracken, U dec. Ryan Yocum, 3-2; 127: Colton Henning, U, major dec. Liam Simpson, 12-4; 133: Dominic Peruso, H, dec. Michael Monty, 7-4; 139: Eric Mykut, H, dec. Gaige Grassmyer, 11-9; 145: Grady Clark, H, pinned Noah Pisarik, 1:32; 152: Devin Grubb, H, pinned Caden McCully, 3:19; 160: Aiden Gallaher, U, dec. Devin Brenneman, 16-9; 172: Andrew McMonagle, H, pinned Zach Travis, 3:06; 189: Dylan Stephens, U, pinned Kyler Garner, :58; 215: Sawyer McGinnis, U, pinned Landon Erdman, :53; 285: Gunner Singleton, H, pinned Cade Krouse, 1:59; 107: Jacob Sombronski, U, tech. fall Gaige Sholly, 17-1; 114: Josef Garshnick, U, pinned Alex Gladfelter, 1:18
Records: United (19-0), Huntingdon (18-4)
Consolation Finals
No. 3 Bald Eagle Area 32, No. 1 Penns Valley 31
121: Lucas Fye, BEA, pinned Brayden Lisowski, 1:10; 127: Connor Maney, BEA, dec. Zach Rummel, 8-2; 133: Coen Bainey, BEA, pinned Chase Fleshman; 139: Colten Shunk, PV, major dec. Alex Surovec, 12-3*; 145: Mason Reese, BEA, pinned Max King, :30; 152: Ty Watson, PV, pinned Gavin Bennett, 1:49; 160: Jeffre Pifer, BEA, dec. David Martin, 8-6; 172: Caleb Close, BEA, pinned Ethan Fetterolf, 1:06; 189: Brandon Corl, PV, dec. Cameron Dubbs, 5-0; 215: Kollin Brungart, PV, pinned Nate Fry, 1:00; 285: Gage Gardner, BEA, dec. Landon Hess, 3-2; 107: Connor Myers, PV, won by forfeit; 114: Jack Darlington, PV, won by forfeit
* — BEA deducted a team points for unsportsmanlike
Records: Bald Eagle Area (11-4), Penns Valley (13-2)
Semifinals
No. 4 United 32, No. 1 Penns Valley 27
114: Garshnick, U, dec. Darlington, 8-1; 121: Lisowski, PV, pinned Bracken, 5:30; 127: Henning, U, major dec. Rummel, 9-0; 133: Shunk, PV, major dec. Monty, U, 13-3; 139: Grassmyer, U, pinned Fleshman, 4:34; 145: Pisarik, U, pinned King, 2:54; 152: Watson, PV, major dec. McCully, 10-0; 160: Martin, PV, dec. Gallaher, 11-4; 172: Travis, U, dec. Fetterolf, 8-2; 189: Stephens, U, pinned Corl, 2:55; 215: Brungart, PV, major dec. S. McGinnis, 10-0; 285: Hess, PV, pinned Krouse, 2:47; 107: Sombronski, U, major dec. Myers, 11-0
No. 2 Huntingdon 42, No. 3 Bald Eagle Area 27
114: Gladfelter, H, pinned Tice, 2:54; 121: Fye, BEA, pinned Jackson Bankert, :46; 127: Bainey, BEA, pinned Yocum, 4:45; 133: Maney, BEA, dec. Landon Dunsmore, 9-2; 139: Mykut, H, pinned Surovec, BEA, 1:05; 145: Clark, H, dec. Reese, 4-3; 152: Grubb, H, dec. Pifer, 4-2; 160: McMonagle, H, pinned Knepp, 1:59; 172: Close, BEA, pinned Brenneman, 3:14; 189: Dubbs, BEA, pinned Garner, 1:54; 215: Erdman, H, pinned Fry, 2:41; 285: Singleton, H, pinned Clark, 1:44; 107: Sholly, H, won by forfeit
Class 3A
At Mill Hall
No. 1 Central Mountain 36, No. 3 State College 34
285: Nick Pavlechko, SC, pinned Brayden Blackwell, 3:56; 107: Collin Bauman, CM, pinned Mason Sanderson, :42; 114: Nick Berrena, SC, major dec. Jaggar Pardoe, 18-9; 121: Johnny Coates, SC, pinned Caden Stoner, 1:30; 127: Hayden Cunningham, SC, pinned Carnell Noone, :27; 133: Luke Simcox, CM, pinned Eric Weaver, 2:42; 139: Dalton Perry, CM, pinned Jacob Campbell, 2:33; 145: Pierson Manville, SC, pinned Luke Ananea, :57; 152: Asher Cunningham, SC, dec. Griffin Walizer, 1-0; 160: Gino Serafini, CM, pinned Rudy Skucek, :13; 172: Carter Weaverling, SC, dec. Jacob Weaver, 6-1; 189: Rocco Serafini, CM, pinned Adam Bell, :36; 215: Giovanni Tarentella, CM, pinned Lucas Anderson, 3:38
Records: State College (2-8), Central Mountain (8-0)
This story was originally published February 4, 2023 at 9:27 PM.
