Meet the 16 Centre County wrestlers set to compete for state championships
The last, but biggest, tournament of the year is here for high school wrestlers.
The PIAA Championships start at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey. The MyHouse PA Girls State Championships start at 9 a.m. Sunday at Central Dauphin High School in Harrisburg.
16 Centre County wrestlers — 13 boys and three girls — will get a shot to win the ultimate prize of a gold medal.
State College has the most PIAA qualifiers with five hitting the mat in Class 3A. In Class 2A, Bald Eagle Area and Penns Valley each has three qualifiers to lead the county in that classification.
Bellefonte and Philipsburg-Osceola each has one wrestler competing at Class 2A.
As for the girls championships, the Eagles have a pair competing to go along with the Mounties’ solo wrestler.
Here’s a look at each state qualifier:
BOYS
CLASS 3A
State College
Hayden Cunningham, 127 pounds
Class: Senior
Record: 28-7
District finish: 1st
Regional finish: 1st
First opponent: Quinn Smith, Spring-Ford, Sr., 30-4, Southeast No. 3
How’d he get here: Cunningham cruised to the finals at the PIAA Northwest Regional tournament to the tune of two pins in a total of 46 seconds of wrestling.
He opened by sticking Selinsgrove’s Landyn Lukens in 21 seconds. The senior followed that up with a fall in 25 seconds of Hickory’s Mike Reardon.
In the finals, Cunningham racked up an 11-3 major decision on Cathedral Prep’s Sammy Staab.
Pierson Manville, 139 pounds
Class: Junior
Record: 29-2
District finish: 1st
Regional finish: 1st
First opponent: Winner of Jake Neill, Central Bucks South, Jr., 36-4, Southeast No. 4/Tanner McCracken, Ephrata, Sr., 21-5, South Central No. 4
How’d he get here: Manville, like Cunningham, pinned his way to the finals.
He flattened Meadville’s Jacoby Thompson in 44 seconds to open his regional. Manville followed that up by pinning Cathedral Prep’s Brandon Byrd in 1:41 for his 200th career win.
In the finals, the defending PIAA champion took on another defending PIAA champion in Central Mountain’s Dalton Perry. The two tussled in the district final with Manville winning that one. He took the regional final too over the Penn State commit, 3-0.
Asher Cunningham, 145 pounds
Class: Sophomore
Record: 25-5
District finish: 1st
Regional finish: 1st
First opponent: Winner of Jayson Flener, North Allegheny, Sr., 31-12, Southwest No. 4/Max Parnis, West Chester East, Sr., 36-4, Southeast No. 3
How’d he get here: Cunningham finished eighth in the state last year, so he’s building off of that performance.
He claimed his second straight Northwest Regional crown, but had more work to do compared to his first. Cunningham opened by pinning Shikellamy’s CJ Keener in 4:41. He then topped Williamsport’s Carter Weaver, 11-8, to make the finals.
Cunningham took on a familiar foe in Central Mountain’s Griffin Walizer, who he beat in the district final and faced three other times before then. Cunningham came away with a 2-0 win in the regional final.
Carter Weaverling, 172 pounds
Class: Senior
Record: 22-8
District finish: 1st
Regional finish: 1st
First opponent: Blaise Eidle, Wilson West Lawn, Soph., 50-8, South Central No. 3
How’d he get here: Weaverling enters his first PIAA Championships as a district and regional champ, which were titles that eluded him previously.
He pinned his way to the finals. First, he took care of Meadville’s Ty Tidball in 1:03. Then, he stuck Punxsutawney’s Grant Miller in 3:02.
In the finals, Weaverling snuck by Mifflin County’s Avery Aurand, who he pinned in the district final, 3-1.
Nick Pavlechko, 285 pounds
Class: Junior
Record: 29-4
District finish: 1st
Regional finish: 1st
First opponent: Winner of Avery Kuhns, Chambersburg, Sr., 23-10, South Central No. 4/Maxwell Roy, St. Joseph’s Prep, Soph., 36-7, Northeast No. 3
How’d he get here: There was never any doubt that Pavlechko was coming away with his second regional crown. All three of the matches he wrestled ended with falls and were in the first period.
The junior opened by flattening Williamsport’s Brycen Delker in 1:29. In the semifinals, Pavlechko dispatched Selinsgrove’s Jack Peters in 1:21.
The finals saw the Little Lion stick Mifflin County’s Peyton Kearns for a second straight weekend in 1:56. Pavlechko pinned Kearns for the district title.
CLASS 2A
Bald Eagle Area
Lucas Fye, 121 pounds
Class: Junior
Record: 29-1
District finish: 1st
Regional finish: 1st
First opponent: Winner of Matthew Almedina, Mid Valley, Fr., 31-9, Northeast No. 4/Cooper Feltman, Notre Dame-Green Pond, Soph., 24-18, Southeast No. 5
How’d he get here: Fye secured a PIAA medal last year — fifth. This year, he comes into his third PIAA appearance as a district and regional champ.
He bonused his way to the regional finals, opening with a pin of North Star’s Colton Frazier in 1:15. The junior strung together back-to-back major decisions to make the finals.
In the quarterfinals, he shut out the Rams’ Brayden Lisowski, 8-0. Fye followed that with another shutout, 10-0, over McGuffey’s Lucas Barr.
In the finals, Fye edged United’s Gideon Bracken, 4-3, with all seven points coming in the first two periods of wrestling.
Coen Bainey, 127 pounds
Class: Senior
Record: 36-6
District finish: 1st
Regional finish: 3rd
First opponent: Steven Harris, Conwell-Egan, Jr., 36-5, Southeast No. 2
How’d he get here: Bainey had his eye on a regional title as he never had one before, despite claiming four straight district titles.
The regional tournament started out well as he bonused his way to the semifinals — 15-0 technical fall in 2:06 of second round match with Somerset’s Deshonn Valentine, and pin of Frazier’s Tyler Clark in 25 seconds. In the semifinals, Bainey squared off with Bentworth’s Chris Vargo, who has a history with Bainey.
Vargo, who was the regional champ, kicked Bainey to the consolations with an 8-1 loss. The senior responded by pinning Montour’s Anthony Orlandini in 2:03 to make the consolation finals.
Bainey closed out his final regional tournament by edging Chestnut Ridge’s Kobi Burkett, 2-0.
Caleb Close, 172 pounds
Class: Sophomore
Record: 39-3
District finish: 1st
Regional finish: 1st
First opponent: Winner of Shamere Davenport, Belmont Charter, Jr., 29-13, Southeast No. 6/Robbie Schneider, Lackawanna Trail, Sr., 39-2, Northeast No. 4
How’d he get here: Close has had a bitter taste in his mouth since finishing eighth as a freshman last year at the PIAAs. He looks primed to improve upon that finish.
Close pinned his way to the regional semifinals with both wins coming in the first period. He opened by sticking Valley’s Jeremy Hughley in 1:02. Then, Close took care of Albert Gallatin’s Landon Conroy in 1:56.
The sophomore shut out Burrell’s Isaac Lacinski, 3-0, to make the finals, where he took on Tyrone’s Kyle Scott, who he beat in the district finals. Close shut out Scott, 5-0.
Penns Valley
Colten Shunk, 133 pounds
Class: Junior
Record: 31-8
District finish: 2nd
Regional finish: 5th
First opponent: Conner Reszkowski, Cranberry, Soph., 30-11, Northwest No. 4
How’d he get here: Shunk punched his ticket to his first PIAAs on the first day of the regional tournament as he reached the semifinals with ease.
The junior opened the tournament by pinning South Side’s Ryder Goe in 4:32. He then breezed past Chestnut Ridge’s Mason Weyant, 5-1.
Shunk was kicked to the consolations when he suffered an 18-1 technical fall loss in 4:59 to the eventual region champion in Montour’s Peter Chacon. The Rams wrestler suffered another loss in the consolation semifinals to Burgettstown’s Gaven Suica, 12-3.
Shunk did close out the regional by topping Weyant again, 7-6, to finish fifth.
Ty Watson, 152 pounds
Class: Junior
Record: 36-4
District finish: 1st
Regional finish: 1st
First opponent: Winner of Reece Bechakas, Kane, Jr., 32-7, Northwest No. 4/Kobe Moore, Camp Hill, Jr., 34-6, Southeast No. 6
How’d he get here: Watson enters his second PIAAs the same as last year — a district and regional champ. However, he’s had four losses this year while he had a perfect record last year.
Watson opened his regional by flattening Freedom Area’s Tanner Millward in 31 seconds. He topped a fellow county wrestler in BEA’s Jeffre Pifer, 7-1, to make the semifinals.
The junior snuck by Beth Center’s Tyler Berish, 4-2, to make the finals. In the finals, Watson shut out Frazier’s Ryan Celaschi, 6-0.
Kollin Brungart, 215 pounds
Class: Senior
Record: 31-9
District finish: 3rd
Regional finish: 6th
First opponent: Jared Blobe, Notre Dame-Green Pond, Sr., 32-12, Southeast No. 4
How’d he get here: Brungart has shown quite a change in his maturity and mental toughness from a year ago. The senior picked up wins in matches he normally faltered in last year, and it has led to his lone PIAA appearance.
He opened his first regional tournament with a 5-2 win over Burrell’s Luke Boylan, but was sent to the consolation bracket as he was pinned by eventual champion Brenan Morgan of Central Valley.
Brungart stayed alive with a 7-1 win over West Greene’s Colin Whyte. He then pinned fellow District 6 wrestler Central Cambria’s Karter Quick in 1:19 to secure his PIAA spot.
Brungart then dropped back-to-back losses to end his regional tournament.
Bellefonte
Gage Long, 145 pounds
Class: Senior
Record: 37-16
District finish: 3rd
Regional finish: 5th
First opponent: Travis Riefenstahl, Saucon Valley, Sr., 13-5, Southeast No. 4
How’d he get here: Long’s first and only Class 2A regional started out well as he topped Beaver Falls’ Gabe Lilly, 6-4. He was then sent to the consolation bracket with a 6-3 loss to Chestnut Ridge’s Calan Bollman.
Long made it to the blood round — consolation quarterfinals — by using a five-point third period to top Belle Vernon’s Kole Doppelheuer, 7-4. He secured his first PIAA spot by edging Beth Center’s Tyler Debnar.
After coming up just short of the consolation finals with a 1-0 loss to Quaker Valley’s Logan Richey, Long closed out his last regional by pinning Frazier’s Jonah Erdely in 4:35.
Philipsburg-Osceola
Caleb Hummel, 107 pounds
Class: Freshman
Record: 36-9
District finish: 3rd
Regional finish: 6th
First opponent: Chase Homan, Hamburg, Fr., 38-7, Southeast No. 4
How’d he get here: After suffering a tough 10-8 loss to Quaker Valley’s Bruce Anderchak to open his first regional tournament, Hummel got to work in the consolation bracket.
He pinned Beth Center’s Alex Medlen in 4:00, and then hung an 18-1 technical fall in 4:41 on Tussey Mountain’s Dakota Santamaria. Hummel secured his PIAA spot by topping Derry’s Anthony Mucci, 6-3.
His regional tournament ended with back-to-back shutout losses to finish sixth.
GIRLS
Bald Eagle Area
Angelina Grieb, 155 pounds
Class: Junior
Record: 13-4
Regional finish: 2nd
How’d she get here: Grieb had just four girls in her bracket, so she started in the semifinals.
She stuck Delaware Valley’s Sarah Seltzer in 2:28 to make the finals. In the finals match, the junior took on Bishop McCort’s Raegen Snider, who shut out Grieb, 8-0.
Grace Crestani, 170 pounds
Class: Sophomore
Record: 9-6
Regional finish: 3rd
How’d she get here: Crestani had her shot at a regional title shut down early as she was pinned by Honesdale’s Jillian Penn in 3:11. However, she wasn’t deterred.
Crestani rebounded nicely by pinning Delaware Valley’s Victoria Depew in 36 seconds to make the consolation finals. The sophomore received a forfeit in the consolation finals for her third place finish.
Philipsburg-Osceola
Isabella Duvall, 124 pounds
Class: Junior
Record: 11-1
Regional finish: 2nd
How’d she get here: Duvall, who is the younger sister of former Penns Valley wrestler Malachi Duvall, had no problems making the finals of her weight class at the Northeast Regional last Sunday.
She opened with a pin of Bishop McCort’s Jovie Forrest in 49 seconds. Duvall then had just one point scored on her in the quarterfinals and semifinals. She topped Hanover’s Kaidence Ankner, 8-1, in the quarterfinals, and then shut out Delaware Valley’s Alia Narvaez-Wiener, 6-0.
Duvall suffered her first loss of the season in the finals to Montgomery’s Emily Murphy, 5-1.
