Penns Valley wrestling’s Ty Watson advances to PIAA 2A SW Regional semifinals
Centre County’s wrestlers took the stage at the PIAA Class 2A Southwest Regionals at Altoona Area High School on Friday.
Penns Valley’s Ty Watson (152 lb. class) was the No. 1 seed of his weight class and took on Bald Eagle’s No. 9-seeded Jeff Pifer in the quarterfinals. The two have a strong familiarity with one another. The Penns Valley junior ended up getting the better of Pifer by a 7-1 decision.
“It’s fun, it’s really fun,” Watson said of taking on Pifer. “Jeff — he’s a really strong guy. So, he kind of put me to the test there. I wrestled him two weeks ago, (I) was a little bit sloppier, but I cleaned it up this time. (I’m) happy to come out with the win. It feels good.”
Here are some of the other results from the night.
Bald Eagle
No. 1 seed Coen Bainey (127) had a flawless performance against No. 16 seed Somerset’s Deshonn Valentine, posting a 15-0 technical fall in 2 minutes, 6 seconds. The senior began the Round of 16 with a takedown for two points and four consecutive nearfalls at the 52-second, 42-second, 24-second and 2-second marks for three points each in the first period. After a caution warning with two minutes remaining in period two, Bainey had an escape with 1:55 remaining for a 15-0 lead.
The No. 1-seeded Lucas Fye (121) won by fall, 2-0 in 1:15 against No. 17 seed North Star’s Colton Frazier in the Round of 16. Bald Eagle No. 9 seed Jeffre Pifer (152) took down Indiana’s Will Turner in 1:05 in the Round of 16. No. 1 seed Caleb Close (172) won by 4-0 fall in 1:02 against No. 16 seed Valley’s Jeremy Hughley in the Round of 16.
Fye advanced to the the semifinals with an 8-0 victory over Penns Valley No. 9 seed Braydon Lisowski.
No. 17 seed Alex Surovec (139) lost by 3-1 decision to No. 16 seed Chestnut Ridge’s Aaron Ickes in the Round of 32. No. 14 seed Mason Reese lost by 4-2 decision to No.3 seed Beth Center’s Tyler Debnar in the Round of 16. Fort Cherry’s Anthony Salvini (189) got the upset as the No. 13 seed beat Bald Eagle’s No. 4 seed Cameron Dubbs by a 2-1 decision in the round of 16. No. 11 Gage Gardner (2:48) fell by 16-1 technical fall to No. 6 seed Bentworth’s Vitali Daniels in the Round of 16.
Bald Eagle is currently third with a 43.5 points.
Bellefonte
Bellefonte’s first victory of the night was a hard-fought battle between No. 7 seed Gage Long (145) and No. 10 seed Beaver Falls Gabe Lilly. Lilly had a takedown (1:27) in the first period, followed by Long’s reversal and nearfall (1:15). The final period featured a nearfall by Lilly (1:04) and a reversal by Long (0:48) for a 6-4 decision in favor of the Red Raider in the Round of 16. Long fell by 6-3 decision to No. 2 seed Chestnut Ridge’s Calan Bollman.
No. 5 seed McGuffey’s Lucas Barr (121) got the better of the Red Raiders’ No. 12 seed Ezra Swisher with a fall in 2:56 in the Round of 16. Bellefonte’s Noah Weaver (139) was the No. 11 seed against No. 6 seed Burrell’s Niko Ferra in the Round of 16 with Ferra winning by 6-0 decision. No. 9 seed Highlands’ Tyler Bender (189) won by 6-2 decision over Red Raiders Addison Shawley.
Bellefonte is 46th with five points.
Penns Valley
Watson was the No. 1 seed in the 152-pound weight class and had a swift fall of his opponent, No. 16 seed Freedom Area’s Tanner Millward in just 31 seconds in the Round of 16.
Penns Valley No. 4 seed Colton Shunk (133) flew out like a rocket against No. 13 seed South Side’s Ryder Goe in the Round of 16. Shunk systematically took Goe out of the match with a takedown in the first period, followed by a reversal and nearfall in the second period and a takedown in the third period for a 9-0 fall, 4:32.
The Rams saw No. 7 seed Jack Darlington (114) make easy work of Beth Center’s No. 10 seed Mason Wright in an 8-0 major decision in the Round of 16. No. 9 seed Braydon Lisoski (121) had a fall against Indiana’s No. 8 Carter Putt in the same round in 1:14.
Penns Valley’s No. 8 seed Kollin Brungart (215) put away No. 9 seed Burrell’s Luke Boylan by 5-2 decision in the Round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals. No. 7 seed Frazier’s Jackson Angelo (160) won by fall against No. 10 seed Penns Valley’s David Martin by 6-0 fall in 4:26 in the Round of 16.
The quarterfinals were not as kind.
Darlington was dispatched 2-0 by fall in 1:08 by No. 2 seed, Indiana’s Nico Fanella. Lisowski lost by 8-0 major decision to No. 1 seed, Bald Eagle’s Fye. Brungart lost by 4-1 fall to No. 1 seed, Central Valley’s Brenan Morgan.
Penns Valley is fifth with 37 points.
Philipsburg-Osceola
No. 8 seed Nate Fleck (133) dispatched Central Valley’s No. 9 seed Don Lindsey 12-2 by fall, 2:57. Fleck had two takedowns and two nearfalls in the first period, while Lindsey was able to manage an escape at the 1:06 mark. Lindsey opened up the second period with an escape with 1:48 left, followed by Fleck closing things out with a sharp takedown just 15 seconds later.
However, Fleck fell to No. 1 seed Montour’s Peter Chacon 7-0 in the quarterfinals. Chacon had a takedown (1:07) and nearfall in the first period, followed by a reversal just 7 seconds into the second period.
Then, No. 6 seed Marcus Gable (152) was locked in a battle with No. 11 seed Burgettstown’s Rudy Brown. Brown had an escape (1:25) in the first period and Gable answered back with an escape (1:29) of his own in the second period. The two battled until a sixth period,
Quaker Valley’s No. 10 seed Burce Anderchak (107) claimed a 10-8 decision over No. 7 seed P-O’s Caleb Hummel in the Round of 16. No. 7 seed Ben Gustkey (127) fell 7-1 to No. 10 seed Hampton’s Dustin Kerr in the same round.
P-O is 35th with 10 points.
