State College wrestler claims prestigious Super 32 crown. How Penn State commits, others fared
The prestigious Super 32 tournament held in Greensboro, NC, is kind of like the unofficial start to the high school wrestling season.
Nine Centre County wrestlers took part in the tournament, which has new scoring rules in place, before the official start to the season in about a month.
State College’s Asher Cunningham (165 pounds) was the lone county representative to come away with a placement.
Joining Cunningham were his teammates Nico Diaz (106), James Whitbred (144) and Jon Whitbred (126) along with Bald Eagle Area’s trio of Tanner Guenot (126), Caden Judice (132) and Caleb Close (190), and Penns Valley’s duo of Max Dinges (113) and Erik Carlile (126).
Cunningham, who is coming off winning his first PIAA title, secured the tournament’s coveted WWE-style champions belt after winning his weight class on Sunday. It was his third time competing in the tournament, but the first time placing.
“It was a good environment. It definitely was the most exciting environment I’ve been in,” Cunningham said on Monday afternoon. “It was fun.”
Cunningham, who was the No. 2 seed, took on Georgia’s Dominic Bambinelli in the finals, which was a matchup of the top two seeds. It was also a rematch as the two squared off two weeks ago in the Elite 8 Duals — a Bambinelli win at that time.
Cunningham got the first points of the match after coming out on top of a scramble situation that Bambinelli started. Bambinelli was able to escape and get a takedown late to lead 4-3 after one period.
The second period started with Cunningham collecting an escape, but Bambinelli got to Cunningham’s ankle for a takedown. The Little Lions wrestler escaped and added a takedown late to lead 8-7 after two periods.
Cunningham again came out on top of a scramble situation to start the third period to hold a four-point lead early. Bambinelli escaped with 50 seconds left, and added a takedown eight seconds later to tie it, 11-11.
Cunningham was able to escape with 30 seconds left and held defense late in a scramble to win, 12-11.
“Obviously, it’s not the first thing that I want to do in a wrestling match (scramble). Sometimes when you get there, you go with it,” he said. “Once I get in those positions, I know that’s my best and how I’m going to win.”
The Penn State commit cruised to the semifinals thanks to four straight bonus-point victories.
He opened his title run by collecting a 16-1 technical fall over Wisconsin’s Sullivan Ramos in 2:15 on Saturday. Cunningham followed that by pinning Texas’ Grayson Carpenter in 2:14.
In the round of 16, Cunningham used four takedowns to earn a 14-4 major decision over Virginia’s Jake Robie.
He made the semifinals Sunday morning with an 18-2 technical fall of California’s Adrien Reyes in 6:00.
“The score just runs up really quick. I think it’s good. Tech falls are going to come quick this year,” Cunningham said when asked about the new scoring changes.
Cunningham’s semifinals match against Maryland’s Salah Tsarni saw him only lead 5-3 after two periods of wrestling. He tacked on a late takedown in the third to win 8-3.
Close joined Cunningham as the only county wrestlers to make it to Day 2 of the tournament. However, he was unable to compete due to a knee injury he suffered in his round of 16 match Saturday night.
Close, who was the No. 4 seed, was to take on the No. 5 seed in California’s Brokton Borelli in the quarterfinals on Sunday morning, but forfeited the match and his consolation match to end his tournament.
The senior’s tournament opened well on Saturday morning when he pinned North Carolina’s Donovan Cavendar in 1:06. Close, who committed to wrestling at American University, followed by hanging a 14-4 major decision on Indiana’s Seer Godwise.
In the round of 16, he shut out Georgia’s Conor McCloskey, 7-0, to make the quarterfinals.
James Whitbred, who had a fantastic freshman season capturing a District 6 and Northwest Region crown, reached the round of 32 before suffering his first loss. He opened with a 10-2 major decision over Louisiana’s Cole Gros.
Whitbred, who was unseeded, rattled off 18 unanswered points against Georgia’s Nathan Nielsen for a technical fall in 5:00 before the round of 32. In the round of 32, Whitbred suffered a heartbreaking 8-6 loss to the No. 9 seed in Arizona’s Travis Cardenas.
Whitbred rebounded with a pair of wins in the consolation bracket, but saw his tournament close Saturday night with another tough loss, 7-6, to the No. 15 seed in Ohio’s Mitchell Younger.
Judice was the only other county wrestler to collect multiple wins, as Dinges and Guenot had one a piece.
Penn State commits fare well
The Nittany Lions had three commits competing with Cunningham, fellow District 6 wrestler in Central Mountain’s Dalton Perry and Nathan Desmond.
Perry came away with a runner-up finish at 138 pounds. Desmond finished fourth at 126 pounds.
Perry, who was the No. 7 seed, reached the quarterfinals by outscoring his opponents, 66-7. He had three straight technical falls to open his tournament.
Perry used back-to-back three-point wins to reach the finals, where he faced the No. 1 seed in Arizona’s Sergio Vega.
Vega showed why he was the No. 1 wrestler not only in this tournament, but in the country, by breezing past Perry, 18-5.
Desmond, who was the No. 4 seed, reached the quarterfinals, where he suffered his first loss of the tournament — 9-1 to the No. 5 seed in California’s Moses Mendoza. He shut out his first two consolation opponents to make the consolation semifinals.
Desmond was given a medical forfeit to setup a rematch against Mendoza in the consolation finals. Desmond fell to Mendoza again, 7-4, for the fourth-place finish.
This story was originally published October 13, 2024 at 7:39 PM.
