Centre County wrestling teams combine to crown six District 6 champions. Here’s a look
Step number one is complete for Centre County wrestlers after the District 6 Class 2A and 3A Championships came to a close Saturday.
There were a total of six district champions crowned from Bald Eagle Area, Bellefonte, Penns Valley, Philipsburg-Osceola and State College.
In all, there are 30 county wrestlers who will be at the regional tournaments in two weeks, which is the next step toward the PIAA Wrestling Championships in Hershey. The Eagles, Rams and Mounties will head back to Altoona for the PIAA Southwest Regional. The Red Raiders and Little Lions will go to Canon-McMillan High School in Canonsburg for the newly formed PIAA Western Regional.
Here’s a look at how the five county schools ended the district championships:
CLASS 2A
BALD EAGLE AREA
Team score: 3rd, 145.5 points
Champions: Tanner Guenot (121 pounds), Caleb Close (189)
Regional qualifiers: Liam Purcell (5th, 114), Caden Judice (2nd, 133), Dawson Lomison (3rd, 139), Alex Surovec (5th, 152)
Other placewinners: None
Recap: Winning district titles is the norm for Guenot and Close.
When they collected their crowns on Saturday, it was Guenot’s second, and Close’s third.
Guenot still has two years left, but for Close this was his last District 6 Class 2A Championships.
“They’re all really special. It just goes so quick, and I’m so thankful for Bald Eagle and the four years I got here,” Close said. “I guess probably my sophomore year stands out the most as we got the team title too, so that was really awesome, just sharing the win with my team.”
Close reached the finals by pinning Central Cambria’s Jeremy Hajzus in 1:38. His finals opponent was a familiar face in Tyrone’s Kyle Scott.
It was the duo’s third time meeting this season, with every matchup coming in the finals of a tournament they were competing in. The results have been all the same, with Close winning the most recent with a 9-1 major decision.
“It definitely makes it interesting. Even at club practices, we grew up wrestling each other, so we definitely know each other pretty well,” Close said of Scott. “It’s kind of cool, because you have to find new ways to score, and new ways to surprise him, so you can get that takedown.”
For Guenot, getting takedowns came at ease during the tournament.
He made the finals bye racking up an 18-2 technical fall on Bishop McCort’s Jack Silfies in 4:29. In the finals, Guenot faced off with Penns Valley’s Conner Myers, and got a similar result as his semifinals’ victory.
The Eagles’ wrestler captured another technical fall, 17-1, in 4:08 to outscore his Saturday opponents 35-3.
“In the first half of the season, I wasn’t as offensive. I feel like in the second half, I really picked my offense up,” Guenot said. “Part of that was my gas tank. I feel like my gas tank is getting a lot better. I’m able to go hard for a longer period of time, and that’s what’s helping me put up more points and be more dominant.”
PENNS VALLEY
Team score: 2nd, 177.5 points
Champions: Erik Carlile (127 pounds)
Regional qualifiers: Evan Lisowski (3rd, 107), Max Dinges (2nd, 114), Conner Myers (2nd, 121), Tripp Watson (6th, 133), Sawyer Fetterolf (6th, 145), Brayden Lisowski (2nd, 160)
Other placewinners: Zach Rummel (7th, 139), Landon Hess (7th, 215)
Recap: This year’s district championships was Carlile’s second go around.
He finished fifth last year, but this year’s run was set up rather nicely as he was the No. 1 seed.
Carlile also showed why he was that No. 1 seed with a dominant run to his first title. He cruised to the semifinals with a pin and technical fall.
He made the finals by winning a score fest with P-O’s Averi Gable, 17-12. His finals matchup was against the No. 2 seed in Marion Center’s Griffin Tinsman.
Carlile ended up pinning Tinsman in 1:30.
“I was just moving my feet and staying to the principals, where you got to move your feet and hands, and just keep wrestling throughout every position,” Carlile said. “I just had a nice penetration shot, saw his head there, and slapped on a low leg cradle, that felt nice.”
Carlile wasn’t the only Rams wrestler to reach the finals either as Dinges, Myers and Brayden Lisowski were there.
They all suffered defeats, but Dinges’ loss was the toughest of them all. He took on Bishop McCort’s Eli Herring in a match that went to an ultimate tiebreaker for the end result.
Dinges had a second-period reversal with Herring getting a pair of escapes to force sudden victory. Neither wrestler scored in that period, so they went to rideouts, which each escaped in their respective periods.
The final frame saw Herring keep Dinges from escaping, which gave him a 4-3 district-title win.
“Every time you’re out there, I wouldn’t say we preach, you have to lose to learn,” Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker said. “Herring is a really good competitor. There were some adjustments we made for this match. Sure, he’s going to make adjustments too, but Max wrestled a good match. It’s just two really good kids going at it.”
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA
Team score: 6th, 96 points
Champions: None
Regional qualifiers: Caleb Hummel (3rd, 114 pounds), Averi Gable (4th, 127), Ace Foster (4th, 133), Conner Guenot (4th, 139)
Other placewinners: Colton Chapman (7th, 172)
Recap: When the day began, the Mounties had four semifinalists.
However, the semifinal round was not friendly as all four suffered losses. The quartet rebounded to make the consolation finals.
Hummel was the lone P-O wrestler to pick up a win to finish third.
After losing 4-1 to the eventual champ in Herring, the Bloomsburg commit pinned BEA’s Liam Purcell in 4:22. In the consolation finals, Hummel flattened another opponent, Central’s Carsen Mowery, in 1:47.
“Caleb had two good matches in the consolations. He didn’t get the results that he wanted in the semis, but that’s our first match up against him,” Mounties coach Justin Fye said. “Hopefully we have another chance here in a couple weeks to see how we can respond to that and just work on a couple things.”
Gable, Foster and Guenot had some pretty talented wrestlers that they had to square off within the semifinals.
Gable lost to the eventual champion in Carlile. Foster got rolled up by the eventual champion in Bishop McCort’s Jax Forrest. Guenot got teched by the No. 1 seed in United’s Gideon Bracken.
They each responded by collecting bonus-point victories.
Gable had an 8-0 shutout of River Valley’s Wyatt Taubler. Foster pinned Penns Valley’s Tripp Watson in 40 seconds. Guenot pinned Central’s Kaden Horn in 2:43.
“Averi put together a good tournament this weekend. Once again, he was up against a pretty good animal there for third and fourth, but he kept wrestling the whole time. He didn’t stop wrestling the whole match,” Fye said. “Ace did a good job, that kid maybe majored and teched us this year, so to come back and lose a match, and we had a chance to win there, he just keeps improving all the time. Connor did a good job wrestling another tough kid there, but I felt overall our team had a really good weekend.”
CLASS 3A
STATE COLLEGE
Team score: 4th, 156 points
Champions: Kael Davis (114 pounds), James Whitbred (152), Asher Cunningham (172)
Regional qualifiers: Nick Berrena (3rd, 133), Xavier Zeruth (3rd, 160), Michael Troupe (3rd, 285)
Other placewinners: Nico Diaz (4th, 107), Jon Whitbred (5th, 121), Johnathan Coates (5th, 127), Sam Davidson (5th, 139), Brady Bucher (4th, 145), Alijah Al-Sulaimani (4th, 189)
Eliminated: Izaiah Zeruth (0-2, 215)
Recap: The best way to sum up the Little Lions’ champions is that they got better with age.
Davis is a freshman, Whitbred is a sophomore and Cunningham is a senior.
They each were able to accomplish the same feat — winning a district title their first year, which creates the opportunity of being a four-timer.
Cunningham, who is a reigning PIAA champ, finished off the four-peat Saturday afternoon after putting together consecutive technical falls — outscoring his opponents, 37-5.
He hung an 18-3 tech on Bellefonte’s Jackson Long in the finals.
“To me, like I always say, they’re all the same. It was fun, the last districts with my team,” Cunningham said. “A couple of my teammates I’ve been working with made it through, so that’s exciting.”
Whitbred really came on the scene last year as a freshman in the postseason.
He won a district and regional crown before coming up short of placing in the PIAA Championships. This year, everyone knew who Whitbred was, so it was a matter of living up to the expectations.
The reigning district champ started his title run with a 13-2 defeat of Mifflin County’s Colby Seiler.
In the finals, Whitbred faced Bellefonte’s Ezra Swisher, and nearly ended the match from the initial whistle by throwing Swisher to his back. Swisher was able to fight his way out of it, but in the end Whitbred came away with a 17-4 major decision and his second crown.
“It’s great. I improved a lot since the last time I wrestled him. I wrestled him over a year ago, and I did lose that match,” Whitbred said. “But to come back, and win after all, it shows hard work pays off.”
Davis was experiencing his first district championships, but he had an interesting second half of the year being in and out of the lineup due to a concussion he suffered in the middle of January.
He debuted in the District 6 Championships by pinning Altoona’s Liam Chirdon in 39 seconds.
In the finals, Davis showed off a poise that isn’t there for freshmen. He was trailing Central Mountain’s Gavin Heverly by two to start the third period, but got an escape to get within one.
With five seconds remaining, Davis snapped off a takedown of Heverly for the eventual 6-4 victory.
“It was great. It was a good feeling. I feel like I could have done better in that match,” he said. “I’m not satisfied with that win. I had a great experience today. I had a lot of fun out there on the mat.”
BELLEFONTE
Team score: 5th, 144.5 points
Champions: None
Regional qualifiers: Wyatt Long (3rd, 127), Cameron Garcia (3rd, 139), Andrew Gall (2nd, 145), Ezra Swisher (2nd, 152), Noah Weaver (2nd, 160), Jackson Long (2nd, 172), Jack McHail (2nd, 215)
Other placewinners: Jacob Horn (6th, 133), Luke Hockenberry (5th, 189), Logan Rarrick (4th, 285)
Eliminated: None
Recap: The Red Raiders couldn’t have asked for a better start to their district championships.
They put five wrestlers in the finals and had all 10 of their wrestlers place. They even qualified seven to regionals.
But the five wrestlers that made the finals all suffered losses.
“Before the tournament, I thought if we wrestled up to our ability, we could be in the mix for a team race. We lost some tough matches in close matches,” Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said. “You got to win all those close matches. We seem to lose a lot of the close ones. We got to find ways to win those close matches.”
The casual high school wrestling fan knows the names of Swisher, Weaver and Long, but less so Gall and McHail. Gall was making his debut, with McHail appearing for just the second time.
Gall was dominant in reaching the finals by opening with a pin of Mifflin County’s Brian Albert in 1:58. He reached the finals by racking up a 12-1 major decision on State College’s Brady Bucher.
Then Gall ran into Central Mountain’s Dalton Perry, who is a Penn State commit, in the finals. Perry built up a 13-2 lead on Gall before pinning him in 3:31.
McHail was the No. 1 seed in his weight class.
He had a bye into the semifinals, where he shutout Mifflin County’s Alonso Torres, 15-0 in 1:40.
McHail faced the hometown kid in Altoona’s Michael Colyer in the finals. The pair traded escapes and takedowns in the first period to be tied.
The second period saw Colyer take a 6-4 lead thanks to another escape and takedown. In the third period, McHail was trailing Colyer late, so he went for a lat drop and connected for a takedown and nearfall points, but he was one point shy of forcing overtime in a 12-11 defeat.
“For Gall, it’s his first taste of the postseason as a ninth grader. Of course, he got to see Perry, who is one of the best guys in the state, so that’s a good test to see what you want to do to get to the next level,” Maney said. “Jack McHail bumped up several weight classes to get to 215 pounds. He kept wrestling hard. Unfortunately, he came up on the short end there, but at least he kept battling and kept wrestling hard.”
District 6 Class 2A Championships
Saturday at Altoona
Team key: Bald Eagle Area (BEA), Bellwood-Antis (B-A), Bishop McCort (BM), Cambria Heights (CH), Central Cambria (CC), Central (C), Claysburg-Kimmel (C-K), Forest Hills (FH), Glendale (G), Huntingdon (H), Juniata (J), Juniata Valley (JV), Marion Center (MC), Moshannon Valley (MV), Mount Union (MU), Penn Cambria (PC), Penns Valley (PV), Philipsburg-Osceola (P-O), Richland (R), River Valley (RV), Southern Huntingdon (SH), Tyrone (T), United (U), West Branch (WB), West Shamokin (WS), Westmont Hilltop (WH)
Team scores: 1. Bishop McCort 320, 2. Penns Valley 177.5, 3. Bald Eagle Area 145.5, 4. Huntingdon 138.5, 5. United 111, 6. Philipsburg-Osceola 96, 7. Mount Union 93, 8. River Valley 90, 9. Westmont Hilltop 89, 10. Forest Hills 85
Finals
107: Keegan Bassett, BM, tech. fall Gaige Sholly, H, 22-4 (1:24); 114: Eli Herring, BM, dec. Max Dinges, PV, 4-3 (UTB3); 121: Tanner Guenot, BEA, tech. fall Conner Myers, PV, 17-1 (4:08); 127: Erik Carlile, PV, pinned Griffin Tinsman, MC, 1:30; 133: Jax Forrest, BM, tech. fall Caden Judice, BEA, 23-4 (1:31); 139: Sam Herring, BM, major dec. Gideon Bracken, U, 11-2; 145: Bo Bassett, BM, tech. fall Josef Garshnick, U, 19-4 (1:15); 152: Devon Magro, BM, tech. fall Rowan McClain-Hartman, MU, 19-4 (2:00); 160: Melvin Miller, BM, tech. fall Brayden Lisowski, PV, 24-8 (3:18); 172: Grady Clark, H, dec. Jayden OFarrill, BM, 8-5; 189: Caleb Close, BEA, major dec. Kyle Scott, T, 9-1; 215: Landon Erdman, H, major dec. Josh Ryan, MU, 15-5; 285: Jonah McCoy, WH, dec. Caleb Rodriguez, BM, 2-1 (UTB2)
Consolation Finals
107: Evan Lisowski, PV, pinned Landon Maul, FH, :36; 114: Caleb Hummel, P-O, pinned Carsen Mowery, C, 1:47; 127: Austin Carfley, BM, major dec. Averi Gable, P-O, 16-2; 133: Brady Kostick, R, dec. Ace Foster, P-O, 4-1; 139: Dawson Lomison, BEA, dec. Conner Guenot, P-O, 4-0
5th-Place Match
114: Liam Purcell, BEA, pinned Santino DiPaola, FH, :35; 133: Chris Gibson, H, dec. Tripp Watson, 7-4; 145: Tyler Phillips, MC, dec. Sawyer Fetterolf, PV, 13-9; 152: Alex Surovec, BEA, dec. Michael Monty, U, 6-3
7th-Place Match
139: Zach Rummel, PV, major dec. Christian Taylor, H, 8-0; 172: Colton Chapman, P-O, pinned AJ Leaito, WH, 2:53; 215: Landon Hess, PV, dec. Rocko Buffone, WS, 4-1
Semifinals
107: Sholly, H, pinned E. Lisowski, PV, 5:29; 114: Dinges, PV, tech. fall Carsen Mowery, C, 18-2 (3:29); E. Herring, BM, dec. Hummel, P-O, 4-1; 121: Guenot, BEA, tech. fall Jack Silfies, BM, 18-2 (4:29); Myers, PV, pinned Owen Dluhos, WH, 4:37; 127: Carlile, PV, dec. Gable, P-O, 17-12; 133: Forrest, BM, tech. fall Foster, P-O, 21-6 (1:46); Judice, BEA, major dec. Brady Kostick, R, 8-0; 139: Bracken, U, tech. fall Guenot, P-O, 20-2 (2:14); S. Herring, BM, tech. fall Lomison, BEA, 19-4 (4:56); 160: B. Lisowski, PV, major dec. Marshall Eckenrode, CH, 18-4; 189: Close, BEA, pinned Jeremy Hajzus, CC, 1:38
Consolation Semifinals
107: E. Lisowski, PV, dec. Ty Matthews, C, 5-1; 114: Hummel, P-O, pinned Purcell, BEA, 4:22; 127: Gable, P-O, major dec. Wyatt Taubler, RV, 8-0; 133: Foster, P-O, pinned Watson, PV, :40; 139: Guenot, P-O, pinned Kaden Horn, C, 2:43; Lomison, BEA, pinned Ethan Gilbey, H, 2:53; 145: Isaac Filak, PC, pinned Sa. Fetterolf, PV, :43; 152: Andrew Mardula, PC, pinned Surovec, BEA, 4:03
Consolation Quarterfinals
114: Purcell, BEA, pinned Hayden Kohn, G, 2:31; 133: Watson, PV, pinned Colten Rowles, J, 3:55; 139: Ethan Gilbey, G, major dec. Rummel, PV, 13-4; 145: Sa. Fetterolf, PV, dec. Jacik Hess, MU, 8-1; 152: Surovec, BEA, forfeit Zach Vereshack, G; 172: Tanner Flickinger, RV, dec. Chapman, P-O, 1-0; 215: Landon Knisley, C-K, pinned Hess, PV, 1:55
District 6 Class 3A Championships
Saturday at Altoona
Team key: Altoona (A), Bellefonte (B), Central Mountain (CM), Hollidaysburg (H), Johnstown (J), Mifflin County (MC), State College (SC)
Team scores: 1. Altoona 181, 2. Central Mountain 178.5, 3. Mifflin County 162, 4. State College 156, 5. Bellefonte 144.5, 6. Hollidaysburg 109.5, 7. Johnstown 12
Finals
107: Andrew Alexander, MC, major dec. Dominic Nardozza, A, 14-0; 114: Kael Davis, SC, dec. Gavin Heverly, CM, 6-4; 121: Braiden Weaver, A, tech. fall Landon Krupka, H, 15-0 (1:12); 127: Deklan Barr, A, dec. Aiden Kunes, CM, 4-2; 133: Patrick Tarantella, CM, dec. Jake Knable, MC, 6-3; 139: Gavin Ciampoli, A, dec. Kamden Everly, MC, 7-2; 145: Dalton Perry, CM, pinned Andrew Gall, B, 3:31; 152: James Whitbred, SC, major dec. Ezra Swisher, B, 17-4; 160: Luke Sipes, A, tech. fall Noah Weaver, B, 19-3 (4:14); 172: Asher Cunningham, SC, tech. fall Jackson Long, B, 18-3 (2:49); 189: Avery Aurand, MC, major dec. Bryce Brungard, CM, 9-0; 215: Michael Colyer, A, dec. Jack McHail, B, 12-11; 285: Peyton Kearns, MC, tech. fall Hayes Henry, CM, 19-4 (3:45)
Consolation Finals
107: Connor Sidney, H, dec. Nico Diaz, SC, 1-0 (UTB3); 127: Wyatt Long, B, major dec. Layten Bowersox, MC, 9-0; 133: Nick Berrena, SC, dec. Phillip Sarbo, A, 9-6 (SV); 139: ; 145: ; 160: Xavier Zeruth, SC, dec. Dalton McDermott, CM, 7-5; 189: Tykear Davis, A, major dec. Alijah Al-Sulaimani, SC, 12-2; 285: Michael Troupe, SC, dec. Logan Rarrick, B, 1-0
5th Place Match
121: Jon Whitbred, SC, pinned Nick Torano, J, :53; 127: Johnathan Coates, SC, major dec. Logan Krupka, H, 14-4; 133: Jacob Brua, H, dec. Jacob Horn, B, 8-1; 139: Sam Davidson, SC, dec. Caleb Detrick, H, 5-4; 189: Luke Hockenberry, B, tech. fall Blake Kennedy, H, 19-1 (3:49)
Semifinals
107: Alexander, MC, tech. fall Diaz, SC, 15-0 (2:30); 114: Davis, SC, pinned Liam Chirdon, A, :39; 121: Krupka, H, dec. Jo. Whitbred, SC, 4-2; 127: Barr, A, major dec. W. Long, B, 9-0; 133: Tarantella, CM, dec. Berrena, SC, 6-2; 139: Everly, MC, dec. Cameron Garcia, B, 5-3; 145: Gall, B, major dec. Bucher, SC, 12-1; 152: Swisher, B, major dec. Luke Ananea, CM, 10-0; Ja. Whitbred, SC, major dec. Colby Seiler, MC, 13-2; 160: Sipes, A, pinned X. Zeruth, SC, 1:09; Weaver, B, tech. fall Dalton McDermott, CM, 15-0 (1:15); 172: Cunningham, SC, tech. fall Reese Christine, MC, 19-2 (4:45); J. Long, B, dec. Mitchell Baronner, H, 12-8; 189: Brungard, CM, pinned Hockenberry, B, 2:03; 215: McHail, B, tech. fall Alonso Torres, MC, 15-0 (1:40); 285: Kearns, MC, tech. fall Rarrick, B, 17-1 (4:20)
Consolation Semifinals
121: Paxton Shawver, MC, pinned Jo. Whitbred, SC, 3:30; 127: W. Long, B, tech. fall Coates, SC, 15-0 (5:00); 133: Berrena, SC, pinned Horn, B, :29; 139: Garcia, B, dec. Davidson, SC, 5-4; 145: Bucher, SC, pinned James Bialo, H, 2:17; 160: X. Zeruth, SC, pinned Brayan Aurand, MC, 4:07; 189: Tykear Davis, A, dec. Hockenberry, B, 4-3; Al-Sulaimani, SC, major dec. Blake Kennedy, H, 12-1 (UTB2); 285: Troupe, SC, tech. fall Scott Payne, H, 16-1 (3:50); Rarrick, B, pinned Khamden Thompkins, A, 2:23
Consolation Quarterfinals
189: Al-Sulaimani, SC, pinned Hunter Bowser, J, 2:25; 215: Paul Tisinger, J, dec. Izaiah Zeruth, SC, 4-2
Quarterfinals
121: Jo. Whitbred, SC, pinned Nick Torano, J, 1:01; 127: Logan Krupka, H, pinned Coates, SC, 4:49; W. Long, B, pinned Bernard Billinger, J, 1:09; 133: Berrena, SC, tech. fall Jacob Brua, H, 17-1 (2:25); Jake Knable, MC, pinned Horn, B, :24; 139: Hayes Donley, CM, dec. Davidson, SC, 6-1; Garcia, B, tech. fall Caleb Detrick, H, 17-1 (3:41); 145: Gall, B, pinned Brian Albert, MC, 1:58; 160: X. Zeruth, SC, tech. fall Aiden Schenk, H, 19-3 (3:38); 172: J. Long, B, pinned Tanner McCall, CM, 3:14; 189: Hockenberry, B, dec. Al-Sulaimani, SC, 10-4; 215: Kai Fravel, CM, pinned I. Zeruth, SC, :52; 285: Rarrick, B, dec. Troupe, SC, 7-1
