Six Class 2A Centre County wrestlers punch tickets to PIAA Championships in Hershey
When the dust settled after the first day of the PIAA Class 2A Southwest Regional tournament on Friday, Centre County had six wrestlers punch their ticket to next week’s PIAA Championships in Hershey.
There are nine others who still have shot of making it, but they have some work to do to get within the top seven of their weights.
Bald Eagle Area has the most state qualifiers so far with four in the semifinals, and two others still having the potential of joining them. Penns Valley has two semifinalists with three others in the mix.
Philipsburg-Osceola has all four of its wrestlers alive for the second day.
Here’s a look at how the three schools ended their Friday.
Bald Eagle Area
Team score: Fifth, 45.5 points
State qualifiers: Tanner Guenot (121 pounds), Caden Judice (133), Dawson Lomison (139), Caleb Close (189)
Still alive: Liam Purcell (114), Alex Surovec (152)
Recap: The Eagles’ day was full of highlights.
Yes, they had four wrestlers reach the semifinals for what could be the first time in program history.
“It was a good night. Four out of the six guys in the (semifinals). (I’m) not sure how long it’s been since we’ve had four guys in the semifinals at regionals,” BEA coach Ron Guenot said. “I don’t even know, but just to have four qualifiers, in the bank already, on the first night is pretty exciting. Hopefully, we can get two more tomorrow.”
However, Lomison’s quarterfinals victory, and Close’s second-round win just added to the excitement.
After shutting out North Catholic’s Angelo Amelio, 8-0, in the second round, Lomison took on McGuffey’s Lucas Barr in the quarterfinals. Barr was the No. 1 seed, had a 44-2 record and had just won a District 7 title.
The pair scrapped back and forth. With 34 seconds remaining in the match, Barr got a takedown to go up 8-5.
Lomison escaped with 24 seconds remaining. He then got a winning takedown with seven seconds to earn a 9-8 win.
“A lot of work in the room. A lot of help from my guys. A lot of help from my coaches,” said Lomison of how much the win meant. “(Coach) Eddie (Hockenberry) pushing me and telling me not to shoot on the back leg. (Coach Kyle) Fluke just being by my side every match. It’s just a lot of respect for my team and the work you put in every day.”
Close had a pin of Meyersdale’s Caleb Snyder to open his final regional tournament in 1 minute, 49 seconds. It was his 85th career pin, which set a new school mark, passing Quentin Wright.
In the quarterfinals, Close, an American commit, stuck Richland’s Grayson Mahla in 1:29 to keep Close on track for his third regional crown.
“He’s put so much time into this sport. It’s great to see what he’s accomplished over the last four years,” Guenot said.
“That’s what happens when you work hard and do things right. Those are the rewards you see. Hopefully, we’ll add on to the win total and keep going.”
Penns Valley
Team score: Sixth, 36 points
State qualifiers: Max Dinges (114 pounds), Erik Carlile (127)
Still alive: Evan Lisowski (107), Conner Myers (121), Brayden Lisowski (160)
Eliminated: Tripp Watson (0-2, 133), Sawyer Fetterolf (0-2, 145)
Recap: A year ago, Carlile became the first freshman in Rams’ history to reach the PIAA Championships.
Friday night saw him secure his second straight trip to Hershey, but the second freshman to ever make it in Dinges.
“This is regionals, the game is to win and move on. Max and Eric took care of business,” Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker said. “Max’s kid had a default with an injury. For Eric, it’s two years in a row now, but it’s great.”
Carlile is the No. 1 seed of his weight, and had no troubles in his opener. He racked up a 19-2 technical fall of Laurel’s Archer Brua in 2:06. In the quarterfinals, he raced out to a commanding 15-3 lead after one period, but he had to hang on for a 17-11 win over Central Cambria’s Burke Niebauer.
Dinges had to only wrestle one match, which was an 18-7 win over Valley’s Raydn Thomas. In the quarterfinals, he got an injury default win from Quaker Valley’s Bruce Anderchak.
Evan and Brayden Lisowski, and Myers also reached the quarterfinals for the Rams, but ultimately suffered losses.
“The other guys that are still in it have a shot. I think there’s a path for them to get there,” Brinker said. “They just got to wrestle. We hope everything is alright with Brayden here, and he can bounce back and slap some wins together.”
Philipsburg-Osceola
Team score: T-26th, 11 points
State qualifiers: None
Still alive: Caleb Hummel (114 pounds), Averi Gable (127), Ace Foster (133), Conner Guenot (139)
Recap: The Mounties knew coming into the day that they’d have all four of their wrestlers alive for the second day.
It was just a matter of where would they be at in the brackets.
“Coming in, we knew we were going to have tough matchups for all four guys in that first round. I knew all four were going to be in some good matches,” P-O coach Justin Fye said. “Avery and Caleb put together two really good matches.”
Hummel and Gable each made the quarterfinals before suffering losses to some talented wrestlers.
Hummel opened his regional tournament with a 17-1 technical fall of Beth-Center’s Alex Medlen in 2:59. He then took on Chestnut Ridge’s Easton Mull, who is ranked in the top of the state.
The pair traded scores back and forth, but Mull eventually came out with a 13-8 victory.
Gable, like Hummel, opened with a convincing 15-0 technical fall of Burgettstown’s Danny Smith, who was the District 7 runner-up, in 5:13. In the quarterfinals, Gable was countered multiple times by Northern Bedford’s Wyatt Clouse, who pinned the Mounties’ wrestler in 2:59.
“Caleb wrestled a really good match against one of the toughest kids in the state, that should show him, he’s right there with him. He just kept trying to score,” Fye said. “In that last match with Avery, I know he felt confident going in. I think it’s a big pressure situation there, and you don’t know what the kids are thinking. I thought he came out and was pretty aggressive in the first period. He gave up that takedown late in the period, and still looking to score, and just got caught in a cradle.”
Foster didn’t get his tournament off on the right foot in a 16-0 technical fall loss to Bentworth’s Drake McClure in 4:49. Guenot took on the District 7 runner up in Burrell’s Julian Bertucci, who topped Guenot, 7-2.
“Ace’s kid was just really funky. We were aggressive, but he just had a counter to what we were doing every single time,” Fye said. “Connor Guenot was right in his match too, all the way to the end of that match. He was in a couple positions, where he wasn’t able to score.”
PIAA Class 2A Southwest Regional
Friday at Altoona
Team key: Avella (A), Avonworth (AW), Bald Eagle Area (BEA), Bedford (B), Bentworth (BW), Berlin Brothersvalley (BB), Beth-Center (B-C), Bishop McCort (BM), Burgettstown (BT), Burrell (BR), Cambria Heights (CH), Carlynton (CY), Central (C), Central Cambria (CC), Central Valley (CV), Chartiers-Houston (C-H), Chestnut Ridge (CR), Claysburg-Kimmel (CK), Conemaugh Township (CT), Derry (D), Elizabeth Forward (EF), Ellwood City (EC), Everett (E), Forest Hills (FH), Fort Cherry (FC), Frazier (F), Freedom Area (FA), Glendale (G), Greensburg Salem (GS), Highlands (HL), Huntingdon (H), Jefferson Morgan (JM), Juniata (J), Juniata Valley (JV), Keystone Oaks (KO), Knoch (K), Laurel (L), Marion Center (MC), McGuffey (MG), Meyersdale (MD), Moshannon Valley (MV), Mount Pleasant (MP), Mount Union (MU), Neighborhood Academy (NA), North Catholic (NC), North Star (NS), Northern Bedford (NB), Penn Cambria (PC), Penns Valley (PV), Philipsburg-Osceola (P-O), Quaker Valley (QV), Richland (R), River Valley (RV), Somerset (S), South Park (SP), South Side Beaver (SSB), Southmoreland (SML), Summit Academy (SA), Tussey Mountain (TM), Tyrone (T), United (U), Valley (V), Washington (W), West Greene (WG), Westmont Hilltop (WH)
Team score: 1. Bishop McCort 122, T2. Chestnut Ridge 57, T2. Derry 57, 4. Burrell 54.5, 5. Bald Eagle Area 45.5, 6. Penns Valley 36, 7. Frazier 34.5, 8. Huntingdon 32.5, 9. Somerset 32, 10. Bentworth 31, T26. Philipsburg-Osceola 11
Quarterfinals
107: Dakota Santamaria, TM, tech. fall Evan Lisowkski, 18-1 (5:02); 114: Easton Mull, CR, dec. Caleb Hummel, P-O, 13-8; Max Dinges, PV, injury def. Bruce Anderchak, QV, :01; 121: Carter Thomas, BR, major dec. Conner Myers, PV, 10-2; Tanner Guenot, BEA, dec. Dylan Batemen, D, 4-1; 127: Erik Carlile, PV, dec. Burke Niebauer, CC, 17-11; Wyatt Clouse, NB, pinned Averi Gable, P-O, 2:59; 133: Caden Judice, BEA, major dec. Deshonn Valentine, S, 12-0; 139: Dawson Lomison, BEA, dec. Lucas Barr, MG, 9-8; 160: Ewan Olson, D, dec. Brayden Lisowski, PV, 4-1; 189: Caleb Close, BEA, pinned Grayson Mahla, R, 1:29
Consolation Second Round
133: Colton Frazier, NS, pinned Tripp Watson, PV, 3:57; 145: Jeremiah Gess, D, tech. fall Sawyer Fetterolf, PV, 16-1 (3:13)
Second Round
107: E. Lisowski, PV, dec. Brayden Hanning, JM, 10-9; 114: Hummel, P-O, tech. fall Alex Medlen, B-C, 17-1 (2:59); Dinges, PV, major dec. Raydn Thomas, V, 18-7; Preston Bubash, EF, tech. fall Liam Purcell, BEA, 17-2 (1:26); 121: Myers, PV, tech. fall Noah Patton, W, 16-0 (4:34); Guenot, BEA, pinned Drake Buzzard, A, 2:47; 127: Carlile, PV, tech. fall Archer Brua, L, 19-2 (2:06); Gable, P-O, tech. fall Danny Smith, BT, 15-0 (5:13); 133: Drake McClure, BW, tech. fall Ace Foster, P-O, 16-0 (4:49); Judice, BEA, tech. fall Mason Wright, B-C, 16-0 (4:53); Anthony Mucci, D, tech. fall Watson, PV, 20-5 (2:00); 139: Lomison, BEA, major dec. Angelo Amelio, NC, 8-0; Julian Bertucci, BR, dec. Conner Guenot, P-O, 7-2; 145: Lucas Boyer, EF, tech. fall Fetterolf, PV, 15-0 (1:38); 152: Jonah Erdely, F, tech. fall Alex Surovec, BEA, 18-0 (4:48); 160: B. Lisowski, PV, dec. Gabe Lilly, EC, 6-0; 189: Close, BEA, pinned Caleb Snyder, MD, 1:49
This story was originally published February 28, 2025 at 10:23 PM.
