Penns Valley, P-O wrestling teams advance to D6 2A dual semifinals
Philipsburg-Osceola wrestling’s win Wednesday night over crosstown rival West Branch may have pushed the program into unchartered territory for the first time in a while, according to coach Justin Fye.
The No. 4 Mounties topped the No. 5 Warriors, 40-21, in the District 6 Class 2A quarterfinals to reach the semifinals for the first time since the district went to a 12-team playoff. They’ll take on No. 1 Penns Valley at 5 p.m. Saturday at Penns Valley.
“I don’t know if I can recall that. I know when I was in high school we were, but there were four teams that made district duals. If I look back, I believe in like 2017, 2018 or 2016, somewhere in there,” Fye said. “I think we hosted a district dual, but we got beat.”
The dual got started at 133 pounds with P-O in the hole early as West Branch’s Aiden Evans amassed an 18-1 technical fall on Memphis Twoey in 2:53.
However, momentum quickly swung into the Mounties’ favor in the next three matches.
Ace Foster pinned Drake Taylor in 3:35. Connor Guenot racked up a 19-3 tech on Brayden Williamson in 3:51. Averi Gable stuck Carter Crain in 36 seconds to give P-O a 17-5 lead.
The Warriors won the next two bouts to get within two.
Zachary Fenush stuck Brett Hahn in 59 seconds at 160 pounds. Jaykob Sample tallied an 11-1 major decision on Brody Jasper to make it 17-15.
“For most of the year, our 107 to 152 has been doing their job, coming out and wrestling matches and getting a big lead. Tonight, starting at 133, we have a few good guys through there,” Fye said, “so they got us out to a good start. West Branch battled really well. They made a couple moves there to bump up to (1)60 and (1)72. They got a fall there. (At) 172, not giving up a pin was really big there.”
The Mounties’ Colton Chapman gave up an initial takedown to Reed Yingling at 189 pounds, but was able to flatten Yingling in 2:29.
The teams traded wins at what Fye felt were tossup matches at 215 and 285 pounds.
West Branch’s Payton McCloskey used a reversal in the second tiebreaker to edge Evan Eichenlaub. Connor Eichenlaub earned a 4-0 win for the Mounties over Carter Yingling to make it 26-18.
P-O’s trip to the semifinals got locked up when Hayden Koptchak pinned Julian Panebianco in 3:41 at 107 pounds. Koptchak gave up an initial takedown, and trailed after the first period.
After Will Edwards secured the final win of the night for West Branch, Caleb Hummel and Devon Long closed things out for the Mounties.
Hummel, who is a Bloomsburg commit, racked up a 21-4 technical fall in 3:59 on Bryce English. Long shut out Jake Mann, 7-0.
“We started in our strong and we ended in our strong,” Fye said. “A couple of our guys up top were able to do what they were supposed to do, so it was a great team win. We talked all season about just being ready to wrestle and going out and taking care of business.”
No. 1 Penns Valley dominates on way to semifinals
Penns Valley finished off its first undefeated season in 60 years a week ago, which gave them the No. 1 seed of the District 6 Class 2A dual playoffs.
On Tuesday night, the Rams showed why they had an undefeated season by collecting 10 of 13 bout victories, when they crushed No. 8 Glendale, 58-18, in the quarterfinals. Penns Valley tallied six pins, two technical falls and received two forfeits in its wins.
“This time of the year, you’re trying to wrestle your best and carry the momentum from the season. No matter who we put on the mat or whatever weight,” Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker said on Tuesday night, “I just feel each guy goes out and wrestles as hard as they can for six minutes. I’m pleased with that because that’s all we can ever ask for.”
The dual began at 189 pounds with the Rams’ Shane Rimmey and Robert Martin collecting back-to-back pins. The Vikings got on the board with a fall at 285, but it was all Penns Valley the next six matches.
The Rams received forfeits to Caden Myers (107 pounds) and Blake Brumbaugh (114). Conner Myers (121) and Tripp Watson (139) had bookend technical falls as Max Dinges (127) and Erik Carlile (133) earned pins in between. It gave Penns Valley a 46-6 lead.
Following another pin for Glendale at 145 pounds, the Rams’ Sawyer and Seth Fetterolf had back-to-back falls to finish the scoring off for their team.
Glendale topped No. 9 Westmont Hilltop, 36-27, to reach the quarterfinals matchup with the Rams.
With the win, Penns Valley advanced to host the semifinals and finals for the third time in the last four years, on Saturday starting at 5 p.m. The Rams will face the Mounties as Huntingdon and the winner of Bishop McCort/Moshannon Valley will square off in the other semifinal.
“It’s always nice to be in your own environment. It’s good because a lot of these guys have been through this in the past,” Brinker said of hosting again.
BEA sees regular season come to close
Bald Eagle Area’s up-and-down season came to a close on Tuesday night when it lost to No. 6 Central, 35-31, in the first round of the District 6 Class 2A dual playoffs at Huntingdon.
The Eagles, who were the 11th seed, jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on the Scarlet Dragons thanks to wins from Easton Grimes (major decision, 172 pounds) and Brody Gardner (decision, 189 pounds). However, youth quickly put BEA into a deep hole.
“We came in, inexperienced, young in places and a lot of fresh faces with their first varsity experience. They had to grow up quickly,” Eagles coach Ron Guenot said on Tuesday night. “We had some growing pains, but we had some good individual tournament finishes with Tanner (Guenot), Caden (Judice), Dawson (Lomison) and Gage (Gardner). Dual meet wise, just some inexperience and then a couple injuries, so we’ll just look on to the (individual) postseason.”
Central won six of the next seven bouts to get out to a 32-13 lead. Liam Corey’s pin at 114 pounds in 56 seconds was the lone win for BEA in that stretch.
The Eagles’ three-headed monster of Guenot, Judice and Lomison hit the mat for three straight falls to pull their team to within one point. Guenot’s victory came in 1:56 at 139 pounds.
Lomison was the fastest of the three with a fall in 1:02 at 145 pounds. Judice’s pin came in at 1:10 at 152 pounds. The Scarlet Dragons’ Kaden Horn sealed the dual for his team with a 12-6 win to end BEA’s season at 6-7.
“They’re the guys that have been consistent all year long, dual meet wise and tournament wise,” Ron Guenot said of his trio. “Their hard work that they put in in the offseason and in season shows when they take the mat. They’re guys that when we go to tournaments, that why they’re on the podium, just the hard work and consistency that it takes.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 10:29 AM.
