State College, Penns Valley wrestling teams punch tickets to PIAA dual postseason
It had to feel like déjà vu for Penns Valley’s wrestling team.
For the third time in the last four years, the Rams hosted the semifinals and finals of the District 6 Class 2A dual championships. But they were unable to come away with a title.
Penns Valley suffered a 55-13 loss in the final to Bishop McCort, which won its third consecutive District 6 crown.
The Rams made the finals by edging Philipsburg-Osceola, 35-26, in the semifinals.
“I’m just super proud. Coming into today, it seemed like we had a lot against us in some ways,” Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker said. “These guys are resilient, and they just battle. Credit to them for what they’ve put into the season. For them to be moving on to the next (round) in back-to-back years, it’s nice.”
As Brinker alluded, even though the Rams fell in the finals, they still were able to move on to the PIAA dual championships. To do that, they had to wrestle a true second-place match against Huntingdon, which Penns Valley won 36-30.
The finals began with the Crushers taking the first four bouts with bonus points.
Bishop McCort’s Emory Gunby led off by recording a 17-2 technical fall in 2:31 over Shane Rimmey at 189 pounds. Marquez Gordon and Caleb Rodriguez then had back-to-back falls, and Ethan Cotchen shut out the Rams’ Caden Myers, 11-0, at 107 pounds to make it 21-0 early.
Penns Valley’s Evan Lisowski got a forfeit at 114 pounds, but McCort’s Keegan Bassett rattled off a 21-3 technical fall right after.
The Rams saw Max Dinges and Erik Carlile string together back-to-back victories for the only other wins in the dual. Dinges went on a scoring spree over the second and third periods to record a 12-2 major decision over Jamison Forrest.
Carlile traded reversals with Austin Carfley in the second period and used an escape in the third for a 3-2 win. It was Carlile’s 100th of his career.
“It was a fun, exciting moment. I thought it was awesome,” Carlile said. “I had a really great match when I got it. It’s just another fun day of wrestling.”
McCort closed the dual out with five straight bonus-point victories.
Since Penns Valley finished as the District 6 runner-up, it is now forced to travel to Derry on Tuesday for the first round of the PIAA championships.
“We’ve seen Phillipsburg and Huntingdon early in the year, and seen them in our league (championships). It’s familiar opponents, so it’s always tough to wrestle the same guys over and over again, to rise up,” Brinker said. “We got another opportunity to go out and wrestle as a team. Then, we’re gonna move on to the individual stuff here at the end of the year, so it’s exciting.”
The Mounties saw their dual postseason come to a close when they suffered a 38-27 loss to Huntingdon in the consolation semifinals.
State College collects D6 3A title
On Saturday afternoon at Central Mountain High School in Mill Hall, State College was the No. 4 seed in the District 6 Class 3A team championships.
The Little Lions topped Altoona, 34-33, for their first district crown since 2020. It was also revenge on the Mountain Lions, who were No. 3, as State College lost to them two weeks ago in the Bison Dual semifinals in Clearfield.
The Little Lions edged the host Wildcats, who were the No. 1 seed, 36-31, to reach the finals.
“We knew we could beat all three teams we were up against. We knew we had the team to do it,” Little Lions coach Jason Nickal said. “There were a couple of key and pivotal matchups that we had to win. Those key matchups went our way today.”
Saturday’s finals match saw State College and Altoona trade the lead back and forth through the first five matches. But the final score made the dual seem closer than it was, as State College forfeited the last three matches after clinching the title.
The Mountain Lions struck first to open the dual as Reese Hite hung a 14-6 loss on the Little Lions’ Mason Sanderson at 145 pounds.
Sanderson’s teammates Nico Diaz and James Whitbred got State College on the board with back-to-back victories. Diaz shut out Brayden Wible 5-0. Whitbred, who is a Penn State commit, collecting an 18-2 technical fall in 6:00 to give the Little Lions an 8-4 lead.
Altoona’s Gavin Ciampoli racked up a 16-0 tech on Doc Reviglio in 2:18 at 172 pounds to give the Mountain Lions a 9-8 lead — the last time they’d lead.
State College then raced out to a 16-point lead thanks to three consecutive bonus-point victories from Teag Sanderson (189 pounds), Noah Williams (215) and Quillan Phillips (285).
Sanderson, who is the son of Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson, amassed a 19-2 tech on Ty’Kear Davis. Williams and Phillips each had second-period pins to make it 25-9.
Altoona’s Dominic Picciotti stopped the bleeding momentarily at 107 pounds with a pin of Camden Fletcher in 1:00.
The Little Lions turned to the Young brothers, Noah and Luke, after Picciotti’s victory.
Noah edged Dominic Nardozza, 3-0, at 114 pounds. Luke stuck Dylan Swonger in 42 seconds to seal the dual for State College.
The Little Lions forfeited the remaining three bouts since they had the dual locked up. State College will travel to Selinsgrove on Tuesday for the first round of the PIAA championships.
“Duals are a lot about momentum. We had the momentum at the right times throughout the day,” Nickal said. “We had some kids just step up and come up with big performances that led into a snowball effect. We had a lot of energy and excitement going into that matchup with Altoona.
“It’s been a few years since we beat Central Mountain. We knew if we could get by them, based on our previous dual with Altoona, the kids and I believed that we could get it done. It’s one thing to believe, but it’s another thing to step on the mat and put the performance together. Today the kids rallied around each other.”
Bellefonte suffered a 42-18 loss to the Mountain Lions in the semifinals to have their dual postseason come to a close.
