Bald Eagle Area’s Dawson Lomison, Penns Valley’s Conner Myers secure first D6 2A crowns
The first step to Hershey came to a close on Saturday night for Bald Eagle Area, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola.
The Centre County schools combined for two District 6 Class 2A champions, and have 19 wrestlers heading to the PIAA Class 2A Southwest Regional in two weeks, back in Altoona.
Bishop McCort won the team race with 321 points — a new district record — and seven champions. The Crushers had 11 wrestlers in the finals.
Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker was named coach of the year — for a second consecutive season — as the Rams’ staff earned coaching staff of the year.
Here’s a look at how each school finished:
Bald Eagle Area
Team score: 3rd, 148.5 points
Champions: Dawson Lomison (152 pounds)
Regional qualifiers: Ty Corey (6th, 114 pounds), Liam Purcell (5th, 127), Tanner Guenot (2nd, 133), Caden Judice (2nd, 145), Gage Gardner (4th, 285)
Other placers: Liam Corey (7th, 121 pounds)
Recap: The Eagles had a subpar dual season, but when it came to tournaments they always could rely on a handful of wrestlers to secure podium finishes.
Those wrestlers all placed again, along with a couple of others, to give BEA six regional qualifiers.
“Our four guys (Guenot, Judice, Lomison and Gardner) really had a good season, throw in Ty Corey and Liam Purcell. It goes to show your regular season is a build up into this time of the year,” BEA coach Ron Guenot said. “You hope that you’re doing the right thing for the kids to peak. I think they showed it, wrestling at a high level this weekend.”
Lomison was one of three finalists, which all had to face Bishop McCort wrestlers, for the Eagles. He was the lone one to come away with a victory.
Lomison squared off against the Crushers’ Jackson Butler, and after a scoreless first period, the Eagles wrestler struck first with a reversal.
Butler got an escape before the second period ended. The third period saw the Crushers wrestler open with an escape to tie it 2-2.
As the seconds ticked off and the match was coming to a close, Lomison and Butler were in a scramble situation. The BEA wrestler came around for a score that was initially not awarded, as it appeared as though time expired.
The takedown was ultimately awarded to Lomison, giving him a 5-2 title victory. It was the first of his career.
“Felt like my knee was about to explode, but besides that, I just tried to not (panic) and stay in good position, and not rush anything,” Lomison said with a laugh. “I think sometimes I rush a little bit and get in some bad positions, but I feel like I stayed in good position and the results paid off. I’ve been coming to districts for eight or nine years since I was kid. It means a lot to me. Honestly, I’m kind of overwhelmed with emotion.”
With the win, Lomison was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding wrestler. He also collected his 100th career win when he topped Huntingdon’s Luke Mykut, 7-3, in the semifinals.
When it came to Judice and Tanner Guenot, one had to face the top pound-for-pound high school wrestler in the country, and the other faced off with a defensive opponent.
Judice took on Bishop McCort’s Bo Bassett, who is committed to Virginia Tech, and the match only lasted one period. Bassett rattled off five takedowns and put Judice on his back on the final takedown to secure a 19-4 technical fall in 3:00.
Guenot faced Bassett’s teammate Austin Carfley, who used a second period takedown hold up in a 4-3 win. Carfley gave up two stall points in the third period to almost give away the title.
“Tanner and Caden wrestled some studs. Bassett is tough obviously, Tanner can get his back. He works hard,” Lomison said of his teammates.
Penns Valley
Team score: 2nd, 195 points
Champions: Conner Myers (127 pounds)
Regional qualifiers: Evan Lisowski (3rd, 114 pounds), Max Dinges (2nd, 121), Erik Carlile (3rd, 133), Tripp Watson (3rd, 139), Sawyer Fetterolf (5th, 152), Brayden Lisowski (2nd, 172), Robert Martin (5th, 215)
Other placers: Shane Rimmey (7th, 189 pounds)
Recap: The Rams had a trio make the finals, but only Myers came away with a victory, which was the first of his career.
“It’s been a journey. It means the world to me,” Myers said. “From going 0-2 my freshman year, to winning the district title at the end of my senior, it’s pretty crazy.”
The senior was dominant on his title run, collecting bonus points the whole way.
In the finals against Westmont Hilltop’s Owen Dluhos, Myers put together a solid final two periods of wrestling to secure a 13-1 major decision. The third period alone saw the Penns Valley wrestler record a pair of takedowns and put Dluhos on his back for nearfall points.
Myers pinned Forest Hills’ Landon Moss in 4:34 to make the finals. He also opened his tournament with a fall, and used a 14-0 major decision to set up the match with Moss.
“My family, friends and coaching staff (are) incredible. It’s great to have a good starting seed (at regionals), and should be able to get it going from there and get states for the first time,” Myers said.
Dinges and Lisowski each had to take on Bishop McCort wrestlers in their finals matchups.
Dinges recorded the bout’s first points again Keegan Bassett in the first period, but after that, it was all Bassett to the tune of a 14-3 major decision.
Lisowski, who got his 100th career win in the quarterfinals, led the Crushers’ Emory Gunby, 4-0, early in the second period. However, Gunby reversed Lisowski and pinned him in 3:39. Lisowski grimaced in pain, grabbing his ribs once the match was over.
Even though the Rams went 1-2 in the finals matchups, they went 6-0 in their other medal matches.
“The whole season, I feel like these guys just wrestled their very best. I keep beating that same drum. If you do lose, you keep trying to get the next best thing,” Brinker said. “They just keep competing, so that’s the name of the game, just keep putting forth effort and hopefully good things happen.”
Philipsburg-Osceola
Team score: 6th, 128 points
Champions: None
Regional qualifiers: Hayden Koptchak (4th, 107 pounds), Jacob Dugan (5th, 114), Caleb Hummel (3rd, 121), Averi Gable (4th, 145), Colton Chapman (6th, 189)
Other placers: Devin Long (8th, 127 pounds), Ace Foster (7th, 133), Connor Guenot (7th, 139)
Recap: Although they didn’t have any finalists, the Mounties still had eight of their 12 wrestlers finish on the podium.
P-O also had three semifinalists in Hummel, Koptchak and Gable.
Hummel was the highest finisher by finishing third for the third time in his career. He suffered a loss to the eventual champion in Keegan Bassett, but rebounded with a pair of bonus point victories to secure his finish.
“Caleb had a good tournament. He ran into a really good kid, but he’s right where he needs to be. He’s been wrestling really well,” Mounties coach Justin Fye said.
Gable took part in a meat grinder of a weight class, with the three wrestlers finishing ahead of him on the podium being multiple time PIAA placewinners. He lost to the eventual champion in Bo Bassett in the semifinals, but got a pin to make the consolation finals, where he suffered another loss to United’s Josef Garshnick.
“Avery wrestled well this tournament. He went after it in all of his matches,” Fye said. “He has three state placewinners that finished ahead of him, so he’s right there with those guys. It’s something to build upon going into (regionals) in a couple weeks.”
Koptchak, who is a freshman, was another one of the semifinalists for P-O. He lost to the eventual champion in Central’s Ty Matthews.
“Hayden had a really good tournament. His goal was to be .500 this year. To see him with over 30 wins and go into regionals, he works extremely hard every day,” Fye said.
District 6 Class 2A Championships
Saturday at Altoona
Team key: Bald Eagle Area (BEA), Bellwood-Antis (BA), Bishop McCort (BM), Cambria Heights (CH), Central (C), Central Cambria (CC), Claysburg-Kimmel (CK), 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), Tyrone Christian Academy (TCA), United (U), West Branch (WB), West Shamokin (WS), Westmont Hilltop (WH)
Team scores: 1. Bishop McCort 321, 2. Penns Valley 195, 3. Bald Eagle Area 148.5, 4. Huntingdon 147.5, 5. Central 129, 6. Philipsburg-Osceola 128, 7. Westmont Hilltop 101.5, 8. West Branch 97, 9. Glendale 84.5, 10. Tyrone 82
Finals
107: Ty Matthews, C, pinned Ethan Cotchen, BM, 5:48; 114: Will Edwards, WB, dec. Sam DiPaola, FH, 7-1; 121: Keegan Bassett, BM, major dec. Max Dinges, PV, 14-3; 127: Conner Myers, PV, major dec. Owen Dluhos, WH, 13-1; 133: Austin Carfley, BM, dec. Tanner Guenot, BEA, 4-3; 139: Owen McMullen, BM, major dec. Burke Niebauer, CC, 18-5; 145: Bo Bassett, BM, tech. fall Caden Judice, BEA, 19-4 (3:00); 152: Dawson Lomison, BEA, dec. Jackson Butler, BM, 5-2; 160: Melvin Miller, BM, tech. fall Doug McKim, H, 21-6 (1:59); 172: Emory Gunby, BM, pinned Brayden Lisowski, PV, 3:39; 189: Kyle Scott, T, injury def. CJ Pensiero, BM, :01; 215: Landon Erdman, H, dec. Marquez Gordon, BM, 8-7; 285:
Consolation Finals
107: Levi Anthony, RV, dec. Hayden Koptchak, P-O, 4-2; 114: Evan Lisowski, PV, dec. Gaige Sholly, H, 2-0; 121: Caleb Hummel, P-O, major dec. Carsen Mowery, C, 16-6; 133: Erik Carlile, PV, dec. Brady Kostick, R, 4-0; 139: Tripp Watson, PV, dec. Tyler Phillips, MC, 7-1; 145: Josef Garshnick, U, major dec. Averi Gable, P-O, 15-4; 285: Blair Miller, C, dec. Gage Gardner, BEA, 1-0
5th-Place Match
114: Jacob Dugan, P-O, pinned Ty Corey, BEA, 2:44; 127: Liam Purcell, BEA, dec. Daelon Britt, BM, 9-6 (SV); 152: Sawyer Fetterolf, PV, dec. Jacik Hess, MU, 3-2; 189: Jeremy Hajzus, CC, dec. Colton Chapman, P-O, 4-1 (SV); 215: Robert Martin, PV, dec. Connor Ward, WH, 4-2
7th-Place Match
121: Liam Corey, BEA, dec. Aaron Cook, MV, 3-0; 127: Rylan Quarello, CK, dec. Devin Long, P-O, 10-3; 133: Ace Foster, P-O, major dec. Jacob Evans, TCA, 13-5; 139: Connor Guenot, P-O, dec. Christian Taylor, H, 7-6; 189: Shane Rimmey, PV, pinned Evan Krause, MV, 2:29
Semifinals
107: Matthews, C, pinned Koptchak, P-O, 4:56; 114: Edwards, WB, dec. E. Lisowski, PV, 10-3; 121: Dinges, PV, tech. fall Carsen Mowery, C, 19-2 (1:17); K. Bassett, BM, tech. fall Hummel, P-O, 15-0 (2:47); 127: Myers, PV, pinned Logan Moss, FH, 4:34; 133: Guenot, BEA, pinned Kostick, R, 3:39; Carfley, BM, dec. Carlile, PV, 4-3; 139: McMullen, BM, tech. fall Watson, PV, 15-0 (3:50); 145: B. Bassett, BM, tech. fall Gable, P-O, 19-4 (1:17); Judice, BEA, dec. Garshnick, U, 6-5; 152: Lomison, BEA, dec. Luke Mykut, H, 7-3; 172: B. Lisowski, PV, dec. Rocco Reifer, MV, 4-1 (SV); 285: Rodriguez, BM, pinned G. Gardner, BEA, 3:16
Consolation Semifinals
107: Koptchak, P-O, pinned Parker Anslinger, CC, 2:07; 114: E. Lisowski, PV, dec. Dugan, P-O, 1-0; Sholly, H, major dec. T. Corey, BEA, 16-4; 121: Hummel, P-O, tech. fall Layton Munyon, PC, 17-2 (3:44); 127: Logan Moss, FH, dec. Purcell, BEA, 7-1; 133: Carlile, PV, pinned Griffin Tinsman, MC, 4:39; 139: Watson, PV, pinned Ayden Soler, CK, 2:30; 145: Gable, P-O, pinned Kaden Horn, C, 1:27; 152: Ryder Smith, J, pinned Sa. Fetterolf, PV, 1:16; 189: Dom Peruso, H, dec. Chapman, P-O, 4-2; 215: Andrew Ryan, MU, pinned Martin, PV, 4:22; 285: G. Gardner, BEA, dec. Michael Wano, RV, 8-1
Consolation Quarterfinals
114: Dugan, P-O, pinned Cooper Keith, MV, 2:40; T. Corey, BEA, pinned Bryson Guyer, BA, 4:09; 121: Kamden Beatty, MU, dec. L. Corey, BEA, 5-0; 127: Britt, BM, major dec. Long, P-O, 11-0; Purcell, BEA, pinned Rylan Quarello, CK, 4:43; 133: Tinsman, MC, dec. Foster, P-O, 7-0; 139: Soler, CK, dec. Guenot, P-O, 8-1; 152: Sa. Fetterolf, PV, tech. fall Domanic Kaufman, G, 19-1 (4:59); 189: Hajzus, CC, pinned Rimmy, PV, 3:35; Chapman, P-O, dec. Evan Krause, MV, 4-1; 215: Martin, PV, dec. Kyler Suhoney, T, 8-1
Consolation Fourth Round
114: Dugan, P-O, pinned Cannon Forcellini, CC, 2:18; T. Corey, BEA, dec. Nathan Cox, CK, 8-7; 121: L. Corey, BEA, pinned Harrison Snyder, G, :37; 127: Long, P-O, major dec. Landon Spence, MC, 8-0; Purcell, BEA, dec. Carter Weaver, H, 4-3; 133: Foster, P-O, pinned Anthony Maradiaga, J, :56; 139: Guenot, P-O, dec. Mikey Zahurak, WH, 4-2; 145: Ty Fahnestock, J, major dec. Isaac Harpster, PV, 11-1; 152: Sa. Fetterolf, PV, pinned Sam Mardula, PC, 2:09; 160: Connor Riffer, U, pinned Seth Fetterolf, PV, 1:30; 172: Rowan McClain-Hartman, MU, tech. fall Brody Gardner, BEA, 18-2 (1:29); 189: Rimmey, PV, major dec. Lawson Richards, G, 14-0; Chapman, P-O, pinned Jake Mcconville, U, 1:33; 215: Martin, PV, dec. Evan Eichenlaub, P-O, 1-0; 285: Wano, RV, pinned Luke Tanis, PV, 1:32; Wyatt McCoy, WH, dec. Connor Eichenlaub, P-O, 7-1
