Eight Centre County wrestlers lock up PIAA 2A State Championships spots
Bald Eagle Area, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola had a combined 19 wrestlers hit the mats at the PIAA Class 2A Southwest Regional at Altoona’s Fieldhouse on Friday night.
Eight of those Centre County athletes are alive for gold medals after reaching the semifinals, which secured them a spot in the PIAA Championships. They can finish no lower than sixth, with the top seven wrestlers at each weight advancing to Hershey next week.
Here’s how the Eagles, Rams and Mounties sit after Day 1 of the regional championships:
Bald Eagle Area
Team score: 5th, 36 points
State qualifiers: Tanner Guenot (133 pounds), Caden Judice (145), Dawson Lomison (152)
Still alive: Ty Corey (114 pounds), Liam Purcell (127), Gage Gardner (285)
Recap: The Eagles trio are set to make return trips to Chocolate Town after making a run to the semifinals.
It’ll be the third straight trip for Guenot and Judice, and Lomison’s second consecutive.
“It was a good day. The three in the semis, we had hoped those three would be where they’re at,” Bald Eagle Area coach Ron Guenot said. “We got the three guys in the consolations that can hopefully battle back and put themselves in a mix to get to Hershey.”
Tanner Guenot and Judice each bonused their way to the semifinals.
Guenot opened by securing a 16-0 technical fall of Valley’s Juzef Betts in 4:36. The West Virginia commit in Guenot then stuck North Star’s Eli Muller in 3:29 to make the semifinals, where he’ll face the top seed in McGuffey’s Lucas Barr.
Judice also opened his tournament with a shutout, 14-0, of Derry’s William McNeal. The Lock Haven commit in Judice rolled to a 19-3 technical fall of Meyersdale’s Brenden Schardt in 4:59. The Eagles wrestler takes on fellow District 6 wrestler Josef Garshnick of United in the semifinals.
Lomison, who was fresh off his first district crown, had no problems topping Beaver County Christian’s Josiah Bosch, 8-1, in his regional opener. In the quarterfinals, Lomison used a late second-period takedown to top McGuffey’s Victor Bonus, 7-3.
“I mean, you can count on those guys. They are just good hard-working kids. They get what they deserve,” Ron Guenot said of his state qualifiers. “I know they’re not just satisfied with making the trip to Hershey. They have goals of being high on the podium, but you got to take it one match at a time.”
Penns Valley
Team score: 4th, 56.5 points
State qualifiers: Max Dinges (121 pounds), Conner Myers (127), Tripp Watson (139), Brayden Lisowski (172)
Still alive: Evan Lisowski (114 pounds), Erik Carlile (133), Sawyer Fetterolf (152), Robert Martin (215)
Recap: Three of the Rams’ four qualifiers were like cardiac kids on their way to their semifinals berths.
Watson’s path was the most heart racing of them all as he used a pair of one-point victories to secure his first trip to Hershey.
The junior trailed Beth-Center’s Mason Wright, 6-4, after two periods in his tournament opener. Wright opened the third with an escape, but Watson got a takedown with 40 seconds left to tie it, 7-7, and force sudden victory.
Neither wrestler scored in sudden victory, so they went to 30 second rideout periods. Watson rode Wright for the entire first period. With 14 seconds left in the second period, the Rams wrestler escaped for an 8-7 win.
In the quarterfinals, Watson used a four-point second period and rode out Chestnut Ridge’s Trenden Willey, who was the District 5 champion, for the entire third period to secure a 5-4 win. Watson faces Burgettstown’s Carter Katus for a spot in the finals.
“This year has been different. His practice habits. He is constantly improving. He believes in himself,” Brinker said of Watson. “It gives him a chance to win. It was a big win. He lost to him (Willey) in the Laurel Highlands, so we knew it was doable, but it was (a matter of) going out and doing it.”
After opening his tournament with an 18-3 technical fall, Dinges used an escape in the second tiebreaker rideout period to top Elizabeth Forward’s Preston Bubash, 6-5. The Penns Valley wrestles gets District 5 champ in Tussey Mountain’s Dakota Santamaria in the semifinals.
Myers opened his regional tournament with a 13-5 major decision of Beth-Center’s Shane Cronin. In the quarterfinals, the district champ got a reversal with one second left in the first tiebreaker period, and used a full period rideout in the second tiebreaker to top Berlin Brothersvalley’s Lukas Smith, 10-8.
Myers takes on Burrell’s Cameron Baker for a spot in the finals.
Brayden Lisowski cruised to the semifinals with a pair of pins.
He opened by sticking Beaver County Christian’s Jonah Bosch in 2:22. In the quarterfinals, Lisowski put Berlin Brothersvalley’s Carter Durst on his back in 1:29 for his first trip to Hershey.
“The four guys moving on, you’re happy and excited for them and their family. Now they’re state qualifiers, but a lot of work to be done yet,” Brinker said. “It was a very good night, very pleased, but not satisfied, because you always want more so very pleased with the effort tonight.”
Philipsburg-Osceola
Team score: 13th, 21.5 points
State qualifiers: Averi Gable (145 pounds)
Still alive: Hayden Koptchak (107 pounds), Jacob Dugan (114), Caleb Hummel (121), Ace Foster (133), Colton Chapman (189)
Recap: The Mounties had just one secure a spot in Hershey on Friday in Gable, but nearly had another in Foster, who got the call Thursday that he was going to make the regional trip.
Gable, who was considered the No. 12 seed, opened with a nailbiter against McGuffey’s Emmett Wolfe.
The P-O wrestler held a three-point advantage after two periods of wrestling, and even opened the third with an escape to expand the lead. Wolfe tallied a takedown with 1:30 to go to make it, 6-5. Gable got a reversal late to secure the win.
Gable’s quarterfinals match was a different story as he rolled to a 15-0 technical fall over the No. 4 seed in Everett’s Canden Hillenbrand in 2:41.
“He’s had a really great year. We knew that first match was going to be a tough match. He wrestled a really good match,” Mounties coach Justin Fye said. “We were in almost the same exact position as last year (quarterfinals where Gable lost). We felt like we were the favorite, so we were trying to keep everybody nice and loose, because they’re kids, they’ll get nervous a little bit. He went out there and just controlled that match from the very beginning.”
As mentioned, Foster, who finished seventh in the District 6 Championships, wasn’t supposed to be at the regional tournament. However, a wrestler from a District 7 school couldn’t compete, so the spot was awarded to the P-O wrestler.
Foster came out looking to make the most of his opportunity as he threw the District 5 champion in Chestnut Ridge’s Austin Bernash on his back early in the first period. The Mounties wrestler appeared to get a pin, but the side official on the mat called an illegal headlock, which kept the match going.
Bernash rallied to top Foster, 9-8, using a takedown with 1:22 left in the match for the winning score.
Foster didn’t stay down though, responding with a 6-1 victory over Everett’s Liam Berry to remain alive in the consolation bracket.
“That was unfortunate, you don’t see a call like that very often. It’s unfortunate because I felt like the kid was pinned before they actually even called the pin,” Fye said. “You go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, and come back again and coming out again, (he had) a good win there. Hopefully that clears his mind a little bit, come back tomorrow and see how the day goes.”
PIAA Southwest Regional
Friday at Altoona
Team key: Avonworth (A), Bald Eagle Area (BEA), Beaver County Christian (BCC), Bedford (B), Bentworth (BW), Berlin-Brothersvalley (BB), Beth-Center (BC), Bishop McCot (BM), Burgettstown (BT), Burrell (BR), Central (C), Central Cambria (CC), Central Valley (CV), Chartiers-Houston (CH), 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), Hopewell (HW), Huntingdon (H), Jefferson-Morgan (JM), Juniata (J), Keystone Oaks (KO), Laurel (L), Ligonier Valley (LV), Marion Center (MC), McGuffey (MG), Meyersdale (M), Moshannon Valley (MV), Mount Pleasant (MP), Mount Union (MU), 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), Southmoreland (SM), Tussey Mountain (TM), Tyrone (T), United (U), Valley (V), Washington (W), West Branch (WB), West Greene (WG), Westmont Hilltop (WH)
Team scores: 1. Bishop McCort 129, 2. Chestnut Ridge 64, 3. Derry 59.5, 4. Penns Valley 56.5, 5. Bald Eagle Area 36, 6. Burrell 31.5, 7. Huntingdon 30, 8. McGuffey 29, 9. Laurel 27, T10. Elizabeth Forward 24, T10. Jefferson Morgan 24, 13. Philipsburg-Osceola 21.5
Quarterfinals
114: Carter Ickes, CR, dec. Jacob Dugan, P-O, 7-0; Patrick Bulger, D, major dec. Evan Lisowski, PV, 10-2; 121: Max Dinges, PV, dec. Preston Bubash, EF, 6-5 (UTB2); Dakota Santamaria, TM, pinned Caleb Hummel, P-O, 5:25; 127: Conner Myers, PV, dec. Lukas Smith, BB, 10-8 (UTB2); 133: Lucas Barr, MG, tech. fall Erik Carlile, PV, 18-2 (4:54); Tanner Guenot, BEA, pinned Eli Mullen, NS, 3:29; 139: Tripp Watson, PV, dec. Trenden Willey, CR, 5-4; 145: Averi Gable, P-O, tech. fall Canden Hillenbrand, E, 15-0 (2:41); Caden Judice, BEA, tech. fall Brenden Schardt, M, 19-3 (4:59); 152: Dawson Lomison, BEA, dec. Victor Bonus, MG, 7-3; 172: Brayden Lisowski, PV, pinned Carter Durst, BB, 1:29; 215: Landon Erdman, H, pinned Robert Martin, PV, 1:56
Consolation First Round
127: Liam Purcell, BEA, pinned Lindenn Acre, HL, 3:30; 133: Ace Foster, P-O, dec. Liam Berry, E, 6-1; 189: Colton Chapman, P-O, dec. Kash Main, MG, 7-1
Second Round
107: Brayden Hanning, JM, pinned Koptchak, P-O, 4:19; 114: E. Lisowski, PV, pinned Ryder Gearhart, KO, 1:29; Javeon Chambers, HL, pinned T. Corey, BEA, 1:29; Dugan, P-O, tech. fall Bobby Lemley, BW, 18-2 (5:09); 121: Dinges, PV, tech. fall Cameron Eiler, FC, 18-3 (2:58); Hummel, P-O, tech. fall Raydn Thomas, V, 23-7 (4:31); 127: Myers, PV, major dec. Shane Cronin, B-C, 13-5; Cameron Baker, BR, tech. fall Purcell, BEA, 20-3 (1:13); 133: Carlile, PV, major dec. Christian Tirado, HW, 16-5; Guenot, BEA, tech. fall Juzef Betts, V, 16-0 (4:36); Austin Bernash, CR, dec. Foster, P-O, 9-8; 139: Watson, PV, dec. Mason Wright, B-C, 8-7 (UTB2); 145: Gable, P-O, dec. Emmett Wolfe, MG, 8-5; Judice, BEA, major dec. William McNeal, D, 14-0; 152: Bonus, MG, pinned Sawyer Fetterolf, PV, 1:38; Lomison, BEA, dec. Josiah Bosch, BCC, 8-1; 172: B. Lisowski, PV, pinned Jonah Bosch, BCC, 2:22; 189: Brady Brown, D, tech. fall Chapman, P-O, 18-1 (1:21); 215: Martin, PV, major dec. Ayden Kun, BR, 9-0; 285: Casey Wilson, L, major dec. Gage Gardner, BEA, 10-0
This story was originally published February 27, 2026 at 11:13 PM.
