What you missed this week in Centre County high school sports: Feb. 26, 2026

State College swimming and diving dominated the District 6 Class 3A championships last week, with the boys and girls winning their respective district titles.

In District 6 boys basketball, in the district title game, the Little Lions also beat Mifflin County 53-45 to earn their fifth straight victory and to advance to the PIAA subregional.

Here are the highlights from local games covered from Feb. 19-25 by After the Whistle, the high school sports coverage team at Penn State’s Bellisario College of Communications.

Boys Wrestling

District 6 Class 3A individual championships (Feb. 21)

Bellefonte (168 points, 3rd place): The Red Raiders had three champions and three runners-up, in addition to sending another two to regionals. Bellefonte’s Wyatt Long scored one takedown and two reversals to win the title at 139 pounds. Other champs included Luke Hockenberry (215 pounds) and Jackson Long, who secured a late escape in the third period to win at 189 pounds.

State College (148 points, 4th place): The Little Lions finished with three champions and two runners-up, in addition to qualifying another pair for regionals. State College’s Luke Young scored three takedowns and a reversal to win his first District 6 title. Penn State commit James Whitbred won his third straight district championship, and Teag Sanderson won at 172 pounds for the Little Lions.

Other tournament scores

Central Mountain (180 points, 1st overall)

Altoona (175 points, 2nd overall)

Mifflin County (106.5 points, 5th overall)

Hollidaysburg (96.5 points, 6th overall)

Greater Johnstown (12 points, 7th overall)

Girls Wrestling

District 5-6-9 individual championships (Feb. 21)

Philipsburg-Osceola (52 points, 11th place): The Mounties finished with two runners-up in Kendyl Meersand at 148 pounds and Daisy Glessner at 235 pounds.

Bellefonte (42 points, 15th place): The Red Raiders finished 15th in the team standings with two wrestlers placing in the top five and advancing to regionals. Bellefonte’s Bailee Scott finished third at 155 pounds with a pin, and Ella Johnsonbaugh finished with a 51-second fall to claim fifth place.

Bald Eagle Area (28 points, 22nd place): Lily Spicer finished in fourth place at 100 pounds, falling in the third-place match to Bedford’s Mariah Hershberger.

State College (22 points, 25th place): The Little Lions had one wrestler on the podium. Starlynn Emel-Rash finished in fourth place at 190 pounds to earn a spot at regionals.

Other tournament scores

Clearfield (129.5 points, 1st overall)

Huntingdon (63 points, 8th overall)

Penn Cambria (37 points, 17th overall)

Bellwood-Antis (31.5 points, t-19th overall)

Greater Johnstown (31.5 points, t-19th overall)

Hollidaysburg (17 points, 27th overall)

Tyrone (14 points, 29th overall)

Altoona (10 points, 30th overall)

Boys Basketball

State College 53, Mifflin County 45 (Feb. 19): Led by sophomore Micah James and senior Spencer Neilson, who combined for 33 points, the Little Lions defeated the Huskies. Mifflin County’s Zach Keller paced the Huskies with 13 points and seven rebounds. The Little Lions now move on to a Friday subregional game against Taylor Allderdice, with the winner advancing to states. While Mifflin County’s season comes to an end, it still earned its first winning season since 2014.

Other scores

Forest Hills 59, Penns Valley 41 (Feb. 19; 3A district quarters)

Conemaugh Valley 60, St. Joseph’s 30 (Feb. 20; 1A district semis)

St. Joseph’s 58, Williamsburg 46 (Feb. 25; 1A district 3rd-place consolation)

Girls Basketball

Altoona 51, State College 35 (Feb. 19): For the third straight year, Altoona bested the Little Lions in the District 6 title game. Sophomore star Brionna Hudson led the Mountain Lions by scoring 18 points. For State College, it was McKenna Whitehurst who scored 15 points in an attempt to keep the Little Lions in the game. With the loss, State College’s season ends while Altoona advances to the state tournament.

Other scores

Bishop Carroll 62, St. Joseph’s 61 (Feb. 19; 1A district semis)

Central Cambria 52, Penns Valley 37 (Feb. 23; 3A district semis)

Boys Swimming

Class 3A district championships (Feb. 20-21)

State College (502 points, 1st place): State College sophomore Evan Koehle broke a 10-year-old meet record in the 100 butterfly to help lead the Little Lions to another district championship. Koehle’s time of 51.11 seconds was actually slower than his seed time, but it was still good enough to surpass previous record-holder and State High alum Filip Turecky (51.93). Both Leo Garlicki (200 IM, 100 backstroke) and Luke Flickinger (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle) won multiple individual events for the Little Lions, in addition to Koehle, who also won the 500 freestyle. Others with individual wins included Adam Huggins (200 freestyle) and Jack Rivera (diving). State College won all but one event, the 100 breaststroke.

Class 2A district championships (Feb. 20-21)

Overview: Penns Valley’s Jack Wolfe proved to be the county’s top boy in Class 2A, as he was the lone local boy to win gold — and he won twice. Wolfe had the fastest times in both the 100 butterfly (53.09 seconds) and the 500 freestyle (5:01.28). In the team standings, Tyrone was the champ with 164 points; local teams included Bald Eagle Area (105 points, 7th); Penns Valley (60 points, 9th); and Bellefonte (17 points; 12th).

Girls Swimming

Class 3A district championships (Feb. 20-21)

State College (523 points, 1st place): Senior Molly Workman led the State College girls to a dominant district championship by setting two meet records while collecting two individual golds and another pair of relay golds. Workman broke her previous district meet records — set last year — by clocking 22.36 seconds in the 50 freestyle and 48.35 in the 100 freestyle. Overall, State College won every event except the 100 butterfly. Other individual winners from State High include Emily Lindsley (200 freestyle), Varrah Gramling (diving), Molly Staniar (100 backstroke) and Emmi Schwab (100 breaststroke). Besides Workman, Gabby Siekman was the only other State College girls swimmer to win multiple individual events — in the 200 IM and 500 freestyle.

Class 2A district championships (Feb. 20-21)

Overview: Penns Valley senior Charlotte Delaney paced Centre County’s Class 2A girls by racking up a pair of individual wins in the 100 butterfly and 500 freestyle, both of which were faster than her seed times. Her teammate Mila Klena also won a gold — in the 200 IM — while Penns Valley tied for second place with Central Cambria, well behind champ Hollidaysburg. Bellefonte finished fifth overall, with Sydney Fetters finishing first in the 100 backstroke. Bald Eagle Area grabbed 12th place.

Unified Bocce

Southern Wilds Championships (Feb. 25)

Bald Eagle Area, Bellefonte, Penns Valley, Philipsburg-Osceola and State College all played each other in the league tournament Wednesday at Penns Valley Area High School. The Eagles, who finished fourth in the state last season, came out on top again this year after beating Bellefonte in the championship, 7-2. This was Bald Eagle Area’s first win against the Red Raiders after being swept by Bellefonte in regular season play. The Eagles will now head to regionals, where they look to punch their ticket to states.

Tournament standings

1st: Bald Eagle Area (Team 1)

2nd: Bellefonte (Team 1)

3rd: State College (Team 2)

4th: State College (Team 1)

5th: Penns Valley (Team 1)

6th: Bald Eagle Area (Team 2)

7th: Philipsburg-Osceola (Team 1)

8th: Philipsburg-Osceola (Team 2)

Athlete of the Week

Every week, the staff at After the Whistle will choose one top player from the games and meets they’ve personally watched and attended.

Molly Workman, State College, girls swimming: The senior broke two meet records at the District 6 Class 3A Swimming and Diving Championships, leading the State College girls to another district title. Workman finished with individual wins (and records) in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle, and she also contributed to first-place finishes in the 200- and 400-freestyle relays. After the Whistle produced an earlier video feature on Workman that can be found here.

Upcoming schedule

Here is a selected look at some — and not all — of the games and matches worth keeping an eye on over the next week.

Boys Wrestling (Feb. 27-28): Class 2A South West Regional, at Altoona, All Day

Boys Wrestling (Feb. 27-28): Class 3A West Regional, at Canon-McMillan, All Day

Girls Wrestling (Feb. 28): Central Regional, at Milton, All Day

Girls Basketball (Feb. 26): St. Joseph’s vs. Williamsburg, 7 p.m. (1A district 3rd-place game)

Girls Basketball (Feb. 27): Penns Valley at Marion Center, 7 p.m. (3A district 3rd-place game)

Boys Basketball (Feb. 27): State College at Taylor Allderdice, 6 p.m. (6A subregional)

Boys Basketball (Feb. 28): St. Joseph’s vs. Shanksville-Stonycreek, 1 p.m. (1A PIAA play-in)

Unified Bocce (March 2-11): Regional Championships

Massimo Buonagurio, Massimo Manfra, Mack Leach, Julia Nawalany, Jenny Karamus and Kassandra Vasellas contributed to this story. Photos by Mack Leach, Brian Shoenfelt and Tommy Malz.

Check out this week’s highlights from Penn State’s Bellisario College’s After the Whistle on its YouTube channel.

This story was originally published February 26, 2026 at 3:37 PM.