WILDCATS ADVANCE TO SEMIFINALS, WALIZER GETS 250th WIN

By Joe Walker HERSHEY- A lot of times in preset tournament brackets, you find sometimes the best match-ups of top ranked individuals happens in the tournaments quarterfinals. Well that happened earlier today as state top ranked Council Rock South battled second ranked Central Mountain in the PIAA CLASS AAA Team Duals Championship. 

In the match between the top two ranked teams, the Wildcats won 7 of 13 bouts and a 20-14 advantage in bonus points to defeat the Golden Hawks by a 32-27 score. The Wildcats earned a return trip to the championship semifinals and a rematch with the states third ranked and two-time defending champions, Bethlehem Catholic. Last year the District 11 Champions handed the Wildcats a 53-3 defeat in the semifinals. 

The win over Council Rock South was made even sweeter, as it handed Head Coach Biff Walizer his 250th career coaching dual meet win. The former Bald Eagle-Nittany two-time state champ and Penn State All-American has posted a career record of 250-84. He was 139-65 at Red Lion High School (York County) before coming back home and has posted a mark of 111-19 since taking over the Wildcat program. 

In the win over Council Rock South, things got started off right for the Golden Hawks, as at 121 pounds, senior Luke Reitter (30-8) used two takedowns and escape and then three third period nearfall points to major decision Wildcat freshman Aiden Kunes 8-0 and a 4-0 lead for the Rock. Reitter now has 109 career wins and a state eighth place finish in his career. 

The Golden Hawks went up 10-0 at 127, as sophomore Pat Woloshyn (33-9) pinned Wildcat sophomore Jaggar Pardoe in 1:05 of the first period. Senior Christian Zimmerman (5-1) used a four point move in the final period to gain an 8-0 major decision over Wildcat freshman Patrick Tarantella (19-16) at 133 pounds and the Wildcats were now down 14-0. 

The Wildcats started their way back at 139, as junior standout Dalton Perry (24-2) racked up 11 takedowns enroute to a 25-9 technical fall over Alex Bhatt (27-9) just 18 seconds into the final period. Perry tried all he could to roll Bhatt, but the Golden Hawk avoided it, as he also got hit with three stalling calls in the second period. 

The Wildcats then got another jump start from the bench, as Walizer moved Luke Simcox up a weight and inserted Luke Ananea (10-11) in at 145 pounds and the junior Wildcat responded to the call by winning an 11-4 decision over Caleb Chrisitian. The win by Ananea cut the Golden Hawk lead to 14-8. In Thursdays’ win over Boiling Springs, sophomore Dalton McDermott got the call from the bench and came up with a big win at 160. 

Senior Luke Smicox (20-1) wasted no time in tying the dual meet up at 14-14, as he pinned Max Napochatov in 1:06 of the first period of their 152 pound bout. Wildcat senior Griffin Walizer (29-6) then put the Wildcats in the lead at 20-14, as he won by injury default over Ben Brillhart in 1:02 of the 160 pound bout. 

Brillhart got injured when scoreless in first period, Walizer hit Brillhart with a Headlock and when they came down Brillhart hit his head on the mat and the referees stopped the bout and asked for concussion protocol and then Brillhart was unfortunately ruled unable to return. 

The Golden Hawks stopped the Wildcat run at 172 pounds, as senior Gavin Cole (34-6) decisioned the Wildcats’ Jacob Weaver (24-15) by a 7-1 score, making it a 20-17 Wildcat lead.

Golden Hawk standout Bekhurz Sadriddinov (34-3) moved up to 189 pounds and won a 15-5 major decision over Wildcat junior Bryce Brungard (27-14) to put the Golden Hawks back in front by a 21-20 score. Brungard surrendered five takedowns to the Golden Hawk state place winner (5th), but did not get rolled to his back and thus only allowed the major decision, as the Golden Hawk has 140 career wins under his belt. 

Wildcat senior Rocco Serafini (30-6) promptly gave the Wildcats back the lead as he pinned Aryn Valerino in 1:12 of the second period. Serafini was leading 8-0 at the time of the fall and the six pointer gave the Wildcats a 26-21 lead. 

Senior Giovanni Tarantella (14-8) was back in the line-up and he made his return a big one, as he posted a 1-0 decision over the Golden Hawks Jeff Gessner (11-16) at 285 pounds. Tarantella got a second period escape and then rode Gessner the entire third period for the win and a Wildcat 29-21 lead. 

Freshman Gavin Heverly (27-10) then went out and iced the dual meet for the Wildcats, as he posted a solid 8-1 decision over Eddie Alverez (18-12) at 107 pounds. Heverly used four takedowns to earn the win and a 32-21 lead that sent the Wildcats into the semifinals. 

With the dual meet again wrapped up heading into the final bout at 114, coach Walizer forfeit to returning state qualifier Connor Lenahan (33-8) and that set the final at 32-27 and kept the Wildcats unbeaten record intact at 11-0 heading into the match-up with Bethlehem Catholic tonight at 7 pm. 

The other semifinal match-up tonight will pit District 11 runner-up Easton (21-2) against District 1 runner-up Pennridge (20-4). Easton defeated District 3 champion Gettysburg (22-2) by a 29-21 score, while Pennridge defeated District 3 third place finisher Wilson (West Lawn) by a 30-24 score. 

In Class AA action, the Eagles of Bald Eagle Area were eliminated after dropping a close 27-25 match to District 10 champion Reynolds. The Defender of Warrior Run and the Warriors of Montoursville both won their consolation bouts to stay alive, while the Clearfield Bisons fell 35-21 to District 3 champion Bishop McDevitt in the quarterfinals. 

The AA semifinals matches are District 6 champion Bishop McCort against District 5 champion Chestnut Ridge, while Bishop McDevitt will face District 1 champion Faith Christian Academy. 

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN 32, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 27 

121 – Luke Reitter (CRS) WMD Aiden Kunes, 8-0, (0-4); 127 – Pat Woloshyn (CRS) WBF Jaggar Pardoe, 1:05, (0-10); 133 – Christian Zimmerman (WMD) Patrick Tarantella, 8-0, (0-14) 139 – Dalton Perry (CM) WTF Alex Bhatt, 25-9, 4:18, (5-14); 145 – Luke Ananea (CM) WBD Caleb Christian, 11-4, (8-14); 152 – Luke Simcox (CM) WBF Max Napochatov, 1:06, (14-14); 160 – Griffin Walizer WBDEF Ben Brillhart, 1:02, (20-14); 172 – Gavin Cole (CRS) WBD Jacob Weaver, 7-1, (20-17); 189 – Bekhruz Sadriddinov (CRS) WMD Bruce Brungard, 15-5, (20-21) 215 – Rocco Serafini (CM) WBF Aryn Valerino, 3:12, (26-21); 285 – Giovanni Tarantella (CM) WBD Jeff Gessner, 1-0, (29-21); 107 – Gavin Heverly (CM) WBD Eddie Alverez, 8-1, (32-21); 114 – Connor Lenahan (CRS) won by forfeit. (32-27)