Simcox Wins Gold, Perry Gets Silver and Walizer Medals

By Joe Walker

HERSHEY-Luke Simcox climbed the season long wrestling mountain and found himself standing on the top, as the Central Mountain Wildcat senior won his second straight bout over the country’s top ranked wrestler to claim his second PIAA Class AAA state championship gold medal. 

While Simcox was able to stand on top of the podium at the Hershey Giant Center for the second time, Wildcat junior Dalton Perry captured a silver medal, his third medal and senior Griffin Walizer took a sixth place medal, his third one as well. Head Coach Biff Walizer was awarded the Class AAA state Coach of The Year award and Doug Buckwalter AAA Assistant Coach of The Year.

Simcox was matched up with State College senior standout Pierson Manville (26-2) in the title bout and like the regional final went into overtime. Both wrestlers exchanged escapes in regulation for a 1-1 tied match. After a scoreless first overtime period, Simcox rode Manville out during the first 30 first rideout period. 

In the second 30 second rideout period, Simcox chose down and escaped with 20 seconds to go to take a 2-1 lead. With a stalling warning against him earlier in the match, Simcox had to stay aggressive, but then with 10 seconds to go, Manville shot in and after they rolled around Simcox came out on top for the takedown and the 4-1 overtime win and his second title. 

The North Carolina bound Simcox finishes his senior season with a record of 31-3 and a career mark of 137-18, with two state championships, four state medals, four regional titles and three district titles to put on his wrestling resume. With his second win over Manville, Simcox could come out of the final national rankings with the number one ranking in the country. Simcox was number three before the regional finals. 

Wildcat junior Dalton Perry placed second for his third state medal at 139 pounds, as he dropped a 3-1 overtime decision to Maddox Shaw (43-3) of Thomas Jefferson. The bout was tied 1-1 after three periods, as they exchanged escapes in regulation, both getting close to takedowns. In the first overtime period, Shaw was able to get the deciding takedown to walk away with his first state title, after losing a 1-0 decision to Simcox in last year’s 139 pound final. 

Perry finished his junior season with a 34-4 record and his career mark is now 119-12 and another season to add wins to that and another shot at a gold medal. Perry won a state title as a freshman in 2022, which included a 3-1 win over Shaw in the state semifinals and then placed third in last year’s state tournament, losing to eventual state champion Kollin Rath of Bethlehem Catholic by a 3-1 score in last year’s state semifinals. 

Griffin Walizer finished his career with a sixth place finish at 152 pounds, as the Wildcat senior dropped both of his matches on Saturday. In the consolation semifinals, he dropped a close 1-0 decision to District 6 rival Lucas Sipes (36-7) by a narrow 1-0 score. Sipes had defeated Walizer in the District and regional finals by 3-1 and 3-0 scores. 

In his bout with the two time state medal winner Sipes, Walizer got close to a takedown in the opening period, but it ended scoreless. Sipes escaped to take a 1-0 lead in the second period, again no takedowns were awarded. In the final period, Walizer chose the down position, but could not get away from Sipes and dropped the narrow 1-0 decision. Sipes later placed fourth at 152 pounds. 

Walizer faced southeast regional runner-up Sam Kuhns (44-8) of Pennridge for fifth place, as Kuhn was a three time state qualifier and owned a win over fellow Wildcat Luke Simcox at the state duals. The match

was tied 2-2 after regulation, then Kuhns recorded a takedown in the first sudden victory period to walk away with a tough 4-2 overtime win over the Wildcat. 

The Lock Haven University bound Walizer finished his senior season with a record of 38-12, a career record of 123-46 and three state place finishes. He finished eighth as a sophomore, fifth as a junior and then finished sixth in his senior season, despite wrestling up above his weight for most of the season, including in a loaded 152 pound weight class at the state tournament. 

Wildcat Head Coach Biff Walizer was selected as Class AAA Coach of The Year, as he guided the Wildcats to the District 6 Team Duals title and a third place finish in the state duals tournament. They also captured tournament team titles at the Top Hat Tournament, King of The Mountain Tournament and the Mid-Winter Mayhem Tournament. They finished their dual meet season with a 13-1 record, the only loss to two-time state champions Bethlehem Catholic. 

Bethlehem Catholic won the team title in the Class AAA tournament with 95.5 points, while Nazareth finished second with 78.5 points. The rest of the top six were third place State College with 71.5 points, Quakertown was fourth with 67, while Owen J. Roberts was fifth with 66.5 and Central Mountain was sixth with 59 points. 

Nazareth 285 pounder Seth Kinney won his third state title, while Daniel Boone senior 189 pounder Tucker Hogan won his second state title, the only two titles in school history. Hogan defeated Northerns’ Cole Bartram for the second year in a row for the state title and both wrestlers will be teammates on the Lock Haven Bald Eagle team next year. Hogans’ teammate Dean Houser was a runner-up at 127 pounds and will be coming to LHU next year as well. 

In the Class AA tournament, 215 pound Rue Lawrence of Frazier became just the 14th wrestler in PIAA history to win four PIAA state titles as he defeated returning state champion Austin Johnson of Muncy in the 215 Class AA final. In the Class AAA tournament Central Dauphin 160-pounder Ryan Gaverick was a state runner-up for the third straight year, losing to State Colleges’ Asher Cunningham in the finals. State College senior Nick Pavlechko placed third at 285 pounds. 

In the Class AA tournament the Eagles of Bald Eagle Area finished with three state place winners, as Caleb Close won a third place at 189 pounds, while freshman Tanner Guenot placed fifth at 107 pounds and Caden Judice placed in seventh place at 114 pounds.