Wrestling News & Views – Tom Elling
By Tom Elling
Wrestling is in full swing. The always-exciting Tom Best Memorial Top Hat tournament provided a lot of action and early-season experience for all involved. As predicted, Connellsville and Easton finished 1-2 in the team race. Central Mountain performed well as a team. Every member of the squad won at least one bout. The ‘Cats crowned two champions — Aiden Kunes (127) and Dalton Perry (145). Both impressed throughout the two-day event. Coach Biff Walizer was pleased for the most part but noted that the team has to improve. This week was a good opportunity to find out where they stand. Others who placed were:
Fourth: Patrick Tarantella (139) and Bryce Brungard (189)
Fifth: Gavin Heverly (114) and Luke Garman (133)
Sixth: Jacob Weaver
This column was written Monday (my deadline), so the results of the first two dual meets (BEA on Tuesday and Shikellamy on Thursday) are not reflected. Perry, this past week, signed to wrestle for Cael Sanderson at Penn State.
Off-the-Mat Observations
CM volleyball head coach Chipp McCann once again manned one of the scoring tables. Retired photographer Butch Miller spent a little time matside to take a few action photos for The Record-Online. The broadcast team of Joe Walker, Mike Frank, and I (with a cameo appearance by videographer Clinta Frank) were in our usual perch calling all the local action despite the hard-to-see scoreboards. A big thank-you to our sponsors and to the many viewers we had during the two-day showcase. It ran well, but I did suggest to tournament director Sean McCann (no relation to Chipp) that providing updated brackets to the media would be very helpful and free the broadcasters to concentrate on calling the action. The Trackwrestling platform created some screen-freezing difficulty. Sean did his usual excellent job in providing us with pre-tournament brackets.
Local barrister Randy Brungard was one of the tournament referees along with Rocky Miller, Jack Young (PIAA Rules Interpreter), and the effervescent, gymnastic Mike Litzelman. CM fans will remember Mike as the official who was accidentally tripped on the mat, did a cartwheel, and came up in perfect balance, issuing two points.
BEA Report
Bald Eagle Area opened their dual meet season with an improved Bellefonte squad. The Eagles prevailed 38-26. The ouch factor was the three forfeits in the dual (two given by Bellefonte). Eagle standout Caleb Close (American U-bound) missed the action, reportedly due to a bout with the flu. The premier bout was between Tanner Guenot (BEA) and Wyatt Long (Bellefonte), with Guenot garnering a 3-1 decision.
On Saturday, Ron Guenot’s team will travel to Towanda for the 8-team Dandy Duals. Jersey Shore will also be a participant. Then, on Tuesday (the 17th), Joel Brinker’s Penns Valley team will make a stop at the Wingate gym. Watch for promising lightweight Max Dinges. His grandfather (also named Max) was, and still is, the only PIAA state champion for the Rams. His father, Troy, works with Mike Sikorskas running Central Mountain Therapy on the “Island.”
Bellefonte Update
Mike Maney’s Red Raiders of Bellefonte went 3-1 at the Gary Woodruff Memorial Duals at Wyalusing. They downed Elk Lake (59-6), Pittston Area (37-36), and Montrose (65-12). The loss was a competitive dual (34-26) with Wallenpaupack. This past Tuesday, they were scheduled to host Huntingdon.
Jersey Shore Report
Tony Owens returned to the Jersey Shore mat room this season as head coach. He was pleased with the effort he got from the Bulldogs at the Top Hat. Slate Sechrist looked exceptionally tough, but he had the misfortune of bumping heads with Muncy’s strongman Austin Johnson, a three-time PIAA state placer, including the title two years ago and as runner-up last season at 215. His loss last year was to four-time champ Rune Lawrence of Frazier HS. Lawrence is now at West Virginia.
Sugar Valley Report
Jason Bilbay’s Sugar Valley Rural Charter team finished in 22nd place at the Darren Klingerman tourney in Bloomsburg. They hosted Columbia Montour Vo-Tech last night. Hunter Berry placed 8th at 114, while Jarren McCloskey (133) placed 6th.
Honesdale won the tournament. Crestwood and Hughesville finished 2-3. Future Central Mountain opponent Shamokin finished 21st. Tomorrow, the Phoenix will take part in the PM Gauntlet Duals at Blue Mountain HS.
Girls’ Wrestling
On the Girls’ side, Dylan Caprio’s Central Mountain team went 3-3 at the Boiling Springs Duals. They defeated Central York (30-24), Pennsbury (36-18), and State College (24-17). The losses were to Northern York (66-12), Central York (41-24), and Pennsbury (33-30). Austynn Falls (148) and Kendall Wagner (170) both went 6-0 on the day. Anna Lackey, daughter of LHU women’s coach Matt Lackey, also went unbeaten for State High. Emma Scarborough-Perez (118) and Ashlyn Miller (123) picked up four wins.
College Wrestling
Penn State won the interstate rivalry with Lehigh in commanding fashion, 36-3. The big news was Josh Barr’s stunning 11-3 major decision over 6th-ranked Michael Beard. Beard was originally enrolled at Penn State but transferred to the Mountain Hawks under Pat Santoro.
Penn State’s upcoming dual with Wyoming (Sunday) has been moved to the Bryce Jordan Center as the women’s volleyball team is hosting a Regional qualifier at Rec Hall.
The two officials at the PSU-Lehigh meet have deep PA wrestling roots. Brian Murphy (head ref) is the son of Harry and Sandy Murphy (both LHSC grads). Harry was the head coach at Cambria Heights for years. The assistant ref was Mark Cesari, the son of Hall of Famer Joe Cesari from North Schuylkill HS. Mark was a four-time PIAA placewinner with two first-place titles to his credit (1988 & 1989).
Lock Haven Update
LHU bounced back from a rout at Rutgers to defeat Big Ten team Wisconsin on Sunday, 26-17. Badger coach Chris Bono told me prior to the meet that his team was ‘very young’ and that some of his top squad members were ‘redshirting.’ The Badgers defeated Bucknell on Saturday (23-15) and had trounced Bloomsburg Sunday morning (37-9) before making their appearance at Thomas Field House.
Scott Moore’s team was ready for the test. Wyatt Henson (141), Lucas Kapusta (149), Nick Stampoulos (157), Avery Bassett (174), Colin Fegley (184), and super frosh Tucker Hogan (197) posted wins for the Bald Eagles.
It was great seeing the student body at the dual. It was reminiscent of the glory days of Bald Eagle wrestling. The one detraction from the meet was a scoreboard malfunction. As it is, that front table scoreboard is very difficult to read. Credit to the Albert Jones team for getting it up on the three big boards. I’d suggest they continue with that.
Former LHSC grappler and Northern Bedford coach Rod Hoover and his wife Joyce (Donovan) Hoover were in attendance as guests of Ron and JoAnn Bowes.
Did You Know?
The sisters of two Penn State starters are athletes right here at LHU:
Julianna Van Ness (sister of Shayne Van Ness) is on the LHU wrestling team.
Joelle Bartlett (sister of Beau Bartlett) is on the LHU Field Hockey squad.
