Wildcat ‘Fab Five’ Heading to Hershey
ALTOONA – Central Mountain High wrestling coach Biff Walizer had nothing but good things to say about his Wildcat wrestling team after it advanced five team members to the PIAA tournament starting next Thursday in Hershey.
The five Wildcats qualified Saturday night at the Northwest Regional AAA tourney at the Altoona Field House. They are runners-up Johnny Shreffler at 113 pounds and Seth Andrus at 132 pounds and third place finishers in Logan Long at 145, Tanner Weaver at 170 and Mahlik Houtz at 220 pounds. The five PIAA qualifiers ties the 2015 team which also advanced five to the states. The school record is eight, achieved by the PIAA title-winning team in 2010.
The squad took 11 wrestlers to the regionals and ten earned team points, all ten recording at least two wins each. That balance was enough to land the Wildcats in third place in the 28-team field with 122.5 points. Erie Prep from District 10 ran away with the team crown with 189 points and ten state qualifiers. Mifflin County was second with 125.5 points and four wrestlers heading to Hershey.
Coach Walizer said he “Can’t say enough,” about his team and its two days of fight, lauding the squad as “A good group of kids who represent the community well.” He said the five-some will head to the Giant Center and give the states their best shot.
The junior Shreffler epitomized the Wildcat showing. Third at the District 6 tournament a week ago, Shreffler (23-13) mowed through his first three regional matches to the Saturday final where returning state place-winner Christian Fisher (31-7) of Mifflin County defeated him by an 8-1 score.
Central Mountain’s other finalist, senior Seth Andrus (31-4) took his first three bouts to get to the finals but saw his offense taken away in a 3-2 loss to Erie McDowell’s Jeff Boyd (32-2).
But the Wildcats would bounce back, taking three straight third place matches. Three-year starter Logan Long (30-8) earned his first Hershey trip with a solid 5-1 win over District 10 champ KiShawn Higgins (27-11). Tanner Weaver, upset in the quarterfinal round Friday night, qualified for states the hard way, having to win four straight on Saturday. Weaver, now 33-6, took his third place match over Ian Klinger (20-8) of Philipsburg-Osceola by a 10-5 score.
Senior Mahlik Houtz (23-10) followed Weaver’s lead, losing Friday night and forced to win four bouts on Saturday. He clinched his trip to Hershey with a 3-1 victory over Kross Todaro (26-12) of Mifflin County. The two wrestlers had split two earlier season matches.
Others contributing to the team’s solid showing but falling short of placing were Cody Coleman (24-12; 2-2 at regionals) at 138; Asher Corl (26-9; 3-2 at regionals) at 160; Gage Sutliff (8-8; 2-2 at regionals) at182; Tanner Riggle (19-17; 3-2 at regionals) at 195 pounds; and Jake Edwards (26-6; 2-2 at regionals) at heavyweight. Alonze Henry (6-12) lost his first two bouts at 152 pounds.
The 81st annual PIAA wrestling tournament is to begin Thursday at 4 p.m. at the Giant Center in Hershey. Championship and consolation bouts are scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday.
TOP 10 TOURNAMENT TEAMS
| SCORE | TEAM | |
| 1 | 189 | Cathedral Prep |
| 2 | 125.5 | Mifflin County |
| 3 | 122.5 | Central Mountain |
| 4 | 107.5 | Bald Eagle Area |
| 5 | 80 | Philipsburg-Osceola |
| 6 | 79.5 | DuBois |
| 7 | 75 | Altoona |
| 8 | 63.5 | Meadville |
| 9 | 61.5 | Clearfield |
| 10 | 54.5 | McDowell |
| Consolation First Round |
|---|
| 152 – Albert Taylor, Cathedral Prep, dec. Alonzo Henry, Central Mountain, 8-3. |
| Consolation Second Round |
|---|
| 138 – Cody Coleman, Central Mountain, pinned John Rutherford, Mifflin County, 1:12. |
| 160 – Asher Corl, Central Mountain, pinned, Ethan Rossman, Bellefonte, 4:33. |
| 170 – Tanner Weaver, Central Mountain, pinned Chase Bower, Williamsport, 2:44. |
| 182 – Gage Sutliff, Central Mountain, major dec. James Larid, Gen McLane, 12-2. |
| 195 – Tanner Riggle, Central Mountain, pinned Caprice Hall, Erie High, 1:32. |
| 220 – Mahlik Houtz, Central Mountain, pinned Alex Oharah, DuBois, 2:55. |
| Semi-Final Round |
|---|
| 113 – Johnny Shreffler, Central Mountain, major dec. Ryan Madigan, Warren, 10-0. |
| 132 – Seth Andrus, Central Mountain, pinned Jordan Wagner, Altoona, 0:56. |
| 145 – Kolby Ho, DuBois, major dec. Logan Long, Central Mountain, 20-8 |
| 285 – Kawaun DeBoe, Cathedral Prep, pinned Jacob Edwards, Central Mountain, 1:34. |
| Consolation Quarterfinal Round |
|---|
| 138 – Nathan Swartz, Hollidaysburg, major dec. Cody Coleman, Central Mountain, 9-1. |
| 160 – Asher Corl, Central Mountain, pinned L.J. Orbovich, Carrick, 0:33. |
| 170 – Tanner Weaver, Central Mountain, dec. Jack Kaulis, Gen McLane, 10-3. |
| 182 – Nate Powley, Williamsport, pinned Gage Sutliff, Central Mountain, 2:27. |
| 195 – Tanner Riggle, Central Mountain, dec. Thomas Pollard, Meadville, 3-1. |
| 220 – Mahlik Houtz, Central Mountain, dec. Kareem Carson, Cathedral Prep, 3-2. |
| Consolation Semi-Final Round |
|---|
| 145 – Logan Long, Central Mountain, dec. Deven Abott, Erie High, 7-6. |
| 160 – Ian Barr, State College, dec. Asher Corl, Central Mountain, 4-3. |
| 170 – Tanner Weaver, Central Mountain, major dec. Arlan Pulliam, Erie High, 14-2. |
| 195 – Brandon Anderson, Philipsburg-Osceola, dec. Tanner Riggle, 4-2. |
| 220 – Mahlik Houtz, Central Mountain, dec. Adam Young, Shikellamy, 4-3. |
| 285 – Matt Starr, DuBois, dec. Jacob Edwards, Central Mountain, 3-2. |
| Consolation Final for Third Place |
|---|
| 145 – Logan Long, Central Mountain, dec. KiShawn Higgins, Cathedral Prep, 5-1. |
| 170 – Tanner Weaver, Central Mountain, dec. Ian Klinger, Philipsburg-Osceola, 10-5. |
| 220 – Mahlik Houtz, Central Mountain, dec. Kross Today, Mifflin County, 3-1. |
| Championship Final |
|---|
| 113 – Christian Fisher, Mifflin County, dec. Johnny Shreffler, Central Mountain, 8-1. |
| 132 – Jeffrey Boyd, McDowell, dec. Seth Andrus, Central Mountain, 3-2. |
