King of the Mountain Wrap-up

RecordStaffDecember 14, 2014Last Updated: December 14, 2014

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Wildcats Wrestlers Place Five

Finish Ninth at KOM

BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP—The Central Mountain wrestling team made its best showing in several years at the annual King of the Mountain wrestling tournament, paced by a third place finish from four-year starter Gavin Caprio at 170 pounds.

The Wildcats placed five wrestlers in all, scored 113.5 points to finish in ninth place, and showed great balance, 13 of its 14 entries winning at least one bout in one of December’s best scholastic wrestling tournaments in the country.

Caprio (10-1) had an outstanding tournament other than one late glitch in his semi-final contest; leading 2-1with less than 10 seconds remaining, the Wildcat senior fell victim to an edge-of-the-mat out-front headlock from Bethlethem Catholic’s Adam Soldridge and ended up losing 3-2.

Otherwise Caprio was dominant, his closest matches two 5-0 wins, including the third place bout victory over Ryan Dailey of Erie McDowell. Caprio was fourth at the KOM a year ago.

Other place-winners were senior Bryce Hanley, fifth at heavyweight; sophomore Gio Barzona (106) and senior Keanan Bottorf (120), sixth; and senior Demetri Probst (160), seventh.

The Wildcats had an outstanding Friday round and were tied for second after the first day. The overall ninth place finish was an improvement over a year ago when Central Mountain placed 18th with three place-winners and two years ago when the Wildcats were 25th with one placer.

State Double-A champion Bethlehem Catholic (competing at the Triple-A level this season) took the team title with 198 points, pushed by Greater Latrobe, second with 189 points.

District Six’s Mifflin County made a strong showing in the Saturday rounds to finish in third place with 135 points. Central Mountain and the Huskies are set this Saturday for the first of two likely dual meet showdowns this season, the second at the district team duals later on. Saturday’s 7 p.m. dual will be wrestled at Mifflin County (5-0).

The Wildcats are also scheduled to wrestle at Shikellamy this Thursday.