Wildcats crown four Big 7 champs, finish second

WINGATE, PA – The Central Mountain wrestling team had a solid showing at Saturday’s Big 7 wrestling tournament, crowning a tourney-high four champs, but had to settle for second place. Shikellamy ended up first with 184.5 points, the Wildcats second with 175. There had been some confusion on the team score late in the tournament; it was determined that points from some non-team-scoring Wildcat backups had been added into the CM total earlier in the day. Once they were subtracted out, Shikellamy moved in to first place and dethroned the defending champion Wildcats.

Wildcat coach Biff Walizer liked what he saw from his team in the 8-team event staged at Bald Eagle Area High School. “I was very pleased with the effort up and down the line-up.” He said the Wildcats are “moving in the right direction.” He cited Collin Bauman at 107 pounds and Braylen Corter at 152, both of whom avenged earlier season losses to take third place at their weights.

The Wildcats crowned four champions in Luke Simcox at 133, Dalton Perry at 139, Griffin Walizer at 145 and Rocco Serafini at 189 pounds; all four won all their matches handily. Coach Walizer said he liked how Simcox, Perry and son Griffin “found a way to push themselves” when they learned their several talented counterparts from State College would not be participating Saturday. All three have already had multiple tense matches with talented Little Lion middleweights Asher Cunningham, Pierson Manville and Hayden Cunningham.

Jaggar Pardo drew a roar from the Wildcat fans in his fifth place bout; trailing 13-5 in the third period, he picked up a fall to pull out victory. Other Wildcat placers among the starters were Zach St. Clair, fifth at 127; Gino Serafini second at 160; Jake Weaver third at 172 and Giovanni Tarantella fourth at 215.

Multiple Wildcat backups also placed: Carnell Noone fourth at 133; Luke Ananea fourth at 139; Hunter Donley fifth at 152 and Wyatt Kramer sixth at 172.

While all eleven Wildcat frontline entries placed, Central Mountain had no entries at 121 and 285. ‘Cat upper-weights Brayden Blackwell and Dakota McDermott were both out but expected back soon.

The Wildcats, 6-0 in dual meets, will have their final regular season dual meet at home on Thursday, Jan,. 26 with Bald Eagle Area (7-2). Next Friday and Saturday, Jan. 27-28, they will be among 41 teams competing at the 2023 Ultimate Warrior Wrestling Tournament at West Branch High School in Allport.

Big 7 results:
Fifth Place
107 – Logan Krupka (Hollidaysburg) pinned Nick Irwin (Altoona), 4:07
114 – Jaggar Pardoe (Central Mountain) pinned Nicholas Berrena (State College), 4:11
121 – Gavin Guenot (Bald Eagle Area) dec. Johnathan Coates (State College), 3-2
127 – Zachary St. Clair (Central Mountain) won by forfeit
133 – Connor Maney (Bald Eagle Area) dec. Mason Schenk (Hollidaysburg), 6-0
139 – Eric Weaver (State College) pinned Wyatt Young (Altoona), 1:53
145 – Eli Wisor (Altoona) dec. Trason Danley (Shikellamy), 5-2
152 – Hunter Donley (Central Mountain) pinned Gavin Bennett (Bald Eagle Area), 2:03
160 – Kaden Walker (Jersey Shore) dec. Cameron Dubbs (Bald Eagle Area), 2-0 SV
172 – Matt Shaffer (Shikellamy) pinned Wyatt Kramer (Central Mountain), 1:50
189 – Evan Boose (Altoona) pinned Shawn Knepp (Bald Eagle Area), 2:19
215 – Nash Irwin (Bellefonte) dec. Rally Hoover (Hollidaysburg), 8-2
285 – Preston Spontarelli (Shikellamy) pinned Eric Clark (Bald Eagle Area), 4:27

Third Place
107 – Collin Bauman (Central Mountain) dec. Mason Sanderson (State College), 4-0
114 – Kayson Tice (Bald Eagle Area) dec. Carson Krupka (Hollidaysburg), 5-1
121 – Phillip Sarbo (Altoona) dec. Mason Winter (Jersey Shore), 7-6
127 – Brady Bucher (State College) pinned Daniel Hernandez (Shikellamy), 2:07
133 – Isaac McGregor (Shikellamy) pinned Carnell Noone (Central Mountain), 1:19
139 – Noah Weaver (Bellefonte) dec. Luke Ananea (Central Mountain), 4-3
145 – Mason Reese (Bald Eagle Area) pinned Alex Surovec (Bald Eagle Area), 2:00
152 – Braylen Corter (Central Mountain) dec. Cole Wetzel (Shikellamy), 1-0
160 – Maxwell Murray (Bellefonte) pinned Mitchell Baronner (Hollidaysburg), 0:54
172 – Jacob Weaver (Central Mountain) maj. dec. William Garrison (Bellefonte), 13-4
189 – Slate Sechrist (Jersey Shore) dec. Addison Shawley (Bellefonte), 3-1
215 – Gage Gardner (Bald Eagle Area) dec. Giovanni Tarentella (Central Mountain), 7-5
285 – Owen Vandruff (Jersey Shore) pinned Wyatt Maines (Hollidaysburg), 1:35

Championship Finals
107 – Braiden Weaver (Altoona) pinned Wyatt Long (Bellefonte), 4:57
114 – Alex Reed (Shikellamy) pinned Cameron Garcia (Bellefonte), 1:42
121 – Eben Kisner (Shikellamy) pinned Ezra Swisher (Bellefonte), 5:03
127 – Coen Bainey (Bald Eagle Area) pinned Jackson Long (Bellefonte), 1:21
133 – Luke Simcox (Central Mountain) won by tech. fall over Caleb Fasick (Altoona), 16-1 4:30
139 – Dalton Perry (Central Mountain) pinned Charles Keener (Shikellamy), 4:18
145 – Griffin Walizer (Central Mountain) pinned Gage Long (Bellefonte), 4:57
152 – Luke Sipes (Altoona) dec. Jeffre Pifer (Bald Eagle Area), 11-4
160 – Connor Wetzel (Shikellamy) dec. Gino Serafini (Central Mountain), 3-2
172 – Caleb Close (Bald Eagle Area) dec. Tyler Bauder (Jersey Shore), 7-0
189 – Rocco Serafini (Central Mountain) maj. dec. Brody Rebuck (Shikellamy), 15-4
215 – Haydn Packer (Jersey Shore) dec. Mason Rebuck (Shikellamy), 6-4
285 – Nick Pavlechko (State College) pinned Hayden Speece (Altoona), 0:11