Simcox in Semi-Finals at Powerade Tournament
By Joe Walker
CANONSBURG- The Central Mountain Wildcats will bring three wrestlers back to day two, after the grueling long opening day of the 57th annual Powerade Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School. Senior Luke Simcox (139) will wrestle in Saturday mornings championship semifinals, while Griffin Walizer (145) and Giovanni Tarantella (285) will be in the consolations.
Two-time defending champion Wyoming Seminary leads the tournament, as the Prep School power has eight wrestlers in the championship semifinals and 142 points. The rest of the top 10 teams are: 2. St. Edwards (OH) 123.5; 3. Malvern Prep 121; 4. St. Joseph Regional (NJ) 111; 5. Bishop McCort 103; 6. Lake Highland Prep (FL) 102; 7. Delbarton (NJ) 86.5; 8. State College, 78; 9. Bergen Catholic (NJ) 74; 10. Notre Dame (Green Pond) 71.5.
Central Mountain currently sits in 11th place with 71 points. The Little Lions of State College only have three wrestlers remaining, but they are top seeds Pierson Manville (145) and Nicholas Pavlechko (285), along with second seeded Asher Cunningham (160). Muncy’s second seeded Austin Johnson (215) is the lone Indian to be in the championship semifinals.
Simcox posted three wins on the day and the toughest one came in the quarterfinals, as he needed a overtime takedown to pull out a 7-5 sudden victory win over standout and seventh seeded Carter Nogle of Mt. Saint Joseph (MD). The second seeded Simcox will face number three seed Maddox Shaw of Thomas-Jefferson in the semifinals, Simcox defeated Shaw 1-0 in last season state championship bout.
Walizer will be in the sixth round of consolations and needs one win to finish in the top eight at his weight class. Walizer will face Ryan Lawler of Bishop McDevitt, who last year placed fourth in the PIAA Class AA states. Walizer lost a 10-0 major decision to Jack Consiglio of Malvern Prep in the quarterfinals. Consiglio is ranked second in the country, as the two-time national prep champion will be headed to Stanford next year.
Tarantella will be in the sixth round of consolations at 285 and his opponent will be sixth seeded Tyson Russell of Cleveland (TN) a returning Tennessee state champion. Tarantella dropped into the consolations after being pinned in 1:43 of the first period by Ben Shue of Bergen Catholic (NJ). Shue was a fourth place finisher in the New Jersey states last season.
Aiden Kunes (121), Jacob Weaver (172) and Rocco Serafini (215) all fell in the fifth round of consolations. Kunes dropped a 1-0 decision to Zac Bosken of Cleveland (TN), Bosken is a returning Tennessee state champion. Serafini dropped a tough 5-4 decision to Malvern Preps’ Stosh Zalota, as Zalota placed eighth in the state prep championships last season. Kunes and Weaver both finished with 4-2 records on the day, while Serafini finished at 2-2.
Other Central Mountain wrestlers eliminated in day one and their records for the day were Gavin Heverly (107), 2-2; Caden Stoner (114), 0-2; Patrick Tarantella (127), 1-2; Luke Annanea (152), 0-2; Hunter Donley (160), 1-2; Bryce Brungard (189), 2-2.
Action gets underway with the consolations at 10 am and then the semifinals at 11 am.
Central Mountain Day 1 Results:
Round of 64
107 – Brandon Kelly (Malvern Prep) maj dec Gavin Heverly, 9-0
114 – Brady Stickler (Hickory) WTF Caden Stoner, 19-2, 2:35 121 – Aiden Kunes WBF Ty King (Hempfield Area), 3:45 127 – Patrick Tarantella WBF Jack Heller (Williamsport), 2:31 152 – Logan Matrisch (Penn Trafford) dec. Luke Annanea, 5-2 160 – Hunter Donley dec. Carter Stewart (Saegertown), 9-2 172 – Jacob Weaver WBF Jackson Raker (Williamsport), 2:44 189 – Bryce Brungard WBF Nariq Burks (Williamsport), 5:23
Round of 32
121 – Evan Sanati (Brentville, VA) maj dec Aiden Kunes, 12-0 127 – Matt Marlow (Northport, NY) WTF Patrick Tarantella, 15-0, 5:41 139 – Luke Simcox WBF Cael Ott (Penn Trafford), 1:22 145 – Griffin Walizer dec. James Sloan (St. Joe Regional, NJ), 10-3 160 – Bode Marlow (Thomas-Jefferson) WBF Hunter Donley, 1:54 172 – Omar Barak (Lake Highland Prep, FL) dec. Jacob Weaver, 8-3 189 – Leo Varga (Bergen Catholic, NJ) WTF Bryce Brungard, 16-0, 2;34 215 – Rocco Serafini maj dec Chris Cook (Connellsville), 9-1 285 – Giovanni Tarantella WBF Hasin Cobb (Williamsport), 4:11
Round of 16
139 – Luke Simcox dec. AJ Falcone (Christian Bros. Academy, NJ), 6-1 145 – Griffin Walizer WBF Zeno Moore (Lake Highland Prep, FL), 215 – Wyatt Bush (Grundy, VA) dec. Rocco Serafini, 9-7sv 285 – Giovanni Tarantella dec. Owen Reber (Berks Catholic), 4-3
Consi Round 2
107 – Gavin Heverly dec. Jonathan Emma (Mt. Lebanon), 8-2 114 – Mike Ruane (Franklin Regional) WTF Caden Stoner, 16-0, 4:01 121 – Aiden Kunes WBF Steven Bott (Williamsport), 1:46 127 – Liam Lawler (Bishop McDevitt) dec. Patrick Tarantella, 9-6 152 – Nick Jones (West Allegheny) WBF Luke Annanea, 2:09 160 – Cordan McDonnell (Bethel Park) dec. Hunter Donley, 5-2 172 – Jacob Weaver dec. Brayden Taggert (Bentworth), 6-3
Consi Round 3
107 – Gavin Heverly dec. Collin Nasdeo (Williamsport), 5-0 121 – Aiden Kunes WBF Talan Hall (Grundy, VA), 3:27 172 – Jacob Weaver dec. Troy Myers (Wadsworth, OH), 5-3 189 – Bryce Brungard dec. Corey Kowalski (Erie Prep), 9-2
Consi Round 4
107 – Elijah Scriven (Hickory) WBF Gavin Heverly, 4:36 121 – Aiden Kunes maj dec Dominic Canati (Trinity), 9-1 172 – Jacob Weaver dec. Cy Fowler (Cleveland, TN), 5-2 189 – Jackson Angelo (Frazier) dec. Bryce Brungard, 5-3sv 215 – Rocco Serafini WBF Nolan Renick (Grove City), 2:32
Consi Round 5
121 – Zac Bosken (Cleveland, TN) dec. Aiden Kunes, 1-0
172 – Mitch Bivona (Southern Regional, NJ) maj dec Jacob Weaver, 11-2 215 – Stosh Zalota (Malvern Prep) dec. Rocco Serafini, 5-4
Championship Quarterfinals
139 – Luke Simcox dec. Carter Nogle (Mt. St. Joseph, MD), 7-5sv 145 – Jack Consiglio (Malvern Prep) maj dec Griffin Walizer, 10-0 285 – Ben Shue (Bergen Catholic) WBF Giovanni Tarantella, 1:43
