Wildcats beat Eagles in battle of unbeatens

By Joe Walker

LOCK HAVEN- In a battle of the unbeatens, the Central Mountain Wildcats won 8 of 13 bouts, most by bonus points, to hand the previously unbeaten Eagles of Bald Eagle Area a 43-25 loss before a capacity crowd in Thomas Fieldhouse on the campus of Lock Haven University. The win upped the Wildcats record to 7-0 and dropped the Eagles to an 8-1 record on the season. 

Both teams came into the dual meet as the number ranked teams in District 6, as the Wildcats sit atop the Class AAA field and the Eagles holding the top spot in the Class AA field. In state wide rankings the Wildcats are currently ranked second in Class AAA and the Eagles are currently ranked eighth in the Class AA field, according to PA Power Rankings. 

The dual meet got started at 160 pounds and the Wildcats’ Hunter Donley got the winners off to a positive start, as he recorded a 13-4 major decision over the Eagles’ Gavin Bennett to put the Wildcats up 4-0. Donley improves to 16-9 on the season, while Bennett is now 6-12. 

Wildcat junior Jacob Weaver (18-11) got the initial takedown and then pinned the Eagles’ Shawn Knepp (15-13) in just 44 seconds of the first period and that [put the Wildcats up 10-0. Bryce Brungard (20-11) kept things going for the Wildcats, as he used a penalty point and a takedown in the third period to come away with a 4-1 decision over Cameron Dubbs (15-10) at 189 pounds. Brungard’s win over the lighter Dubbs put the Wildcats up 13-0. 

The Eagles had bumped Dubbs up to 189 and moved junior standout Caleb Close up to 215 pounds to face Wildcat standout Rocco Serafini. With the match in the early going and with senior Giovanni Tarantella still recovering from an injury, Wildcat head coach elected to forfeit to Close and send Serafini out at 285 pounds to face the Eagles Gage Gardner. The six pointer for Close, who is now 26-2 on the season and has 108 career wins, set the team score at 13-6. 

The move paid off for Walizer, as Serafini built up a 7-0 lead and then pinned Gardner in 1:44 of the second period to put the Wildcats up 19-6. Serafini (21-5) had defeated Gardner (19-10) in the King of the Mountain tournament in mid-December. Both wrestlers were up a weight to be able to meet in the 285 pound match. 

Eagle freshman Tanner Guenot (19-1) held off Wildcat freshman Gavin Heverly (18-8) for a 5-4 decision at 107 pounds. Guenot controlled most of the match by being up 5-0, but in the last five seconds of the bout, Heverly reversed Guenot and put him on his back, but time only allowed Heverly to get two back points, thus setting the final at 5-4 and putting the team score at 19-9, Wildcats. 

Caden Judice (22-6) got the Eagles some bonus points at 114, as he pinned the Wildcats’ Caden Stoner (6-10) in 2:24 of their match to make it a 19-15 score. Judice, a Louisiana state champion last year, was leading 6-0 at the time of the fall. 

The Eagles had to send their wrestler out first at 121 pounds and they sent out sophomore Oliver Long to make his varsity debut this season and the Wildcats countered with freshman standout Aiden Kunes (21-8). Kunes got a quick takedown and recorded a fall in 31 seconds of the first period and that put the Wildcats up 25-15. 

The Eagles then sent out freshman Dawson Lomison (19-11) against Wildcat sophomore Jaggar Pardoe (5-9) at 127 pounds. Lomison was in command with a 7-0 lead when he pinned Pardoe at the 53 second mark of the third period, as the six pointer cut the Wildcat lead to 25-21. 

Eagle standout senior Lucas Fye (27-3) got the Eagles pumped up as he went out and posted a 16-2 major decision over Wildcat freshman Patrick Tarantella at 133 pounds. Lucas, a two-time state place winner, four point win tied the team score up at 25-25 heading into the final three bouts. 

Waiting in the wings for the Wildcats were the trio of Dalton Perry, Luke Simcox and Griffin Walizer and all three heavily favored in their bouts. Perry was the first to come out at 139 pounds and the junior wasted no time, as he hit the Eagles’ Aaron McClusick with a headlock and recorded the fall in 21 seconds of the first period, giving the Wildcats the lead back at 31-25. 

The win for Perry ran his record to 15-2 on the season, but it was also the former state champion 100th career victory, as he is now 100-10 in his career and has a state title and a state third place finish on his resume. The Wildcats then promptly sent returning state champion Luke Simcox out at 145 pounds to face Eagle sophomore Connor Maney. 

Simcox put the dual meet on ice for the Wildcats, as he pinned Maney (15-13) in 1:57 of the first period to put the Wildcats up 37-25 with one bout to go. Simcox, the Wildcats three-time state place winner, improved to 16-1 on the season and is now 122-16 for his career. 

With the dual meet wrapped up and having bumped Gavin Bennett up to 160 pounds earlier, the Eagles forfeited the final bout to Wildcat senior Griffin Walizer to set the final score at 43-25. Walizer improves to 21-5 on the season and he is also a member of the 100-win club, as he is now 106-41 for his career and has two state place finishes on his resume. 

“We were able to get some of the match-ups we wanted and where we did we were able to come away with bonus points. We were also able to pick up some key wins in some of the toss-up bouts, which helped us to be able to get 8 of the 13 bouts. They (BEA) are a really solid team and we were just able to avoid giving up a lot of bonus points.” stated head coach Biff Walizer after the win. 

“Again it was all about how the match-ups fell, we did lose to some of their guys in the tournaments we were both in. Had the match-ups been a little different, it would have been a lot closer score. But I was pleased with our kids’ being aggressive and getting the bonus points. It is good to win a big match against a very good team, especially with the post season tournaments coming real fast.” added Walizer.

The Wildcat Ladies of Head Coach Dylan Caprio came away with a 24-12 win over the Lady Eagles. There was only one bout contested, as the Lady Wildcats’ Kendall Wagner recorded a fall over the Lady Eagles’ Grace Crestani at 170 pounds. The Lady Wildcats’ Kennedy Metzger (130), Ellen Banfil (190) and Ashlynn Miller (235) both received forfeit wins, while the Lady Eagles’ Eden Eveleth (106) received a forfeit win. The Lady Eagles’ only have four girls on their roster in the early stages of girls high school wrestling in Pennsylvania. 

The Central Mountain junior high team made it a clean sweep, as they handed the Little Eagles a 54-25 loss. The win allowed the Little Wildcats to remain unbeaten at 8-0 on the season. Winning by fall for the Little Wildcats were Angelo Tarantella (94), Ashton Falls (122), Dakoda Packer (155), Kyle Everett (170) and Tanner McCall (190). Winning by way of forfeits were Will Stout (80), Todd Caris (210) and Brody Hockenberry (250). Hayden Hanley (101) and Dalton Haagen (145) both won their bouts by regular decisions. 

The Wildcat varsity will be back in action this weekend, as they will compete in the 44-team Ultimate Warrior Tournament at West Branch High School and then get ready for the District 6 Class AAA team Duals championships, as the Wildcats are the top seed and their opponent has yet to be determined.