Perry and Walizer Win Titles, Wildcats Take Second

By Joe Walker

ALLPORT, PA The Central Mountain Wildcats’ Dalton Perry and Griffin Walizer were both crowned champions at the 44-team Ultimate Warrior Tournament. They led the undermanned Wildcats to a second place finish in the team race. The Wildcats also got a second place finish by senior Rocco Serafini. 

District 10 Class AA power Reynolds captured the team title with 182 points, as they crowned two champs and had six wrestlers place in the top three of their weight classes. The Wildcats finished with 174 points, but had eight wrestlers place in the top eight of their weight classes. The Wildcats only had 10 wrestlers count towards team points in the tournament, as standouts Luke Simcox and Giovanni Tarantella were both sitting out of the tournament to rest after battling back from earlier injuries. The Wildcats did not have any wrestlers entered at 133, 152 and 285. 

Perry captured his 139 pound title with an 11-3 major decision over third seeded Marcus Gable of Philipsburg-Osceola in the finals. The top seeded Perry got into the finals by winning a major decision over Chase Bell of Reynolds in the semifinals by a lopsided 18-7 score. Perry went 5-0 in the tournament and is now 20-2 on the season and 105-10 for his career. 

Walizer also went 5-0 in the tournament, as he used four takedowns enroute to a 9-6 decision over second seeded Elias Long of Central York in the finals. The top seeded Walizer earned his trip to the finals by posting a 17-8 major decision over Riley Vanderpool in the semifinals. Walizer is now 26-5 on the season and 111-39 for his career. 

Wildcat senior Rocco Serafini made it into the championship finals where he ran into Muncy standout and top seeded Austin Johnson. Johnson was a state runner-up as a freshman and last year claimed a state Class AA title at 215 pounds. Johnson defeated the much lighter Serafini by 14-3 major decision in the finals match-up. The second seeded Serafini still had a very good tournament, as he posted a 5-1 record to improve his season mark to 26-6 and now has 92 career wins. 

The Wildcats had six other wrestlers help in the second place team finish, as Gavin Heverly (107) and Aiden Kunes (121) both took fifth place, while Jacob Weaver (172) had a sixth place finish and Bryce Brungard (189) finished in seventh place. Freshman Patrick Tarantella rounded the eight place winners, as he took an eighth place finish at 127 pounds. 

Heverly (now 23-10) and Kunes (26-10) both finished with 5-2 records in the tournament, while Brungard (24-13) posted a 4-2 mark. Tarantella (18-13) and Weaver (21-14) both posted 3-3 marks in the tournament, while Hunter Donley (18-11) went 2-2 and came up one win short of placing, as he was forced to medical forfeit in the consolation quarterfinals. 

There was also a Junior Varsity Tournament held and the Wildcats had five entries in that event. Sophomore Jacob Nyman claimed the 172 pound title, as he went 4-0 with 4 falls to claim the title. Brody Long (160) took a second place finish, as he went 3-1 and had 3 falls. The Wildcats’ Slade Severino (189) went 2-2 and Cameron Casilio (145) was 1-2, while Logan Davy (145) was 0-2. 

The top 10 team scores were: 1. Reynolds, 182; 2. Central Mountain, 174; 3. Mifflin County, 146; 4. Bentworth, 124; 5. Central York, 120.5; 6. Port Allegheny, 115; 7. Canton, 109.5; 8. United, 108.5; 9. Peters Township, 99; 10. Southern Columbia, 98.5. 

The Wildcats now get ready for the District 6 Team Duals championships to be held next Saturday, February 3 at a time and place to be announced by the District 6 committee. The Wildcats will enter the

Duals as the top seed and if they defend their title from last year, they will then take part in the PIAA Class AAA State Duals Championships the following week. 

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN RESULTS: (Complete Results available on Floarena) 

Consi Round 5 

107 – Gavin Heverly WMD Hudson Wolbert (Reynolds), 11-2 

121 – Aiden Kunes WBD Ian O’Shea (Port Allegheny), 3-0 

127 – Patrick Tarantella WMD AJ Chilcote (Mt. Union), 11-0 

160 – Colton Chapman (Philipsburg-Osceola) med for over Hunter Donley 

189 – Bryce Brungard WMD Tyson Bridenbaugh (Hollidaysburg), 13-2 

Consi Quarterfinals 

107 – Gavin Heverly WBD Andrew Alexander (Mifflin County), 6-3 

121 – Aiden Kunes WBF Andrew Coriaty (Oswayo Valley), :59 

127 – Kruz McCusker (Sullivan Co) WBD Patrick Tarantella, 7-0 

189 – Gavin Mickey (Mifflin County) WBD Bryce Brungard, 3-1 

Championship Semifinals 

139 – Dalton Perry WMD Chase Bell (Reynolds), 18-7 

145 – Griffin Walizer WMD Riley Vanderpool (Towanda), 17-8 

172 – Kyle Scott (Tyrone) WBD Jacob Weaver, 7-2 

215 – Rocco Serafini WBD Josh Ryan (Mt. Union), 8-4 

Consi Semifinals 

107 – #6 Aaden Schiefer (Central York) WBF #5 Gavin Heverly, 1:59 

121 – #2 Joel Garshnick (United) WMD #5 Aiden Kunes, 9-0 

172 – #9 Jimmy Mitkowski (Lake Lehman) WBD #3 Jacob Weaver, 5-2 

7th PLACE 

127 – #10 Connor Knight (Central York) WBD #6 Patrick Tarantella, 9-6 

189 – #4 Bryce Brungard WBD #10 Zack Travis (United), 5-3 

5th PLACE 

107 – #5 Gavin Heverly WMD #10 Owen Diuhos (Westmont-Hilltop), 10-2 

121 – #5 Aiden Kunes WBD #6 Drake McClure (Bentworth), 2-0 

172 – $5 Mitchell Barroner (Hollidaysburg) WMD #3 Jacob Weaver, 10-1 

Championship Finals 

139 – #1 Dalton Perry WMD #3 Marcus Gable (Philipsburg-Osceola), 11-3 

145 – #1 Griffin Walizer WBD #2 Elias Long (Central York), 9-6 

215 – #1 Austin Johnson (Muncy) WMD #2 Rocco Serafini, 14-3