Wildcats Advance Four to Quarterfinals

By Joe Walker

HERSHEY-The Central Mountain Wildcats advanced four wrestlers into the PIAA Class AAA State championship quarterfinals, as Dalton Perry (139), Luke Simcox (145), Griffin Walizer (152) and Rocco Serafini (215) all won their first round bouts to advance. 

The Wildcats’ freshman duo of Gavin Heverly (107) and Aiden Kunes (121) both dropped both their opening round and consolation first round bouts and thus were eliminated in their first trips to the Hershey Giant Center. 

Dalton Perry (32-3) moved to the quarterfinals with a 13-4 major decision over southeast region runner-up Blake Boyer (So, 36-4) of Kennett. Perry dominated on his feet, as he got three takedowns in the first period to lead 6-2 after one. He then added three more takedowns in the second period and an escape and a fifth takedown in period three for the major decision win. 

Perry will face Blake Reihner (Sr, 45-4) of Trinity in the quarterfinals, Reihner was the Southwest region third place finisher. In the latest Floarena state rankings, Reihner is ranked fourth, while Perry is ranked sixth in the state. Reihner defeated third ranked Seamus Mack (Sr, 34-3) of Hempfield in the first round by a 2-1 score. 

Luke Simcox (28-3) also used his dominance on his feet, as he recorded five takedowns and one escape to come away with an 11-3 major decision over Kane Lengel (Jr, 32-7) of Kennett. Simcox led 6-2 after one period, 9-3 after two and got another takedown in the third period. 

The Wildcat senior, who is currently ranked number one in the state, will face Gavin Reynolds (Sr, 41-11) of Central Dauphin in the quarterfinals. Reynolds was the south central region runner-up and won a 8-4 decision over southeast regional runner-up Christopher Staub (Sr, 35-11) in the first round. Reynolds was ranked 8th in the state coming into the tournament. 

Senior Griffin Walizer (36-9) kept the major decision train rolling for the Wildcats, as he posted a 13-5 win over Matteo Garcia (Jr, 47-13) of Wilson (West Lawn) in the first round. Again it was dominance from the neutral position, as Walizer recorded six takedowns and one escape to Garcia’s five escapes. 

Walizer now will face defending state champion Collin Gaj (Jr, 42-3) of Quakertown in the quarterfinals. According to the latest Floarena wrestling rankings, Gaj is ranked second in the state and fifth in the country, Walizer is currently ranked fifth in the state. Gaj was a winner by fall in the first round. 

Wildcat senior Rocco Serafini (39-6) earned a place in the quarterfinals, he posted a solid 4-2 decision over Kurtis Grossman (So, 37-10) of Easton in the first round. After a scoreless first period, Serafini escaped and took Grossman down for a 3-0 lead. Grossman later reversed Serafini to make it 3-2, but the Wildcats later escaped and led 4-2 into the final period. Serafini started the final period on top and finished the period on top, as he rode Grossman the entire period and the 4-2 win. 

In the quarterfinals, Serafini will face south central region champion Aiden Hight (Sr, 33-3) of Chambersburg, who was by a fall in 1:14 over southwest region third place finisher Geno Calgaro (Sr, 22-1) of Canon-MacMillan. Hight is currently ranked number two in the state, while Serafini came into the tournament ranked eighth. Hight owns an 8-4 win over Serafini in the King of The Mountain tournament. 

Wildcat freshman Gavin Heverly dropped his first round bout by a 4-0 score to seventh ranked Nolan Rice (Fr, 38-8) of Connellsville. Rice scored a takedown in the first period and a reversal in the second period to garner the win. In the first round of consolations, Heverly surrendered a takedown with nine seconds

left to drop a 3-1 decision to Mifflin County’s Andrew Alexander (Fr, 31-15). Heverly had posted two wins over Alexander during the regular season, but still finished an outstanding freshman season with a 35-12 record. 

Aiden Kunes ran into the states sixth ranked wrestler in Tyson Cook (Sr, 40-6) of West Scranton in the first round and dropped a 9-2 decision. Kunes got the initial takedown and then Cook later reversed him to tie it at 2-2 after one period. Cook got a second period takedown and then used a five point move in the final period to ice the win. 

In the first round of consolations Kunes dropped a 4-2 decision to Mason Whitney (Fr, 35-7) of Abington Heights. Kunes got a reversal and then surrendered an escape and led 2-1 after two periods. In period three Whitney escaped and then took Kunes down midway through the period and rode the Wildcat freshman out for the win. The loss saw Kunes finish a very good freshman season with a 35-15 record. 

Jersey Shore senior Brock Weiss advanced, as he posted a solid 7-2 decision over Marco Frinzi (Jr, 34-13) of Bethlehem Catholic in the opening round. Frinzi was the northeast region third place finisher, while Weiss was northwest region champ and is currently ranked number two in the state. The senior Bulldog is now 31-0 and will face southeast region champion Patrick Kelly (Jr, 36-4) of Central Bucks West in the quarterfinals. 

Other District 6 wrestlers to advance into the quarterfinals were the State College trio of Pierson Manville (145), Asher Cunningham (160) and Nick Pavlechko (285). The Altoona Mountain Lions advance the duo of Braiden Weaver (114) and Lucas Sipes (152). 

After the first day of wrestling, Nazareth leads the team race with 24 points, while Quakertown is second with 23 and Bethlehem Catholic is third with 22.5 points. Central Dauphin is in fourth place with 21.5, while Central Mountain, Connellsville and Easton are tied for fifth place with 18 points. State College is currently in ninth place with 17 points. 

The championship quarterfinals and second round of consolations get started on Friday at 2:15 pm, with the third round of consolations to follow. The championship semifinals will be at 7 pm on Friday with the consolation fourth rebound to start around 9 pm. The Class AA, AAA and girls semifinals will all be wrestled at the same time Friday night, with each class using two of the six mats. 

Central Mountain Results 

Championship First Round: 

107 – Nolan Rice (Connellsville) WBD Gavin Heverly, 4-0 

121 – Tyson Cook (West Scranton) WBD Aiden Kunes, 9-2 

139 – Dalton Perry WMD Blake Boyer (Kennett), 13-4 

145 – Luke Simcox WMD Kane Lengel (Kennett), 11-3 

152 – Griffin Walizer WMD Matteo Garcia (Wilson-West Lawn), 13-5 

215 – Rocco Serafini WBD Kurtis Grossman (Easton), 4-2 

Consolation First Round: 

107 – Andrew Alexander (Mifflin County) WBD Gavin Heverly, 3-1 

121 – Mason Whitney (Abington Hts) WBD Aiden Kunes, 4-2