Wildcats Rally to Edge Shik 35-30

By Joe Walker

SUNBURY-The Shikellamy Braves held a 30-29 leading heading into the final bout of the evening, but the Central Mountain Wildcats had three-time state placewinner Dalton Perry warming up in the bullpen. Perry recorded a fall to bring the Wildcats from behind and give them a 35-30 victory. 

The Wildcats look sluggish throughout the dual meet after their big victory over rival Bald Eagle Area on Tuesday night. They held a 7-6 edge in the 13 bouts, while giving up a lot of bonus points along the way. 

Wildcat senior Luke Ananea got the team off on a good start when he recorded a 17-1 technical fall win at 152 pounds and a 5-0 Wildcat lead. The lead was short lived as Shikellamy veteran Cole Wetzel recorded a 15-0 technical fall over young Wildcat freshman Dakoda Packer-Edwards to tie the match up at 5-apiece. 

The Braves took their first lead at 172 pounds, when senior standout Connor Wetzel went out and pinned Wildcat junior Dalton McDermott in 19 seconds of the first period. Wetzel was four in the state last year and now has 101 career wins under his belt and is headed to Lock Haven University to wrestle. The six pointer made it 11-5 in favor of the Braves. 

Wildcat senior Bryce Brungard tied the dual meet back up at 11-11, as he took down and pinned Ned Drumbeller in 1:04 of the first period. The Braves’ Christian Boetch used three takedowns and an escape to hand Wildcat sophomore Kia Fravel a 10-0 major decision loss at 215 pounds and gave the Braves a 15-11 lead. 

Brave standout Brody Rebuck went out and took down Wildcat freshman Hayes Henry in 34 seconds of the first period extending the Brave lead to 21-11. Wildcat sophomore cut the Brave lead to 21-17, when he pinned Jacob Hendricks with just two seconds left in the second period. Dorman was leading 7-0 at the time of the fall. 

Gavin Heverly used three takedowns to win a 10-6 decision over Jacob Hendricks at 114 pounds and cut the Brave lead to 21-20. Braves freshman Ryder Borich was trailing Wildcat junior Collin Bauman 6-4, when he took Bauman down and recorded a fall with five seconds left in the second period putting the Braves up 27-20 after 121 pounds. 

Aiden Kunes then got the Wildcats back with one at 27-26 , when leading 5-0, he pinned Braylon Chestnut in 40 seconds of the second period. Senior Eben Kisner then used a takedown and a reversal to win a 5-0 decision over the Wildcats’ Luke Garman at 133 pounds and a 30-26 lead. 

Sophomore Patrick Tarantella built up an 8-3 lead after two periods and then stayed out of any trouble in the final period to make the 8-3 decision stand and make it a 30-29 team score heading into the 145 pound bout, which Perry recorded the fall and the Wildcats escaped with a narrow 35-30 victory over the stubborn Brave squad.

“We did not have the intensity tonight that we have at Bald Eagle Area. Give Shikellamy credit they came to wrestle tonight, I think some of the guys came into tonight thinking that with their previous losses and our big win at BEA, we were not going to have any trouble,” commented Wildcat Head Coach Biff Walizer after the narrow win. 

“They were able to get their real good wrestlers matched up with some of our younger guys and were able to put a lot of bonus points on the scoreboard. We had some matchups that favored us going in and we got bonus points there. But in some of the other bouts we were just too sluggish and that kept us from getting more bonus points and to lose some bouts. We will have to come with the intensity we had at BEA when we travel to Mifflin County, as tough as Shik was tonight the Huskies are going to be even tougher to beat,” added Walizer. 

The Lady Wildcats found four forfeits just too much to overcome, as they dropped a 39-18 dual meet with the Lady Braves. Austynn Falls won by fall, while Kendall Wagner won by injury default and Ashlynn Miller received a forfeit in the loss to the Lady Braves. The Lady Wildcats with six girls available to wrestle, while the Lady Braves are blessed with a 17-girls roster. 

“Even though we lost, I thought the girls all wrestled better tonight than they did at Bald Eagle Area. They did a lot of the things that we went over in practice, some still lost their bout but showed improvement. Of course as the team score was not in our favor, but they have a larger roster then we do and the four forfeits make it tough to win. As long as the girls keep showing improvement is what we are focusing on and will let the wins come,” commented Lady Wildcat head coach Dylan Caprio after the loss. 

The Little Braves junior high defeated the Little Wildcats by a solid 60-27 score, as winning by falls for the Little Wildcats were Jack Stout (87), Ashton Falls (130), Stephen Sprague (170) and Evan Batterson (190), while Rowan Weikel (80) added a decision win. 

The next action for the Wildcats will be next Wednesday, December 18th, when they travel to Lewistown and face District 6 rival Mifflin County. The Lady Wildcats are off until Sunday December 22, when they host the Queen of the Mountain Tournament. The Junior High will be at the Milton Invitational Tournament this Saturday and then over to Mifflin County with the varsity on December 18th. 

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN 35, SHIKELLAMY 30 

152 – Luke Ananea (CM) tech fall AJ Benedict, 17-1, 4:57 (5-0)….. 160 – Cole Wetzel (Shik) tech fall Dakota Packer-Edwards, 15-0, 4:29 (5-5) …. 172 – Connor Wetzel (Shik) pinned Dalton McDermott, :19 (5-11) ….. 189 – Bryce Brungard (CM) pinned Ned Drumbeller, 1:14 (11-11) ….215 – Christian Boetch (Shik) maj dec Kai Fravel, 10-0 (11-15) …. 285 – Brody Rebuck (Shik) pinned Hayes Henry, :34 (11-21) …. 107 – Cael Dorman (CM) pinned Jacob Hendricks, 1:58 (17-21) ….. 114 – Gavin Heverly (CM) dec. Max Hallmen, 11-6 (20-21) ….. 121 – Ryder Borich (Shik) pinned Collin Bauman, 3:55 (20-27) ….. 127 – Aiden Kunes (CM) pinned Braylon Chestnut, 2:40 (26-27) ….. 133 – Eben Kisner (Shik) dec. Luke Garman, 5-0 (26-30) ….. 139 – Patrick Tarantella (CM) dec. Keaton Lattimore, 8-3 (29-30) ….. 145 – Dalton Perry (CM) pinned Gavin Keefer, 2:12 (35-30).

SHIKELLAMY 39, CENTRAL MOUNTAIN GIRLS 18 

138 – Riley Ziants (Shik) pinned Mallory Wunder, 3:53 (0-6) ….. 142 – Emma Brown (Shik) won by forfeit (0-12) ….. 148 – Ashton Falls (CM) pinned Jennifer Sheller, 2:18 (6-12) ….. 155 – Roselyn Snyder (Shik) won by forfeit (6-18) ….. 170 – Kendall Wagner (CM) won by inj default over Kristen Grubbs, :34 (12-18) 235 – Ashlynn Miller (CM) won by forfeit (18-18) …… 112 – Alaya Koch (Shik) won by forfeit (18-24) ….. 118 – Skylar Wiest (Shik) pinned Emma Scarborough-Perez, 3:49 (18-30) ….. 124 – Riley Campbell dec. 

Kaitlyn Scarborough-Perez, 9-5 (18-33) ….. 130 – Aubrey Rebuck (Shik) won by forfeit (18-39).