Perry Wins KOM Title, Wildcats Finish Second
By Joe Walker
MILL HALL – Wildcat senior Dalton Perry captured a championship title and Central Mountain made a strong showing as a team at the annual King Of The Mountain Tournament, finishing in second place to tournament champion Montoursville Warriors.Â
Perry went 5-0 overall in the tournament with five falls, which allowed him to capture his title at 145 pounds and also earned him the tournament award for most falls in the least amount of time. Perry went 3-0 on day two of the tournament, as he recorded three falls in a total time of 2:56, the final one was a fall in 1:53 of the first period over Jacob Mitchell of Cumberland Valley in the championship finals.Â
Montoursville captured the team title as they finished with 156 points, while the Wildcats finished with 142 points for the runner-up spot and Altoona finished third with 137.5 points. State College finished in fourth place with 123 points and Mifflin County rounded out the top five teams with 118 points. That made four of the top five teams in the 32-team field were all Class AAA teams from District 6, of course Montoursville is a Class AA team from District 4 and made a statement to the rest of AA teams from their district.Â
Perry made his way into the finals with a fall over Ian Bucheli of Bethel Park in 35 seconds of their quarterfinal round match and then in the semifinals he recorded a fall over Clay Kimmy of General McLane in just 28 seconds. That set the stage for the finals fall over Mitchell, as Perry had also pinned Mitchell in the finals of the Top Hat Tournament earlier in the month.Â
Sophomore Gavin Heverly took a second place finish at 114 pounds, as he dropped a 2-1 decision to State College freshman Kael Davis. Heverly surrendered a stalling point to Davis with just nine seconds left in the bout. Heverly made his way into the finals with a 4-3 win over Chase Wirnsberger of Warrior Run in the quarterfinals and then won an 11-2 major decision over Aiden Thoimpson of Cranberry in the semifinals.Â
Sophomore Aiden Kunes took a fourth place finish at 127 pounds, as he won his quarterfinal round bout with a 12-1 major decision over Connor Killion of Cumberland Valley. In the semifinals lost an 8-3 decision to second seeded Dalton Wenner of Cranberry, which dropped him into the consolation semifinals.Â
In the consolation semifinals, Kunes won a 2-1 overtime match against Bald Eagle Area standout Tanner Guenot on a rideout point. In the third place bout he dropped a 4-2 decision to Braiden Weaver of Altoona to finish in fourth place.Â
Wildcat sophomore Patrick Tarantella made it to the championship semifinals with a fall in 54 seconds over third seeded Mason Harvey of Red Lion. In the semifinals he dropped a 15-4 major decision to second seeded Blaize Vogel of Montoursville. In the consolation semifinals he dropped a 7-3 decision to Kamden Everly of Mifflin County and then in the bout for fifth place, he lost to Bald Eagle Area sophomore Dawson Lomison by a 2-1 overtime rideout score.
Senior Bryce Brungard dropped his championship quarterfinal round bout to top seeded Caleb Closs of Bald Eagle Area by a 19-4 technical fall. The Wildcat bounced back with a fall in 3:16 over Bellefontes’ Luke Hockenberry in his consolation bout. In the consolation quarterfinals he then dropped a 7-3 decision to Easton Belfiore of Brookville. In the seventh place bout,Â
Brungard posted a 10-2 major decision over Christopher Toth of Parkland.Â
The Wildcat foursome of Luke Ananea (152), Dalton McDermott (172), Todd Caris (215) and Hayes Henry (285) all dropped their first Saturday match in the consolations and were thus eliminated from the tournament. But all four managed two or three wins in the tournament which contributed to the teams points. Caris was an extra wrestler entered by the Wildcats and his three wins did not figure in the team score for the Wildcats.Â
“Overall I am pleased as it was a good tournament for us as a team. We had a lot of good moments, but there were some other things we will have to address in practice. Dalton had a great tournament with the five falls and earned the pin award and then we had the young guys that we entered come up with a lot of wins, which is showing us improvement and that is a good thing.” commented head coach Biff Walizer after the win.Â
“Gavin getting into the finals and Aiden getting the consolation finals helped us stay ahead of the other District AAA teams in the point race. Bryce (Brungard) getting seventh place with a bonus point was good. It is nice that four of the top five teams were all Class AAA teams from District 6, which also tells us that the District Duals and the postseason District Tournament is going to be really interesting.” continued Walizer.Â
Returning State champions Brock Rothermel (121), Reagan Milheim (160) Warrior Run and Asher Cunningham (172) State College all captured KOM titles. Dominic Deputy of Chestnut Ridge joined Perry as returning state runner-ups to win titles, as he captured the 127 pound class. Three time state place winner Luke Willochell was voted the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler after easily winning the 133 pound weight class..Â
The Wildcats will be off until Saturday, January 4th, when they will travel to Coudersport for the Coudersport Duals tournament. “This will be the first time since I have been coaching here that we will have the holiday season off, but at least we will get a two pound weight allowance in January and hopefully that will help eliminate any possible weight issues with the layoff.” stated Walizer.Â
TEAM STANDINGS: (Top 15 of 32)Â
1. Montoursville (156); 2. Central Mountain (142); 3. Altoona (137.5); State College (123); 5. Mifflin County (118); 6. Greater Latrobe (116); 7. Boyertown and Brookville (111.5 ea); 9. Warrior Run (110.5); 10. Bald Eagle Area (103.5); 11. Line Mountain (98); 12. Cranberry (97.5); 13. Chestnut Ridge (93.5); 14. Parkland (90.5); 15. Bellefonte (89).Â
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALSÂ
107 – Anthony Jones (Shaler Area) 9-0 won by decision over Andrew Alexander (Mifflin County) 3-1 (Dec 4-2) …. 114 – Kael Davis (State College) 7-2 won by decision over Gavin Heverly (Central Mountain) 8-3 (Dec 2-1) ….. 121 – Brock Rothermel (Line Mountain) 9-0 won by major decision over Easton Mull (Chestnut Ridge) 6-1 (MD 10-2) ….. 127 – Dominic Deputy (Chestnut Ridge) 8-0 won by decision over Dalton Wenner (Cranberry) 4-1 (Dec 4-1) ….. 133 – Luke Willochell (Greater Latrobe) 16-0 won by tech fall over Caden Judice (Bald Eagle Area) 4-1 (TF-1.5 4:49 (17-2) ….. 139 – Elijah Brosius (Cranberry) 5-0 won by major decision over Blaize Vogel (Montoursville) 6-1 (MD 22-8) ….. 145 – Dalton Perry (Central Mountain) 11-0 won by fall over Jacob Mitchell (Cumberland Valley) 12-3 (Fall 1:53) 152 – Ezra Swisher (Bellefonte) 5-0 won by medical forfeit over James Whitbred (State College) 8-2 (M. For.) ….. 160 – Reagan Milheim (Warrior Run) 10-0 won in sudden victory – 1 over Luke Sipes (Altoona) 10-1 (SV-1 4-1) ….. 172 – Asher Cunningham (State College) 12-1 won by major decision over Max Wirnsberger (Warrior Run) 9-1 (MD 20-12) ….. 189 – Hunter Snyder (Greater Latrobe) 16-0 won in tie breaker – 1 over Caleb Close (Bald Eagle Area) 4-1 (TB-1 10-5) ….. 215 – Kolton Griffin (Brookville) 13-1 won by tech fall over Brayden Collins (Canon McMillan) 12-2 (TF-1.5 4:46 (16-0) ….. 285 – Gavin Hannah (Brookville) 13-1 won by decision over Payten Kearns (Mifflin County) 4-1 (Dec 4-1)Â
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN DAY 2 RESULTS:Â
114Â
Quarterfinal – Gavin Heverly (Central Mountain) decision Chase Wirnsberger (Warrior Run), 4-3 Semifinal – Gavin Heverly (Central Mountain) maj dec Aiden Thompson (Cranberry), 11-2 FINALS – Kael Davis (State College) dec Gavin Heverly (Central Mountain), 2-1Â
127Â
Quarterfinal – Aiden Kunes (Central Mountain) maj dec over Connor Killion (Cumberland Valley), 12-1 Semifinal – Dalton Wenner (Cranberry) dec Aiden Kunes (Central Mountain), 8-3 Cons. Semi – Aiden Kunes (Central Mountain) dec. Tanner Guenot (Bald Eagle Area), TB-1, 2-1 3rd Place – Braiden Weaver (Altoona) dec over Aiden Kunes (Central Mountain), 4-2Â
139Â
Quarterfinal – Patrick Tarantella (Central Mountain) pinned Mason Harvey (Red Lion), 0:54 Semifinal – Blaize Vogel (Montoursville) maj dec Patrick Tarantella (Central Mountain), 15-4 Cons. Semi – Kamden Everly (Mifflin County) dec Patrick Tarantella (Central Mountain), 7-3 5th Place – Dawson Lomison (Bald Eagle Area) dec Patrick Tarantella (Central Mountain), TB-1, 2-1Â
145Â
Quarterfinal – Dalton Perry (Central Mountain) pinned Ian Bucheli (Bethel Park), 0:35 Semifinal – Dalton Perry (Central Mountain) pinned Clay Kimmy (General McLane), 0:28 FLINALS – Dalton Perry (Central Mountain) pinned Jacob Mitchell (Cumberland Valley), 1:53Â
189Â
Quarterfinal – Caleb Close (Bald Eagle Area) tech fall Bryce Brungard (Central Mountain), 3:44 (19-4) Cons. Round 4 – Bryce Brungard (Central Mountain) pinned Luke Hockenberry (Bellefonte), 3:16 Cons. Round 5 – Easton Belfiore (Brookville) dec. Bryce Brungard (Central Mountain), 7-3 7th Place – Bryce Brungard (Central Mountain) maj dec Christopher Toth (Parkland), 10-2Â
CENTRAL MTN CONSOLATION ROUND 4Â
152 – Dalton Schadel (Line Mtn) tech fall Luke Ananea, 4:07 (17-1)Â
172 – JD Heiser (Boyertown) pinned Dalton McDermott, 2:22Â
215 – Ty Cignetti (Shaler) dec. Todd Caris, 8-7Â
285 – Cam Danna (West Allegheny) dec. Hayes Henry, 3-2 UTB
