PERRY IN SEMIFINALS AND WILDCATS IN 2nd PLACE AT MID-WINTER MAYHEM
By Joe Walker
INDIANA UNIVERSITY, PA: Wrestling four championship rounds and five consolations rounds brought day one of the Mid-Winter Mayhem Tournament to a close and the Central Mountain Wildcats are sitting in second place with senior Dalton Perry advancing to the championship semifinals and four more Wildcats still alive in the consolations.
Second seeded Perry went 4-0 in day one with four falls, the last one was a fall in :30 of the second period of his quarterfinal round bout with Dane Wenner of Cranberry, Perry was leading 19-5 at the time of the fall. In the championship semifinals he will face sixth seeded Jackson Butler of Bishop McCort, who is 12-3 on the season.
Butler was a District and Regional champ last season and placed eighth in the Class AA states. Ironically he is the Marauders back-up at 145, as the top seed at this weight is nationally number one ranked Bo Bassett, who Perry would meet in finals if he beats Butler.
The Wildcats have four wrestlers left in the consolation sixth round, as Gavin Heverly (114), Aiden Kunes (127), Patrick Tarantella (133) and Bryce Brungard (189) all needing one win to place at least eighth at their weight. All four posted 3-1 records for day one, all losing in the championship’s quarterfinal round.
Heverly was pinned by Easton Mull of Chestnut Ridge in 1:44 of their bout, Mull is ranked second in Class AA state rankings. Heverly will face Bryce Pequiqnot of North Penn-Liberty out of District 4 in the sixth round of consolations. Pequiqnot is 20-2 on the season and was a Class AA regional runner-up last season.
Kunes dropped a 7-1 decision to Dominic Deputy of Chestnut Ridge in the quarterfinals, Deputy is the top seed and is ranked second in the state and 15th nationally, while committed to North Carolina State. In his consolation bout Saturday morning, Kunes will face Altoonas’ Deklan Barr (18-5), who was third at 121 pounds in the King of The Mountain Tournament.
Tarantella lost by a 19-4 technical fall in 5:37 to Cyrus Hurd of North East in the quarterfinals, as Hurd is currently ranked third in the state in Class AA. In his consolation round bout Saturday morning, Tarantella will face Brady Kostick of Richland, who is currently 21-4 on the season.
Brungard dropped a 10-1 major decision to Danarri Mickel of Erie McDowell in the quarterfinals and in Saturday morning’s consolation round he will face Maxim Johnson of Line Mountain, who is currently 21-6. Brungard defeated Johnson 10-2 in the King of The Mountain tournament.
The rest of the Wildcats have been eliminated from further tournament action, but most of them won multiple matches with bonus points to help the team before exiting. Luke Ananea (152) was 4-2, while Hayes Donley (139), Dalton McDermott (172) and Kai Fravel (215) all went 3-2 on the day.
Collin Bauman (121), Luke Garman (127) and Jacob Nyman (172) all posted 2-2 records, while Dakoda Packer (160) and Nicholas Lose (285) both went 1-2 on the day. Cael Dorman (107) and Hayes Henry (285) both went 0-2 on the day.
State Class AA powerhouse Bishop McCort leads the 53-team field with 178.5 points and eight wrestlers in semifinals, while the Wildcats are currently in second place with 103.5 and one semifinalist in Perry. Thomas Jefferson is currently in third with 97 points and four in the semifinals.
Rounding out the top eight places are North Allegheny 93.5 pts, General McLane 86.5, Clearfield 78.5 and in seventh is Hickory with 78 points. Altoona and Bald Eagle Area both are tied for eighth place with 77 points.
Altoona has two semifinalists in Braiden Weaver (121) and Lucas Sipes (160), while Bald Eagle Area has a trio of semifinalists in Tanner Guenot (121), Caden Judice (133) and Caleb Close (189).
Action gets underway at 9 am Saturday morning, while some Wildcats will be in the JV tournament tomorrow and the Lady Wildcats will also be in the girls tournament at the Convention Center on the campus of Indiana University of Pa..
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND of 16:
114 – Gavin Heverly (CM) dec. Jayden Lee (Radnor), 7-5; ….. 127 – Aiden Kunes (CM) maj dec Griffin Tinsman (Marion Center), 13-3; ….. 133 – Patrick Tarantella (CM) dec. Brody Bishop (Hickory), 8-2; ….. 145 – Dalton Perry (CM) pinned Max Hibsman (Quakertown), 1:05; ….. 189 – Bryce Brungard (CM) tech fall Stefan Matteo Noronha (Bishop McCort), 21-3, 6:00; ….. 215 – Josh Ryan (Mount Union) maj dec Josh Fravel, 16-3.
CONSOLATION ROUND 3:
121 – Collin Bauman (CM) pinned Wayne Geppert (Northern Lebanon), 1:44; ….. 127 – Luke Garman (CM) pinned Bryndin Chamberlain (Clearfield), 1:54; …… 139 – Hayes Donley (CM) pinned Keegan Zeigler (Cedar Cliff), 2:03; ….. 152 – Luke Ananea (CM) pinned Shane Thurner (Thomas Jefferson), 4:50; ….. 160 – Easton Glass (Ft. LeBoeuf) pinned Dakoda Packer, 2:14; …. 172 – Dalton McDermott (CM) pinned Tristan Casey (Chestnut Ridge), 1:14; ….. 172 – Jacob Nyman (CM) pinned Adam Pezananski (Mid Valley), 4:23; ….. 285 – Wyatt Holderman (Shippensburg) pinned Nicholas Lose, 2:33.
CONSOLATION ROUND 4:
121 – Lyle Vermilya (Canton) dec. Collin Bauman, 5-4; ….. 127 – Aiden Herndon (Cedar Cliff) pinned Luke Garman, :48; ….. 139 – Dylan O’Brien (Hickory) maj dec Hayes Donley, 9-0; ….. 152 – Luke Ananea (CM) won by forfeit Dylan Brokenshire (Benton); ….. 172 – Dylan McDermott (CM) dec. Brody Beers (Ft. LeBoeuf), 10-5; ….. 172 – Mason Bennett (West Chester Rustin) pinned Jacob Nyman, :32; ….. 215 – Kai Fravel (CM) tech fall Nico Lucarelli (Cranberry), 20-4, 4:01
CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS:
114 – Easton Mull (Chestnut Ridge) pinned Gavin Heverly, 1:44; ….. 127 – Dominic Deputy (Chestnut Ridge) dec. Aiden Kunes, 7-1; ….. 133 – Cyrus Hurd (North East) tech fall Patrick Tarantella, 19-4, 5:37;
145 – Dalton Perry (CM) pinned Dane Wenner (Cranberry), 4:30; …… 189 – Danarri Mickel (McDowell) maj dec. Bryce Brungard, 10-1.
CONSOLATION ROUND 5:
152 – Brayden Booher (Commodore Perry) dec. Luke Ananea, 4-1 SV; ….. 172 – Mason Bennett (West Chester Rustin) pinned Dalton McDermott, 1:36; ….. 215 – Logan Lattimore (North East) pinned Kai Fravel, :57.
