WILDCATS FINISH THIRD AT MID-WINTER MAYHEM TOURNAMENT
By Joe Walker
INDIANA UNIVERSITY, PA: Despite not coming away with any finalist the Central Mountain Wildcats still made a good showing, as they finished in third place of the 53-team Mid-Winter Mayhem Tournament held on the campus of Indiana University of Pennsylvania
The Wildcats did have four place winners, as sophomore Aiden Kunes (127) took a fifth place finish, while senior Bryce Brungard (189) was a sixth place finisher and sophomore Patrick Tarantella took an eighth place finish. Wildcat senior Dalton Perry (145) finished in sixth place, as he was injured during his consolation semifinal round bout and was forced to medical forfeit his way back into the sixth place finish.
Kunes (20-5) made his way into the consolation semifinals by recording a fall in 1:51 over Aiden Herndon of Cedar Cliff in the consolation quarterfinals, Herndon a state runner-up last season. In the consolation semifinals, Kunes dropped a 4-0 decision to two-time state placewinner Dalton Wenner of Cranberry, who had defeated Kunes 8-3 in the King of The Mountain Tournament.
Kunes came back to win his fifth place finish in the extremely loaded 127 pound weights class, as he recorded a 5-4 decision win over Brady Slicker of Hickory. Slicker was 8th in the state last season and had defeated Kunes 10-4 one week ago in the Coudersport Duals Tournament.
Brungard (19-9) won his consolation quarterfinal round bout by defeating Maxim Johnson of Line Mountain by a 5-4 score, but then in the consolation semifinals, Brungard dropped a 4-1 decision to Zach Labryer of Thomas Jefferson. In the bout for 5th place, Brungard was pinned in 3:48 by Carter Wilson of DuBois, Wilson leading 4-2 at the time of the fall.
Tarantella (18-9) lost his 133 pound consolation quarterfinal round bout by an 11-1 major decision to Mark Rebmann of West Chester Rustin, but by making it to the consi-quarters it guaranteed him a place finish. In the 7th place bout was pinned by Aiden Beimel of St. Marys in 42 seconds of the second period, Beimel leading 4-0 at the time of the fall and handing Tarantella his 8th place finish.
Perry (21-3) made it to the championship semifinals and faced Jackson Butler of Bishop McCort, who placed 8th place last year in Class AA states, but is the back-up this season to nationally number one ranked Bo Bassett of the Marauders. Butler upset the Wildcat senior by a 2-1 score decided by the second tiebreaker criteria.
The match was 1-1 after regulation and the first overtime period, but in the first rideout tiebreaker period, Butler escaped with 14 seconds left to go up 2-1. Perry was unable to get away from Butler in the second 30-second rideout period and thus Butler won 2-1.
In the consolation semifinals, Perry was leading Clay Kimmey of General McLane by a 9-4 score, Kimmey then recorded a takedown to make it 9-7, but shortly after that, the bout was stopped and Perry was forced to default 28 seconds into the second period.
Perry then was forced two medical forfeit his 5th place bout and thus settled for the sixth place finish. (The type and extent of the injury was not known at press time and will leave it up to Perry and the team to release that information).
Wildcat sophomore Gavin Heverly (17-5) dropped a 4-1 decision to Bryce Pequignot of North Penn-Liberty in his first consolation bout of the day, thus being eliminated and finishing one win short of placing.
Bishop McCort ran away with the team title by crowning five champions and finishing with 299 points to second place Thomas Jefferson with 151.5 points. Central Mountain finished third with 119.5 points, while North Allegheny was fourth with 111 and Emmaus was fifth with 107.5 points.
Bald Eagle Area finished in sixth with 107 points, as Caleb Close won the 189 pound title, while Caden Judice finished third at 133 and Tanner Guenot was fourth at 121 pounds. Altoona finished in seventh place 106 points, as Luke Sipes (160) and Braiden Weaver (121) were both runner-ups and Gavin Ciampoli (139) finished in seventh place.
JUNIOR VARSITY: In the junior varsity tournament the Wildcats came in ninth place of the 49 teams that participated. Junior Jaggar Pardoe was second place at 127 pounds, as he dropped a 7-4 decision to Connor Pepcock of Clearfield in the finals, Pardoe went 4-1 in the tournament.
Wildcat freshman Tanner McCall brought home a third place finish at 172 pounds, as he decisioned Emmitt Forte of Thomas Jefferson by 4-3, ultimate tie breaker for 3rd place and finished 3-1 in the tournament. Freshman Todd Caris went 2-1 in the tournament at 189 pounds, but did not place, as it was single elimination unless you reached the semifinals. Sophomore Hayes Miller went winless at 160 pounds.
The next action for the Wildcats is Thursday when they travel to Williamsport to face the Millionaires in a Heartland Conference dual meet and try to keep their unbeaten record intact.
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN RESULTS (DAY 2)
SEMIFINALS:
145 – Jackson Butler (Bishop McCort) dec. Dalton Perry, 2-1 TB2
CONSOLATION ROUND 7:
114 – Bryce Pequignot (North Penn-Liberty) dec. Gavin Heverly, 4-1; ….. 127 – Aiden Kunes (CM) dec. Deklan Barr (Altoona), 7-1; ….. 133 – Patrick Tarantella (CM) dec. Brady Kosick (Richland), 5-2; 189 – Bryce Brungard (CM) dec. Maxim Johnson (Line Mtn), 5-4.
CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS:
127 – Aiden Kunes (CM) pinned Aiden Herndon (Cedar Cliff), 1:51; ….. 133 – Mark Rebmann (West Chester Rustin) maj dec Patrick Tarantella, 11-1; ….. 189 – Bryce Brungard (CM) dec. Dylan Clair (LaSalle College), 11-5.
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS:
127 – Dalton Wenner (Cranberry) dec. Aiden Kunes, 4-0; ….. 145 – Clay Kimmel (General McLane) won by default over Dalton Perry, 2:32; ….. 189 – Zach Labryer (Thomas Jefferson) dec. Bryce Brungard, 4-1.
7th PLACE:
133 – Aiden Beimel (St. Marys) pinned Patrick Tarantella, 1:42
5th PLACE:
127 – Aiden Kunes (CM) dec. Brady Slicker (Hickory), 5-4
145 – Josh Garshick (United) med forfeit over Dalton Perry
189 – Carter Wilson (DuBois) pinned Bryce Brungard, 3:48
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS:
139 – Brandt Harer (Montgomery) dec. Sam Herring (Bishop McCort), 1-0;…145 – Bo Bassett (Bishop McCort) tech fall Jackson Butler (Bishop McCort); …152 – Devan Magro (Bishop McCort) dec. Michael Turi (West Scranton), 6-1; …160 – Melvin Miller (Bishop McCort) dec. Luke Sipes (Altoona), 9-6; … 172 – Bode Marlow (Thomas Jefferson) maj dec. Brian Heard (Abington Hts), 26-17; …189 – Caleb Close (Bald Eagle Area) dec. Darrai Mickel (Erie McDowell), 2-1; … 215 – Kendahl Hoare (DuBois) tech fall Teage Calvin (Greenville), 19-3, 233; …285 – Rowan Holmes (Somerset) pinned Shepherd Turk (Thomas Jefferson), 2:45; … 107 – Keegan Bassett (Bishop McCort) tech fall Javeon Chambers (Highlands), 17-1, 3:04; … 114 – Dominick Morrison (Hatboro-Horsham) dec. Sam Wolford (Northern Lebanon), 4-0; 121 – Santino Sloboda (Butler) dec. Braiden Weaver (Altoona), 4-2; …127 – Will Detar (Trinity-CH) dec. Dominic Deputy (Chestnut Ridge), 4-3; …. 133 – Jax Forrest (Bishop McCort) dec. Aaron Seidel (Northern Lebanon), 11-4.
