Wrestling News & Views – Tom Elling
For some area teams, the regular season is over. The Wildcats (11-0) will host the District 6 AAA team championships on Saturday. They open with State College, and if they win, they will wrestle the winner of the Altoona-Mifflin County fray. BEA (9-3) also hosted on Tuesday. They were slated to meet the winner of the River Valley-Marion Center match. Mo Valley and P-O meet, with Penns Valley awaiting in that section. The Central and Mount Union winner faces the unenviable task of challenging Bishop McCort, while in the most balanced bracket, Huntingdon and Westmont battle to meet United. The four AA section winners then meet on February 1.
Bellefonte captured two wins on Saturday—Elwood City (46-19) and Jefferson Morgan (44-27). The Red Raiders finished 8-5 and will now prepare for the Feb. 15 Class AAA D6 Individual Tournament. Jersey Shore (6-13) has three more duals. On Tuesday, they took on Troy; Saturday, Mount Carmel; and Feb. 4 at Wellsboro.
Sugar Valley (as you heard on TheRecord-online) met rival South Williamsport on Tuesday. They finish the dual season on January 30 with Wellsboro, then February 6 with Danville.
A tip of the hat to a couple of outstanding wrestlers who will be vying for the top of the podium in March. Dalton Perry just won his fourth Ultimate Warrior title—the first to accomplish that feat. He was also presented the Outstanding Wrestler award as he dominated his weight class, pinning all five opponents. He now has 92 career falls (Joe Walker, Inc.). The Penn State-bound Perry was ranked #2 in the nation at 144 lbs. by Amateur Wrestling News Magazine. The top three at that weight are all PA guys: Bo Bassett (#1) from Bishop McCort and Tahir Parkins (#3) from Nazareth.
Another special mention is BEA’s Caleb Close. The #189-pounder also dominated his weight class, securing four falls, a major decision, and an 8-1 win over Tyrone’s rugged Kyle Scott. Todd Warner informed me that Close’s 155 wins break Quentin Wright’s record for most wins and that he needs four more falls to eclipse Wright’s record in that category.
I recently received a copy of Dr. Bill Welker’s latest novel, The Eyes of a Wrestler. Bill, a former state champ for Shamokin and the past head wrestling official in West Virginia, used the theme “a girl’s journey of courage and perseverance in sports and life.” When the season is over, I’ll tackle the book. This and Bill’s previous works can be purchased on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.
Good friend and talented writer/photographer Frank Dimon set me straight that Dale Franquet is no longer the head coach at Mid-West. I mistakenly mentioned Dale in my last column. Some may remember he was the prison guard attacked by an inmate and nearly lost his life. He did lose one eye, but he’s a stalwart and keeps moving forward. Frank Dimon is an award-winning photographer and has written for at least a dozen newspapers over the years.
Remember the name Rod Hoover? You should if you followed the career of his top wrestler, Jan Clark. Rod was the highly successful coach for Northern Bedford and a former LHSC wrestler. He and his wife Joyce (Donovan) Hoover were guests of top-tier LHU supporters Ron and JoAnn Bowes at the Kent State dual on Friday. LHU dominated the visitors, 42-6. A member of the Kent State team, Waylon Wehler (174), is a graduate of Saint Marys High School in District 9. His coach was Dom Surra.
Also present to watch the Kent State dual was former Brookville and current Saint Marys football coach Chris Dworek. Coach Dworek coached Wehler in football for the Dutchmen.
LHU moved to 9-5 with their brutal schedule by downing George Mason this past Sunday (19-17). It took tech falls from Anthony Noto (133) and Wyatt Henson (141) to pull out the victory. The Bald Eagles host Bucknell tonight at the venerable Thomas Field House. Bucknell beat a ranked Army West Point team on Sunday, 21-13. They also own a win over Kent State (35-9) way back on November 3. Should be a good one. Two of the top bouts will occur at 133 and 141. Noto will face Kurt Phipps, who scored a big win over Army’s Ethan Berginc. Both Phipps and Berginc are former WPIAL wrestlers. At 141, it will be all WPIAL as Henson is paired against Dylan Chappell, hero of the Bucknell win, scoring a takedown in the final seconds.
I’ve mentioned this name a few times in my column, but many may not know that United’s Gideon Bracken, the 139-lb. champ at the Ultimate Warrior Tournament, is the grandson of the late, great Bill Blacksmith, a 145-lb. NCAA Champion for Lock Haven State in 1966. Gideon’s grandmother Linda and his mom Beth are always present at Gideon’s wrestling events. The senior racked up his 112th win, setting a new school record. Inquiring minds want to know if this is also an Indiana County record. I’m working on finding out!
A lot of you watched the Penn State-Rutgers dual last Friday. As usual, the Nittany Lions dominated, but there were a handful of good matches. Were you aware the head coach for Rutgers is Scott Goodale, a former LHU Bald Eagle wrestler? Scott holds the record for most wins as a wrestling coach at that NJ university. He took the head job back in 2007. Since then, he has led Rutgers wrestling into a perennial Top 25 program. He was also this past fall inducted into the Lock Haven University Wrestling Hall of Fame.
BEA held a Girls’ Invite on Saturday. Dallastown wiped out the field with 189 points. Local team finishes: 4th Williamsport (98), 5th BEA (94), 6th Clearfield (93), 7th Central Mountain (74), 15th Jersey Shore (56), and 17th Sugar Valley (48.5).
Individuals:
BEA: Grace Crestani (190-1st); Eden Eveleth (106-2nd); Addison Tice (112-2nd); Lily Spicer (100-4th).
Central Mountain: Austyn Falls (148-2nd); Kendall Wagner (170-2nd); Ashlyn Miller (235-3rd).
Jersey Shore: Addison Dangle (155-2nd); Isabella Gottshall (170-3rd).
Sugar Valley: Olivia Johnson (136-4th).
Williamsport: Lillian Rumsey (118-1st); Danica Bacorn (100-2nd); Mykla Petruskevich (124-3rd).
Did you know…
LHU’s Cole Bartram’s photo is in the recent edition of AWN? On page 31, he is shown gaining a 7-6 win over Ohio State’s Gavin Bell. The photo was taken by Tony Rotundo. Nice going, Cole. BTW, in his senior year of football in one game, Cole rushed for 500 yards on 48 carries and nine rushing touchdowns back in 2023?
Maddie Guenot, (Coach Ron’s daughter) became engaged to PSU’s returning NCAA champ Levi Haines?
The Anthony Robles movie is out and many have seen it. Robles was kind enough to comment on it on my Tom’s Wrestling Facebook Page. I have yet to see it, but hoping for some movie time soon.
My dentist Tom Ciuchta told me something on my visit Monday. He asked if I ever heard of Pro Wrestler Britt Baker, a Penn State and Pitt grad and a DENTIST! I had not. So I looked her up. Here is her short bio: Brittany Ann Baker was born in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on April 23, 1991 to elementary school teacher Mary Ann and healthcare executive Sam Baker. She has a younger brother named Dane. She had an athletic childhood, participating in basketball and track and field.She studied behavioral medicine with a minor in human development and family studies at Pennsylvania State University, graduating in 2013. In 2014, the same year she began training as a professional wrestler, she enrolled in the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and graduated in May 2018.
Wow! (And as son Dan points out- ‘She is a looker.’)
