Perry Claims Title, Kunes Also Earns State Ticket
By Joe Walker
CANONSBURG – Central Mountain senior Dalton Perry and sophomore Aiden Kunes both earned trips back to the PIAA Class AAA State championships in Hershey next Thursday, as Perry captured the 145 pound title and Kunes battled back through the consolations to earn a fifth place finish at the Western Regional Tournament in Canon-McMillan High School.
Perry (39-3) earned his fourth trip to the state tournament, when he posted a solid 7-0 decision over District 7 (WPIAL) runner-up Kase Chopp (42-7) of Butler in the championship semifinals. In the championship finals he faced unbeaten Ramil Islamov (44-0) of Baldwin, who was the District 7 (WPIAL) champion and placed fourth in states last season. He is headed to West Virginia University to wrestle for the Mountaineers.
In the title match, Perry got two takedowns in the first period for a 6-1, only to see Islamov escape and record a takedown to make it 6-5 heading into the second period. In the middle stanza, Islamov got an escape to account for the only points to make it 6-6 heading into the final period. Perry escaped with 32 seconds to go and held off Islamov for the 7-6 win.
Perry, the Bucktail senior, will take a career mark of 158-15 into the state tournament, where he will look to become a four-time state place winner and possibly a second state title. Perry was first as a freshman, third as a sophomore and then finished second last season.
Kunes had to battle his way back through the consolations and he started the day with an 11-0 major decision win over Evan Sala (20-6) of Mount Lebanon in the consi’s second round. He then posted a major decision win in the consi’s quarterfinals, as he defeated Micky Ruane (37-11) of Franklin Regional by an 11-3 score.
In the consolation semifinals, Kunes dropped a tough 4-3 decision to District 7 (WPIAL) runner-up Dominick Canali (41-6) of Trinity. With a trip to states on the line, Kunes bounced back and posted a 5-0 decision over Wyatt Long (35-12) of the Bellefonte Red Raiders for 5th Place and earned his second trip to Hershey. Sophomore Kunes is now 36-10 on the season and 71-25 in his career thus far.
Wildcat senior Bryce Brungard saw an outstanding season come one win short of a trip to Hershey, as he dropped a 4-1 decision to District 7 (WPIAL) champion Jake Stephenson (19-2) of Waynesburg Central in the 5th Place match. It was Stephenson’s second win over Brungard in the tournament, as he defeated the Wildcat 7-3 in the quarterfinals.
Brungard won two consolation round bouts before falling to Hunter Snyder (39-4) of Greater Latrobe by a 19-4 tech fall in the consolation semifinals and that loss set the stage for the 5th Place bout with Stephenson. Brungard finished a very good senior season with a 35-16 record and a career mark of 71-44. Brungard would be the first call if someone in the top five places can not go to Hershey for some reason.
The Wildcats Gavin Heverly (114), Collin Bauman (121), Patrick Tarantella (133) and Hayes Henry (285) all lost in the consolations to be eliminated and end their seasons. Tarantella and
Henry both fell in the second round of consolations and Heverly and Bauman both fell in the third round of consolations. All four return next season for another shot at Hershey.
Sophomore Heverly finished his season with a 31-11 record, while Bucktail sophomore Tarantella finished the season with a 30-16 record. Bauman finished his junior season with a 21-19 mark and young freshman Henry finished his rookie season with a 13-20 record.
District 7 (WPIAL) finished 1-2 in the team race, as Thomas Jefferson claimed the team title with 118.5 points, just edging out Connellsville with 116 points. The next four places belonged to District 6, as Altoona placed third with 94 points and State College finished fourth with 80.5 points.
Mifflin County was fifth with 71.5 points, while Central Mountain finished in sixth place with 64.5 points. Bellefonte finished in 10th place with 51 points, one state qualifier, while they had four wrestlers finish in sixth place at their weights, one win short of state tickets..
The Class AAA state tournament gets started Thursday at 4:30 pm, while the Class AA action gets started at 9 am. The girls state tournament action starts at 2 pm on Thursday.
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN RESULTS:
CONSOLATION ROUND 2
114 – Gavin Heverly (CM) maj dec Parker Jennings (Trinity), 10-1; … 121 – Collin Bauman (CM) dec Pierce Reinhart (Bethel Park), 6-3; … 127 – Aiden Kunes (CM) maj dec Evan Sala (Mt. Lebanon), 11-0; … 133 – Nicholas Berrena (State College) maj dec Patrick Tarantella (CM), 13-1; … 189 – Bryce Brungard (CM) pinned Matthew Eggleston (McDowell), 1:33; … 285 – Noah Lucarelli (Cranberry) pinned Hayes Henry (CM), 1:27
CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS::
114 – Kael Davis (State College) dec. Gavin Heverly (CM), 3-2 UTB; … 127 – Aiden Kunes (CM) maj dec Mikey Ruane (Franklin Regional), 11-3; … 121 – Michael Worsen (Fox Chapel) pinned Collin Bauman (CM), 0:56 189 – Bryce Brungard (CM) maj dec Tykear Davis (Altoona), 11-0
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS:
145 – Dalton Perry (CM) dec Kase Chopp (Butler Area), 7-0
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS:
127 – Dom Canali (Trinity) dec Aiden Kunes (CM), 4-3
189 – Hunter Snyder (Greater Latrobe) tech fall Bryce Brungard (CM), 19-4 4:10
5th PLACE
127 – Aiden Kunes (CM) dec. Wyatt Long (Bellefonte), 5-0
189 – Jake Stephenson (Waynesburg Central) dec. Bryce Brungard (CM), 4-1
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
107 – Nicholas Mcgarrity (Peters Township) dec. Andrew Alexander (Mifflin County), 9-8; 114 – Nico Kapusta (Hempfield Area) dec Mateo Gallegos (DuBois), 6-5; … 121 – Braiden Weaver (Altoona) dec Leo Joseph (Greater Latrobe), 10-8; … 127 – Santino Sloboda (Butler Area) maj dec Dalton Wenner (Cranberry), 10-0; … 133 – Nico Fanella (Indiana) dec Luke Willochell (Greater Latrobe), 6-4; … 139 – Kai Vielma (Connellsville) dec Dominic Ferraro (Pine Richland), 9-4; … 145 – Dalton Perry (Central Mountain) dec Ramil Islamov (Baldwin), 7-6; … 152 – Maddox Shaw (Thomas Jefferson) maj dec James Whitbred (State College), 15-4; … 160 – Luke Sipes (Altoona) dec Lonzy Vielma (Connellsville), 8-1; … 172 – Asher Cunningham (State College) tech fall Bode Marlow (Thomas Jefferson), 18-0, 6:00; … 189 – Kendahl Hoare (DuBois) dec Avery Aurand (Mifflin County), 5-2 SV; … 215 – Elijah Brown (Belle Vernon) dec Cooper Roscosky (Kiski Area), 1-0; … 285 – Shepherd Turk (Thomas Jefferson) F Peyton Kearns (Mifflin County), 2:45
