Wildcats Advance Two to NW Semi-finals
Seven alive in consolations
ALTOONA – The Central Mountain wrestling team will have two wrestlers, Geo Barzona and Hunter Weaver, participate in Saturday’s semifinal round of the PIAA Northwest Regional wrestling tournament at the Altoona Field House. Seven more Wildcats will be in the consolations. All nine need to finish in the top three in order to advance to next weekend’s PIAA state championships.
Barzona, a state place-winner a year ago, breezed into the semifinals at 106 pounds. After a first round bye he pinned District 10 runner-up Hunter Thompson from Titusville, the time of the fall 1:43. Barzona, now 29-2, will meet District 10 third-place finisher Brady Sittinger of Cathedral Prep in the 12:30 p.m. semifinals. The path was more difficult for Weaver at 220 pounds. The Wildcat senior, now 31-4, opened with a hard-earned 4-2 win over Jersey Shore’s Max Mason. It was equally difficult in the quarterfinals, a 3-1 sudden victory overtime verdict over DJ Salinas of St Marys. Next up is a semifinal contest with Phil Selker, the District 10 champ from Cathedral Prep.
The rest of the Wildcats did not fare as well. Three others won their first bouts but fell in the quarterfinals. Colton Weaver at 138 pounds opened with an 11-2 win over Juan Rodriguez of Pittsburgh Carrick but fell 5-4 to three-year nemesis Dalton Long of Hollidaysburg. Caleb Turner won his first match, a fall in 3:03 over Isaiah Peterson of Pittsburgh Perry, then lost 9-0 to District 10 champ Ethan Laird of General McLane. At 195 pounds Isaac Porter pinned AJ Baker of Shikellamy in 0:37 but lost to District 10 champ Ian Malesiewski of Cathedral Prep by a 5-2 score.
Losing their first bouts were Seth Andrus at 126 pounds, Logan Long at 132, Tanner Weaver at 152 and Greg Stahl at 182; all four will have first round consolation matches Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Turner, Colton Weaver and Porter will have second round consolation matches at 11 a.m. Consolation finals and championship finals are set for 6:15 p.m. Saturday.
The Jersey Shore Bulldogs struggled, advancing one wrestler, Hadyn Swartwood, into the semfinals. The Bulldog senior went back-and-forth with District 10 champ Ilyaz Vesylav, pulling out a 9-8 win at 160 pounds. Swartwood gets Mifflin County’s Trent Hidlay in the semis. Six other ‘Shore wrestlers lost their first matches and will be in the morning consolations.
Erie Prep leads the team race with 53.5 points and nine wrestlers in the semifinals. Mifflin County is next with 41 points and six still in championship contention. Bellefonte, with a strong Friday, is third with 36.5 points and six in the semifinals. Central Mountain is seventh with 20.5 points, Jersey Shore 24th with 4 points, all earned by Swartwood with his two wins on the night.
