Central Mountain finishes third at Big Seven Tourney
ALTOONA, PA – The first Big Seven wrestling tournament was a competitive one, Bellefonte, State College and Central Mountain vying for the title. And when Bellefonte sophomore Addison Shawley defeated the Wildcats’ Gage Sutliff for the 285 pound title, it pushed the Red Raiders past State College for the team crown.
Bellefonte finished with 187.5 points, State College second with 184 points and Central Mountain third with 174 points. The Wildcats did crown three individual winners in freshman Luke Simcox (9-0) at 126 pounds, junior Taylor Weaver (8-1) at 138 pounds and freshman Griffin Walizer (7-2) at 152 pounds.
Simcox continued his impressive start to his varsity career with a 2-0 win in the finals over top-seeded Owen Woolcot from State College; a third period Simcox reversal produced the only points of the bout. Simcox has defeated four state-ranked wrestlers so far this season.
Weaver was dominant in his two bouts on the way to the 138 pound crown, picking up two falls, including a pin in 2:26 in the finals over Eric Weaver of State College. Walizer, son of Wildcat head coach Biff Walizer, took two nail-biters to claim his crown, including a 4-3 title bout win over State College’s Carter Weaverling; Walizer needed a takedown in the waning seconds for the victory.
Three Wildcats had to settle for second place: Sutliff in the heavyweight final, in overtime by a score of 3-1 to victor Shawley from Bellefonte; freshman Zane Cooper at 120 pounds who fell, 11-1, to Caleb Fasick of Altoona in the finals, Cooper’s first loss of the season; and freshman Rocco Serafini who lost, 6-1, to Gabe Andrus of Jersey Shore at 145 pounds.
Other place finishes for the Wildcats included Madison Packer, fifth at 106 (picking up a third period fall after trailing in her final consolation bout); Clayton Foster, third at 113; Gino Serafini, fourth in the tourney’s strongest weight class, 132; Damien Galentine, fourth at 160; Caleb Porter, fifth at 172; BraydenBlackwell, sixth at 189 pounds; and Nik Miller, third at 215.
Jersey Shore claimed a second titlist, in addition to Andrus, in freshman Brock Weiss at 106 pounds. The Bulldogs finshed fifth in the team standings with 121 points, Bald Eagle Area fourth with 130. Altoona was sixth with 119 and Hollidaysburg seventh with 77.
Central Mountain, after a hectic first eight days of the new season, will now be off until Jan. 29 and 30 when the team competes at the Power-Ade tournament in Monroeville.
