Wildcats place three at Powerade: Miller, Walizer, Galentine
MONROEVILLE, PA – Central Mountain ended with three place-winners at the 54th annual Powerade wrestling tournament completed Saturday at the Monroeville Convention Center. Earning honors at the at the talent-laden tourney were Nik Miller, sixth at 215 pounds; Griffin Walizer, seventh at 138 pounds; and Damien Galentine, eighth at 160 pounds.
Multiple additional Wildcats fell one win short of placing in the top eight, losing in the consolation “blood round.” They were Clayton Foster, Luke Simcox, Taylor Weaver and Caleb Porter.
Wildcat coach Biff Walizer said the experience was bittersweet: “With the craziness of this season, Powerade is probably the toughest tournament in the country this year. So we are grateful for the opportunity to compete in the event. Bringing 10 back for day two and putting seven into the blood round showed some solid team depth. We’d just like to have a few more of those guys on the podium.”
The senior Miller came into the tourney seeded sixth and finished sixth; he lost his final match to Owen Veltmeier of Malvern Prep by a 3-1 score. Walizer, an unseeded freshman, finished seventh by virtue of a final bout forfeit win over Pierce Taylor of Archbishop McNicholas (OH). Galentine, a junior, was also unseeded and battled through the wrestle-backs for his eighth place, pinned in his final bout by Nate Stephenson of Waynesburg.
The Wildcats finished in an eighth place tie with Forest Hills with 91.5 points. Nearby Montoursville finished seventh with 102.5 points. Interestingly, Central Mountain’s next action will be at Montour on Thursday, Feb. 4. Malvern Prep, a private suburban Philadelphia school, won the team title.
Central Mountain had been scheduled to enter its jayvee team and program female participants in separate Sunday tournaments in Monroeville, but due to the weather forecast, cancelled their participation.
Complete tournament results can be found at: https://arena.flowrestling.org/event/cddcf912-fa8d-41ab-87ba-51bbff991164
