Wildcat grapplers sweep PHAC Duals
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA – Heroes can come in all shapes and sizes; you don’t always have to be the biggest and strongest. That was the case Saturday when Shikellamy made a run at undefeated Central Mountain in the final round of the Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference dual meet tournament on the Wildcats’ home mat.
The Braves, off to a 7-0 dual meet start, had cut their deficit to 28-21 with two lightweight matches to go and Central Mountain badly needed a win. The Wildcats got just that from their smallest team member, 107 pound Collin Bauman. 6-8 coming into his matchup with the Braves’ Jewllius Morales. The Wildcat freshman worked through an early scramble and came out on top, pinning his Shik counterpart in 31 seconds, much to the delight of his teammates and a partisan hometown crowd.
That pushed the score to 34-21 in CM’s favor, clinching the win as the final ended up 34-27 for the now 5-0 Wildcats.
Coach Biff Walizer noted that Bauman had been a back-up on the junior high team a year ago and when he saw an opening in that early flurry Saturday, took advantage to register the fall.
The Shik match started at 121 pounds and the visitors opened a 15-0 lead before the Wildcats got on the board, ‘Cat stalwarts Dalton Perry, Luke Simcox and Griffin Walizer all picked up falls and by the time Walizer left the mat after his first period pin, CM had tied things up at 18-18.
A string of three important Wildcat wins followed: a decision from Jake Weaver at 172, a major from Rocco Serafini at 189 and a 2-0 win at 215 from Dakota McDermott who had been winless in limited previous action, but the senior moved to 6-6 this year after his Saturday win.
Bauman a short while later wrapped up the win with his fall, pushing CM to 5-0 on the season.
Coach Walizer liked what he saw from his team as they swept three opponents: Jersey Shore, 40-26; Williamsport, 40-18; and Shik, 34-27. He said he was “very pleased with the effort,” noting the squad intensity increased as the day progressed and lauded the Braves as a quality team.
The win over Williamsport avenged a loss to the Millionaires a year ago. That victory means that the Wildcats have now defeated all three teams who downed them a year ago, Williamsport, Mifflin County and Selinsgrove.
Perry, Simcox, Griffin Walizer and Rocco Serafini all went 3-0 on the day. 2-1 marks came from Bauman, Jake Weaver and Brayden Blackwell. McDermott, Braylen Corter and Caden Stoner each went 1-1; Gino Serafini and Giovanni Tarantella each going 1-0.
The Wildcats will next wrestler at home Thursday, Jan.12 against Milton, then travel Jan. 14 and 15 to the Escape the Rock tourney at Council Rock South High School.
