Wildcat upper weights pull out District 6 title; advance 10 wrestlers to regionals
ALTOONA, PA – Central Mountain’s outstanding middleweight wrestlers have garnered most of the headlines, rightfully so, for the Wildcat team this season. But Saturday night it was the bigger ‘Cats who did the job to pull out the District 6 AAA individual tournament title.
Their performance capped off a solid tam effort as Central Mountain will advance 10 wrestlers to next weekend’s PIAA NW Regional Tournament. And all 12 Wildcat entrants scored points, enough to take the team crown with 193.5 points, edging second place Mifflin County and its 189.5 points. State College finished third in the six-team field with 174. The Little Lions crowned the most champs with five and Mifflin County will advance 12 wrestlers to regionals, the most of any school. But it was Central Mountain which picked up the district title Saturday night.
It was almost like a tight basketball game ending in the run for the district crown. Central Mountain trailed Mifflin County by 10 points with four weights to go. Jake Weaver at 172 started the comeback with his major decision in his third-place bout and CM trailed by seven. Rocco Serafini picked up a fall to claim the title at 189 pounds and the deficit was down to four with two weights to go.
That meant the winner of the 215 pound bout between Central Mountain’s Giovanni Tarantella and the Huskies’ Truitt Davis would all but decide the district crown; Davis wins and Mifflin County clinches; Tarantella wins and the teams are tied heading to 285.
Tarantella, who had the bout-winning victory in the Wildcats’ recent district dual tourney win over State College, came through again. He used his quickness and strength to pick up several counter takedowns on the way to a 7-3 win and the two teams were tied at 189.5 with one weight to go.
Brayden Blackwell came through for the Wildcats, taking his third-place bout by a fall over Wyatt Maines of Hollidaysburg. Meanwhile in the championship bout, State College heavyweight Nick Pavlechko picked up a fall over his Mifflin County foe and the Wildcats secured the team trophy.
Coach Biff Walizer indicated the team and coaches were well aware of the 10-point deficit with four weights remaining. “We had our eye out, we had to win out, all those guys came through.” He lauded Tarantella,. stating “he’s come a long way; a couple big spots and he’s come through.”
Tarantella and Rocco Serafini were two of three Wildcat champions. Luke Simcox breezed to the 133 pound title with a fall over Jacob Campbell of State College.
Central Mountain had runners-up in Collin Bauman at 107, Dalton Perry at 139, Griffin Walizer at 145 and Gino Serafini at 160. In a match-up of defending PIAA champions, Perry was edged by State College’s Pierson Manville by a 1-0 score. The victory earned Manville the tourney MVP award.
Walizer fell behind State’s Asher Cunningham in a meeting of state-ranked wrestlers. While the Wildcat junior surged back, he fell short by a 9-5 score. Bauman was pinned in his final while Gino Serafini was edged 3-2 in his final. Jaggar Pardoe at 114 and Carnell Noone at 127 each finished fourth, one win short of advancing to the regionals.
Central Mountain, in addition to coming home with the team trophy, also saw head coach Biff Walizer named the district coach of the year and the Wildcat coaching staff the coaching staff of the year.
A hoarse coach Walizer said, “We’re real proud of the boys; there’s work to do.”
Team Standings
(1) Central Mountain 193.5, (2) Mifflin County 189.5, (3) State College 174.0, (4) Altoona 134.0, (5) Hollidaysburg 88.0, (6) Greater Johnstown 67.0
Championship Quarterfinals
114 – Nicholas Berrena (State College) pinned Jaggar Pardoe, 2:36
127 – Carnell Noone won by tech. fall over Ken Bair (Greater Johnstown), 17-2 3:03
Championship Semifinals
107 – Collin Bauman pinned Logan Krupka (Hollidaysburg), 5:35
127 – Hayden Cunningham (State College) pinned Carnell Noone, 0:41
133 – Luke Simcox pinned Mason Schenk (Hollidaysburg), 0:51
139 – Dalton Perry pinned Lucas Sheetz (Mifflin County), 0:47
145 – Griffin Walizer maj. dec. Jacob Cunningham (Mifflin County), 16-5
152 – Parker Kearns (Mifflin County) maj. dec. Braylen Corter, 9-1
160 – Gino Serafini pinned Mitchell Baronner (Hollidaysburg), 3:24
172 – Avery Aurand (Mifflin County) dec. Jacob Weaver, 2-1 TB2
189 – Rocco Serafini maj. dec. Gavin Mickey (Mifflin County), 9-0
215 – Giovanni Tarentella dec. Michael Riccio (Altoona), 8-5
285 – Peyton Kearns (Mifflin County) dec. Brayden Blackwell, 4-3 TB2
Consolation Semifinals
114 – Jaggar Pardoe pinned Nick Irwin (Altoona), 1:52
152 – Braylen Corter pinned Bryce Gainey (Greater Johnstown), 0:58
285 – Brayden Blackwell pinned Charles Yingling (Greater Johnstown), 2:10
Third Place
114 – Nicholas Berrena (State College) dec. Jaggar Pardoe, 5-2
127 – Kamden Everly (Mifflin County) dec. Carnell Noone, 4-0
152 – Braylen Corter pinned Aiden Schenk (Hollidaysburg), 2:22
172 – Jacob Weaver maj. dec. Matthew Riccio (Altoona), 15-5
285 – Brayden Blackwell pinned Wyatt Maines (Hollidaysburg), 4:19
Championship Finals
107 – Braiden Weaver (Altoona) pinned Collin Bauman, 0:41
133 – Luke Simcox pinned Jacob Campbell (State College), 2:39
139 – Pierson Manville (State College) dec. Dalton Perry, 1-0
145 – Asher Cunningham (State College) dec. Griffin Walizer, 9-5
160 – Deakon Schaeffer (Mifflin County) dec. Gino Serafini, 3-2
189 – Rocco Serafini pinned Marquan Tisinger (Greater Johnstown), 1:34
215 – Giovanni Tarentella dec. Truitt Davis (Mifflin County), 7-3
Central Mountain wrestlers in bold.
Results courtesy PA Wrestling
