CM’s Simcox wrestles for PIAA title Saturday night; Perry and Walizer will medal
HERSHEY, PA – Central Mountain will have one wrestler going for PIAA gold Saturday night and two more who will medal and finish somewhere between third and sixth place.
The Wildcat finalist will be junior Luke Simcox. After finishing fifth in his freshman and sophomore years, Simcox, now 41-4, advanced to the championship bout at 133 pounds with his workmanlike 2-0 Saturday morning semifinal win over Anthony Ferraro (39-5) from Pine Richland.
After a scoreless first period, Ferraro chose down in period two and Simcox rode him out. Period three saw Simcox with a prompt reversal and dominance on top for the remainder of the bout. In the final the Penn commit will meet Maddox Shaw (44-2) from Thomas Jefferson. Shaw advanced with a 1-0 win over Cael McIntyre of Bethlehem Catholic (35-8). Shaw has not met any Central Mountain wrestlers this year. One of his two losses came to Pierson Manville of State College by a 2-0 score (Manville will be wrestling for the 139-pound title Saturday night, seeking his second PIAA crown).
Central Mountain’s defending state champion Dalton Perry (42-6) fell in his 139-pound semifinal to fellow sophomore Kollin Rath (37-1) of Bethlehem Catholic. Their bout was scoreless after one and Perry chose down in period two and was controlled for the two minutes. Period three saw a Rath escape and later takedown, followed by a late Perry escape to set the final at 3-1 for the Northeastern Regional champ; as noted above, his opponent will be State College’s Manville.
Perry meanwhile faces a consolation semifinal early Saturday afternoon against Connor Saylor (38-9) from Hickory. A win there would put the Wildcat sophomore and Penn State commit into the third place bout Saturday night; a loss and he would wrestle for fifth.
Junior Griffin Walizer kept his season alive with a dramatic third period fall in his second consolation bout at 145-pounds. The Lock Haven University commit was locked in a 1-1 bout with Nico Taddy (38-8) of West Allegheny when he got a late takedown and pin at the 4:30 mark. Walizer (37-11) later today will wrestle an old nemesis in the consolation semifinals in Asher Cunningham (27-6) of State College. Cunningham fell 6-0 to Mac Church of Waynesburg in his championship semifinal bout. Like Perry, Walizer can finish anywhere from third to sixth.
Jersey Shore senior Haydn Packer (34-2) lost his semifinal bout at 189 by a 5-2 score to Cole Bartram (35-2), a junior from Northern York. Packer, headed to Rutgers to wrestle, will be in a Saturday afternoon consolation semifinal.
Bethlehem Catholic has wrapped up the team title. Through the semifinal round the Golden Eagles have 115 points. Nazareth is second with 82.5. State College and Waynesburg are tied for third with 68 points, Central Mountain in eighth place with 45.
The championship finals and consolation finals are set for 7 p.m. at the Giant Center.
