Simcox claims PIAA gold; Perry third, Walizer fifth in 3-for-3 Wildcat finish
HERSHEY, PA – The Central Mountain Wildcat wrestling program could not have asked for a much better finish to its outstanding 2022-23 season. The Wildcats sent three into the final medal round at the PIAA AAA championships in the Giant Center Saturday night, and all three came home a winner.
Luke Simcox, fifth in his freshman and sophomore seasons, catapulted all the way to number one with the title at 133 pounds. Sophomore Dalton Perry, denied earlier in the day from obtaining a second PIAA title, came back through the consolations with two wins to claim third place at 139. Junior Griffin Walizer moved up three notches from his eighth place finish a year, battling through the wrestle-backs to finish fifth at 145.
In all, Central Mountain finished with 60 points, good for a sixth place tie with Quakertown in the three-day season’s final grind. Bethlehem Catholic, defending champs, ran away with the title.
Simcox put on a three-day clinic in match control, winning four tight contests on his way to the title, all the while only giving up one match point; victories were by scores of 3-0, 2-1, 2-0 and 1-0. That 1-0 score came in the title bout against highly touted Thomas Jefferson sophomore Maddox Shaw (44-3).
Simcox and Shaw were scoreless after one and the Wildcat junior notched an escape midway through period two for a 1-0 lead. In period three the Penn-bound Simcox did what he has done all year enroute to a 42-4 record, riding out Shaw for the full two minutes to claim the crown.
For Perry it was a solid bounce-back after falling in the Saturday morning semifinals to eventual champion Kollin Rath of Bethlehem Catholic, Rath with three third period points to secure the win, 3-1. Perry came back with a 7-0 consolation semifinal win over Connor Saylor of Hickory, then picked up a forfeit win over Eli Carr of Hempfield Area in the third place bout. Perry had defeated Carr 3-1 in a championship round quarterfinal bout. Perry finished his sophomore season with a 44-6 record.
Walizer, after a Friday loss in the quarterfinals, came back through the consolations to finish fifth. In his consolation semifinal he lost another narrow match, 1-0, to Asher Cunningham of State College but came back to claim fifth with a 3-2 win over Jake Doone of Nazareth. A second period takedown gave Walizer the margin of victory; he finished the year with a 38-12 mark.
