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.
A happy coach Biff Walizer was elated with the Saturday night showing: “Anytime you can go undefeated in a round at state championships, it’s a big accomplishment. To go 3-0 in the final round is awesome!”
“Griffin wrestled a solid tournament throughout the three days. Proud of how Dalton bounced back from the semifinal loss and wrestled his best match of the year in the consolation semifinals, dominating a three-time placer who gave him a close match at regionals. Great job by Luke achieving his goal reaching the top of the podium! He was able to dig deep in some tough matches to make it happen.”
Jersey Shore’s Haydn Packer finished in fourth place at 189 pounds. The Bulldog fell in his third place bout by a 3-1 SV score to Brody Evans of Waynesburg.
FIRST PLACE BOUTS:
107Keanu Dillard (Bethlehem Cath) DEC Luke Sirianni (Abington Heights), 7-1
114Nathan Desmond (Bethlehem Cath) MD Carson Wagner (Northampton), 12-1
121Cael Nasdeo (Williamsport) DEC Mason Ziegler (Quakertown), 4-0
127Vinny Kilkeary (Greater Latrobe) DEC Andrew Binni (Canon-McMillan), 8-5
133Luke Simcox (Central Mountain) DEC Maddox Shaw (Thomas Jefferson), 1-0
139Kollin Rath (Bethlehem Cath) DEC Pierson Manville (State College), 4-2
145Collin Gaj (Quakertown) DEC Mac Church (Waynesburg), 7-1
152Ty Watters (West Allegheny) MD Ryan Garvick (Central Dauphin), 11-3
160Dylan Evans (Chartiers Valley) DEC Shawn Taylor (West Allegheny), 3-2 UTB
172Rocco Welsh (Waynesburg) DEC Matthew Furman (Canon-McMillan), 9-2
189Tucker Hogan (Daniel Boone) DEC Cole Bartram (Northern), 4-0
215Sonny Sasso (Nazareth) DEC Dillon Bechtold (Owen J. Roberts), 7-5
285Sean Kinney (Nazareth) DEC Nicholas Pavlechko (State College), 7-0
3RD PLACE
107Colby Martinelli (Pennridge) MD Santino Sloboda (Butler), 12-1
114Logan Sallot (McDowell) F Kaedyn Williams (Manheim Township), 2:09
121Hunter Johnson (Mifflin County) DEC Brady Joling (Chartiers Valley), 8-2
127Eren Sement (Council Rock N) DEC Tahir Parkins (Nazareth), 4-2
133Anthony Ferraro (Pine Richland) DEC Ethan Lebin (Hempfield Area), 3-2
139Dalton Perry (Central Mountain) FOR Eli Carr (Hempfield Area)
145Matt Repos (Central Dauphin) DEC Asher Cunningham (State College), 1-0
152Dagen Condomitti (Northampton) MD Sam Gautreau (Owen J. Roberts), 15-4
160Andrew Harmon (Bethlehem Cath) DEC Dominic Frontino (Shippensburg), 3-0
172Dominic Wheatley (Nazareth) DEC Macon Myers (Central York), 7-3
189Brody Evans (Waynesburg) DEC Haydn Packer (Jersey Shore), 3-1 SV
215John Pardo (Kennett) DEC Eli Makel (Waynesburg), 3-1
285Layton Schmick (Carlisle) DEC Joe Enick (Penn Trafford), 3-1 SV
5TH PLACE
107Braiden Weaver (Altoona) DEC Max Tancini (Perkiomen Valley), 2-0
114Luke Willochell (Greater Latrobe) MD Chris Dennis (Central Bucks W), 14-1
121Dean Houser (Daniel Boone) FOR Marco Tocci (Warwick), 0-0
127Hayden Cunningham (State College) DEC Seamus Mack (Hempfield), 7-4
133Cael Mcintyre (Bethlehem Cath) DEC Gunnar Myers (Wallenpaupack), 2-1
139Blake Reihner (Trinity Area) DEC Connor Saylor (Hickory), 3-2
145Griffin Walizer (Central Mountain) DEC Jake Doone (Nazareth), 3-2
152Lucas Kapusta (Hempfield Area) DEC Jake Dailey (Bethlehem Cath), 3-0
160Bekhruz Sadriddinov (Council Rock S) DEC Gavyn Beck (Franklin Regional), 7-2
172Luke Thomas (Bethlehem Cath) DEC Talan Hogan (Pennridge), 9-4
189Tyler Withers (Gettysburg) F Dean Bechtold (Owen J. Roberts), 1:28
215Jose Garcia (J.P. McCaskey) DEC Magnus Bibla (Crestwood), 6-2
285Joey Schneck (Pine Richland) DEC Ty Banco (Trinity Area), 2-1
7TH PLACE
107Nicholas Salamone (Easton) F Curtis Nelson (Ridley), 4:43
114Tyler Kapusta (Franklin Regional) DEC Connor Smith (Seneca Valley), 3-2
121Ryan Klingensmith (Kiski Area) F James Garcia (Wilson), 3:57
127Michael Turi (West Scranton) F Benjamin Fanelli (Easton), 3:00
133Gavin Sheridan (Boyertown) DEC Gabriel Ruggieri (Connellsville), 3-1
139Nate Roth (Greater Latrobe) DEC Elias Long (Central York), 10-7
145Nico Taddy (West Allegheny) F Aiden Swann (Cocalico), 0:59
152Luke Sipes (Altoona) DEC Griffin Gonzalez (Lebanon), 3-1
160Gavin Pascoe (Perkiomen Valley) DEC Brett Barbush (Manheim Central), 5-3 SV
172Mark Gray (Kiski Area) F Kevin Olavarria (J.P. McCaskey), 2:50
189Adrian Gacek (Parkland) DEC Caleb Marzolino (Abington Heights), 3-0
215Connor Jacobs (Armstrong) DEC Owen Ott (Penn Trafford), 3-2
285Michael Hershey (Spring Grove) DEF Bailey Shindle (Kennett), 4-2 4:46
