The last time Bald Eagle Area junior Caleb Close and Huntingdon’s Andrew McMonagle wrestled each other at the Laurel Highlands Conference tournament, McMonagle won, 6-3, in the 189-pound championship finals.
McMonagle was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.
The two training partners met up again in the 189-pound finals of the District 6, Class 2A tournament on Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Altoona Fieldhouse. Close, ranked second in the state by PA Power Wrestling, turned the tables, beating the top-ranked McMonagle, 5-2, to repeat as district champion in his third finals appearance.
Close was then voted the District 6, 2A Outstanding Wrestler by the coaches.
“It was an anticipated match there,” BEA coach Ron Guenot said. “It was a great match, and Caleb wrestled well, did what he had to do and walked away with a district title. He’s another one who works hard, puts in the time on his own and he’s motivated, driven and I know he’s going to keep doing that going forward.”
Close was one of three Bald Eagle Area champions, joining freshman Tanner Guenot (107) and sophomore Caden Judice (114) in the champions photo when the tournament was complete.
BEA had a very good weekend. The Eagles finished second in the team standings to powerhouse Bishop McCort with 195 points and qualified seven wrestlers to the Southwest regional.
“It was a good way to end the weekend,” Guenot said, “and we’re obviously excited about that.”
Coach Ron Guenot was named the District 6, Class 2A Coach of the Year for the second straight year and he was inducted into the District 6 Hall of Fame.
Four other Centre County wrestlers finished second in the tournament: Philipsburg-Osceola’s Caleb Hummel (107) and Marcus Gable (139), Penns Valley’s Colten Shunk (133) and Bellefonte’s Noah Weaver (145).
Penns Valley, which finished in third place in the team standings with 170.5 points, qualified nine wrestlers to next weekend’s regional tournament at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
In all, 23 Centre County wrestlers placed in the top six of their weights to advance to the regional.
PV’s other qualifiers are third-placer Ty Watson (152); fourth-placers Brayden Lisowski (145) and Jack Darlington (121); fifth-placers Erik Carlile (114), Tripp Watson (127) and Ethan Fetterolf (160), and sixth-placers Conner Myers (sixth, 107) and Shane Rimmey (189). Zach Rummel (139) placed seventh but didn’t qualify.
BEA’s other regional qualifiers were third-placers Lucas Fye (127) and Mason Reese (145), fourth-placer Dawson Lomison (133) and sixth-placer Gavin Bennett (152). Cameron Dubbs (172) placed eighth.
Bellefonte advanced three others in third-placers Wyatt Long (107) and Ezra Swisher (139) and sixth-placer Cameron Garcia (127). Jackson Long (152) and Jack McHail (160) placed seventh, while Luke Hockenberry (189) was eighth.
P-O’s fifth-placer, Nate Fleck (145), also advanced. Ace Foster (121) placed seventh, while Averi Gable (114) took eighth.
Both Close and McMonagle pinned their first three opponents to reach the final, where Close recorded a second-period escape and takedown and turned McMonagle for 2 points in the third.
Tanner Guenot rolled to the final with a technical fall and a pin, while Hummel had a pin and two decisions. Guenot earned a 4-1 decision thanks to a takedown in the first and a reversal in the second.
“I thought he had a great tournament,” Coach Guenot said. “He wrestled solid in all three positions. The thing about it is, he put the work in out of season and in season.”
Judice had two pins and a decision to advance to the finals, where he earned a 6-2 decision over Marion Center’s Griffin Tinsman.
“He’s a tough kid on the mat mentally,” Guenot said. “Even if he gives up a takedown, he fights his way back. He has a lot of grit, determination and he showed that this weekend.”
Shunk recorded a technical fall and two decisions, including a 6-1 win over Lomison in the semifinals. But Bishop McCort’s third-ranked Mason Gibson, a state champ three years ago as a freshman, earned a 23-9 major decision over Shunk. Shunk did have a first-period takedown, though.
Marcus Gable breezed to the finals with a default win and two falls. But he ran into Bishop McCort’s top-ranked Bo Bassett, who rolled to a 20-5 technical fall in 4:12.
Weaver bulldozed his way to the finals with two technical falls and a major decision. But McCort’s Jackson Butler stopped that run with a 13-4 major decision.
Manville wins fourth 3A title
Wrestling fans were expecting to see State College’s Pierson Manville and Central Mountain’s Luke Simcox battle it out in the 145-pound title bout of the District 6, Class 3A tournament Saturday night at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
They both easily made the finals with first-period pins, but they didn’t wrestle. Simcox, a returning state champion and three-time District 6 champ, has been battling an injury, so he injury defaulted before the bout.
That gave Manville, a two-time state finalist who was a state champ as a junior, his fourth district title. He’s only the second State College wrestler to win four, joining Steve Bosak, who won from 2005 to 2008.
“It’s tough. We wanted to see him wrestle,” State College coach Ryan Cummins said, “but hopefully we’ll get a chance to see them (at the Northwest regional tournament).”
Manville was one of four District 6 champions for the Little Lions.
State College junior Asher Cunningham (160) and senior Nick Pavlechko (285) easily repeated as champions at 160 and 285, respectively. Freshman James Whitbred claimed his first title at 133 pounds.
Noah Young (107) and Jacob Campbell (139) had to settle for second place after losses in the finals.
“The guys did a nice job,” Cummins said. “There were some guys on the edge, but it didn’t go our way, but overall, the guys had a pretty nice tournament.”
Seven Little Lions placed in the top three and qualified for this weekend’s Northwest regional tournament at the Fieldhouse. Jonathan Coates (121) finished third to qualify for the tournament.
Jon Whitbred (114), Nicholas Berrena (127), Brady Bucher (152) and Reagan Dillon (189) came up just short of qualifying with fourth-place finishes. Xavier Zeruth (172) and Lucas Anderson (215) placed fifth.
The Little Lions finished third in the six-team tournament with 195 points. Central Mountain, which also had four champs, won the team title by 6.5 points over Mifflin County, 206-199.5.
Pavlechko not only repeated with two quick pins, but he also captured his 100th win with his second fall in 56 seconds over Hollidaysburg’s Wyatt Maines.
“That’s pretty cool,” Pavlechko said. “I just keep working on stuff and keep getting better. I’ve been looking forward to (the postseason starting) a little bit, but I don’t worry about it. That’s bad for me worrying about things.”
“He’s a great kid,” Cummins said. “He’s worked so hard over the last two years to get to where he is today. He’s a leader on the team. I’m glad that he got his 100th win, especially in the finals. That’s kind of a cool thing.”
Cunningham recorded a pin and a 23-8 technical fall in 5:27 over Mifflin County’s Deakon Schaeffer in the finals.
“Asher Cunningham had a very dominant performance this weekend,” Cummins said. “He’s going to be fun to watch the next couple weekends too.”
James Whitbred posted a technical fall and a 5-1 win over Mifflin County’s Kamden Everly in the title bout.
“Whitbred had a really nice tournament,” Cummins said. “He’s really matured this year as a freshman.”
Young reached the finals with a decision, but he was pinned by Central Mountain’s Gavin Heverly in 5:42 in the finals.
Campbell won by 13-2 major decision in the semifinals, but he lost to Central Mountain junior and Penn State commit Dalton Perry, 14-6.
