ALLPORT — Two Bald Eagle Area wrestlers dominated their way to titles in the 47-team Ultimate Warrior Tournament on Jan. 24 at West Branch High School as the end of the regular season nears.
Top-seeded junior Tanner Guenot captured his second Ultimate Warrior title with a 7-1 win over Bentworth’s fellow state place winner Drake McClure in the 139-pound title bout.
Top-seeded Caden Judice earned his first Ultimate Warrior title with a 15-0 technical fall over Juniata’s Ryder Smith in 4:27 in the title bout at 152 pounds.
Four other Centre County wrestlers earned medals in the tournament. Philipsburg-Osceola’s Caleb Hummel (121) finished in fourth place, while BEA’s Dawson Lomison (145) finished fifth. P-O’s Averi Gable (145) placed sixth, while teammate Jacob Dugan (114) was eighth.
“Overall, I thought we had a good weekend coming out of here with two champs and a fifth,” BEA coach Ron Guenot said. “In this last round, we won all three of our matches. I was pretty happy with the effort.
“It’s absolutely a tough tournament. If you place in the top eight at this tournament, that’s a good accomplishment. It’s a good warmup into the postseason.”
The Eagles finished 10th in the team standings with 105.5 points. The Mounties were 16th with 83 points. Reynolds won the team title by 12 points, 205-193, over Derry Area. Central Mountain (174.5) was third.
Guenot (32-3) went 6-0 over two days with two falls, two major decisions and a 6-2 decision over Hickory’s Class 2A state qualifier Brody Bishop in the semifinals. In the finals, he parlayed two takedowns and an escape into the decision over McClure.
“Tanner always seems to rise to the occasion in those big, big matches,” Ron Guenot said. “In the finals, he wrestled a tough, solid match. He did a nice job.”
Judice (36-4) went 6-0 with two falls, a major decision and three technical falls. In the finals, he got an early takedown, added a takedown and four-point nearfall in the second period for an 11-0 lead. In the third period, he escaped and took Smith down to get the technical fall.
“I thought I wrestled great,” Judice said. “I went out there and scored points. I think I really showed how good I am, and I was proud of the way I wrestled this weekend. I was staying on my offense, not waiting around, closing distance and getting on my attacks. That’s really been a game changer for me lately.”
“It’s good to see he’s opening up and believing in his offense,” Coach Guenot said. “He’s letting it fly. We know he has the potential of scoring a lot of points, and that’s what he did this weekend.
The fourth-seeded Lomison reached the semifinals before fall to Central Mountain’s top-seeded Aiden Kunes, 4-1, in the semifinals. He bounced back with two decisions, including a 5-0 win over Gable in the third-place bout.
THREE RAMS CLAIM TITLES
Three Penns Valley wrestlers claimed titles at the Fred Bell Tournament on Jan. 24 at Grove City High School.
Conner Myers (121), Max Dinges (127) and Erik Carlile (133) all earned titles. It was the second Fred Bell Tournament title for Dinges and the first for Carlile in two finals appearances. It was also the first title for Myers.
Dinges (33-2) went 5-0 with three technical falls, a pin and an injury default win over Grove City’s Kagan Painter in the finals.
Carlile (35-5) went 6-0 with three technical falls, two falls and a 4-2 win over Moon’s Class 3A state qualifier Cael Yanek in the finals. The win in the finals was Carlile’s 97th career win.
Myers, who earned his 100th win in his 56-second pin in the first round, went 5-0 with two pins, a major decision and two decisions, including a 7-1 win over Grove City’s returning state eighth-placer Ian Stearns in the finals.
The Rams, who finished fourth among 40 teams with 181 points, had three other medalists. Brayden Lisowski (172) placed fourth, while Tripp Watson (139) was seventh and Sawyer Fetterolf was eighth.
Canon McMillan won the team title with 228.5 points, while Moon was second with 196.
Penns Valley also beat Clearfield, 38-23, on Jan. 20 at home. Myers (121) and Watson (139) had falls, while Blake Brumbaugh (114) and Carlile (133) had technical falls.
The 11-0 Rams are the top seed and were to host a District 6 Duals quarterfinal on Tuesday, facing the winner of Westmont Hilltop and Glendale.
BELLEFONTE
Bellefonte went 4-1 and finished second in the Sharon Duals on Jan. 24 at Sharon High School.
The Red Raiders beat Eisenhower, 56-16, Beaver County Christian, 63-9, Burgettstown, 38-30, and West Shamokin, 54-18, before falling to Ringgold, 39-33, in the first-place match.
Jackson Long (189), Luke Hockenberry (285), Blake Glace (121), Wyatt Long (139) and Ezra Swisher (152) had falls against Ringgold.
With a 13-3 record, Bellefonte will wrestle in this weekend’s District 6 Class 3A Duals. The Red Raiders will face Altoona at noon on Jan. 31 at Central Mountain in the semifinals.
STATE COLLEGE
State College bolted out to a 35-point lead and beat Chambersburg, 45-22, on Jan. 22 (Alumni Night) at home.
State College’s Noah Young (114), Luke Young (121), and James Whitbred (160) had falls, while Kael Davis (127) and Teag Sanderson (172) had technical falls. Mason Sanderson (139) and Noah Williams (189) earned decisions.
The Little Lions hiked their record to 13-4.
FOUR AREA GIRLS PLACE
Four Centre County girls earned medals at the Bald Eagle Area Tournament on Jan. 24.
Bellefonte’s Bailee Scott (155) finished third, while teammate Victoria Schellenberg (136) and Bald Eagle Area’s Lily Spicer (106) and Addison Tice (112) placed fifth.
Dallastown won the team title by 42.5 points, 190-147.5, over Shikellamy.
SCHEDULE FOR WEEK OF JAN. 29
JAN. 29
Richland at Philipsburg-Osceola
JAN. 31
DISTRICT 6 CLASS 3A DUALS AT CENTRAL MOUNTAIN
Bellefonte vs. Altoona
State College vs. Central Mountain
DISTRICT 6 CLASS 2A DUALS
Quarterfinal winners at highest-seeded team
GIRLS
JAN. 31
State College in District 5-6-9 Duals at Curwensville
Philipsburg-Osceola at ELCO Duals
