CENTRE COUNTY — Bald Eagle Area junior Tanner Guenot will be looking for a third title in the District 6-2A wrestling tournament this weekend when the postseason begins at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
Guenot had a spectacular district tournament performance last year en route to being named the Outstanding Wrestler. Guenot went 4-0 with two falls and two technical falls, including a 17-1 technical fall over Penns Valley’s second-seeded Conner Myers in 4:08 in the 121-pound championship finals.
Guenot enters the tournament with a 34-3 record and ranked fourth in the state at 139 by PA Power Wrestling. He was expected to be the top seed at 139 when the District 6 Tournament seedings were released on Tuesday night.
Penns Valley’s Erik Carlile is aiming for his second District 6 Tournament title after claiming his first title at 127 last season. Carlile is 40-5 and ranked fourth by PA Power Wrestling at 133.
The Class 2A and 3A wrestlers aren’t sharing the Fieldhouse this season as the District 6 Class 3A Tournament is next week. The 2A wrestlers were to start at 11 a.m. on Friday for the first of two sessions the first day. The quarterfinals were set for 5 p.m.
Saturday’s wrestling was to begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday with consolation bouts. The semifinals were slated for 10:30 a.m. The championship finals, as well as the third, fifth and seventh place bouts, were to follow after the 4:30 p.m. District 6 Hall of Fame ceremony and parade of champions.
The top six wrestlers at every weight in Class 2A advance to the Southwest Regional, set for Feb. 27-28 at the Fieldhouse.
Penns Valley had three wrestlers place second in last year’s tournament in Max Dinges, Myers and Brayden Lisowski. BEA’s Caden Judice was also a silver medalist. All four are back and looking to get on top of the medals stand.
Philipsburg-Osceola senior Caleb Hummel was a runner-up two years ago.
The third-ranked 127-pounder Dinges and the fourth-ranked 152-pounder Judice appear to have the best chance of that group to win district titles.
The Rams will have a good chance of being second in the team race behind powerhouse Bishop McCort, which beat Penns Valley, 55-13, in the District 6 Duals championship and finished second in the PIAA Duals. Philipsburg-Osceola and Huntingdon will also push to be in the top two.
State College 1-2 at PIAA duals
State College followed up its District 6 Class 3A Duals title by winning at District 4 champion Selinsgrove, 45-24, in the first round of the PIAA Duals on Feb. 3.
The Little Lions, though, lost to eventual champion Franklin Regional, 37-23, in the quarterfinals on Feb. 6 at 1st Summit Arena at the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown. They were eliminated the next day with a 29-27 loss to eventual fourth-placer Boyertown in the first round of consolations.
State College finished the regular season with a 17-6 record.
Against Selinsgrove, they recorded five falls and two technical falls. Noah Young (114), Kael Davis (127), Teag Sanderson (172), Noah Williams (189) and Camden Fletcher (107) had falls. Luke Young (121), Jon Whitbred (133) and James Whitbred (152) rang up technical falls.
District 7 champion Franklin Regional, which beat District 7 runner-up Norwin, 29-24, in the PIAA Duals finals, went 5-2 in the last seven bouts against the Little Lions.
Williams (189) had the only pin for State College, while Davis (133) and James Whitbred (160) had technical falls. Scott Young (127) had a major decision, while Luke Young (121) won by decision.
The Boyertown match came down to the final bout at 285. The Little Lions held a 27-23 lead, but Boyertown’s Brody Ayers pinned Quillan Phillips in 1:47. There were five decisions in the match, with Boyertown claiming four of those wins.
Noah Young (114) had State’s only fall, while Luke Young (121) and James Whitbred (152) won by technical fall. Davis (127) and Sanderson (172) had major decisions, while Williams (189) beat Josh Larrimore, 11-5.
The Little Lions and Bellefonte are preparing for next week’s District 6 Class 3A Tournament.
Rams lose in first round
District 6 runner-up Penns Valley lost at Derry Area, 44-26, in the first round of the PIAA Class 2A Duals on Feb. 3 to finish the regular season with a 14-2 record.
The Rams jumped out to a 23-6 lead over Derry, which eventually finished fourth in the Duals, but they went 1-7 in the final eight bouts.
Evan Lisowski (121) and Tripp Watson (139) had falls, while Myers (127) won by technical fall. Carlile won by forfeit and Robert Martin earned a decision. Dinges wasn’t in the lineup.
Philipsburg-Osceola
Philipsburg-Osceola won its last two matches in convincing fashion at Tyrone, 52-21, on Feb. 4 and Feb. 6 at home against West Branch, 54-15, on Hall of Fame Night. P-O finished with an 18-6 record.
The Mounties honored their past state champions before the match against West Branch. And then P-O got falls from Hayden Koptchak (107), Hummel (121), Devin Long (127), Ace Foster (133), Connor Guenot (145), Colton Chapman (189) and Evan Eichenlaub (215).
Against Tyrone, Koptchak (107), Jacob Dugan (114), Hummel (121), Memphis Twoey (133), Foster (139) and Conner Eichenlaub (285) had falls. Hummel’s win was the 150th of his career.
Bellefonte
Bellefonte closed the dual meet season with a 45-28 win over Hollidaysburg on Feb. 3 at home on senior night.
Bellefonte’s Jacob Horn (133), senior Wyatt Long (133), Andrew Gall (145), senior Ezra Swisher (152) and Luke Hockenberry (285) had falls. The Red Raiders finished with a 15-4 record.
P-O girls win titles
Philipsburg-Osceola’s Kendyl Meersand (148) and Daisy Glessner (235) captured titles in the girls Southern Huntingdon Tournament on Feb. 7.
P-O’s Veda Kephart (112) and Bellefonte’s Bailee Scott (155) finished second.
Bellefonte’s Carly Bair (124) placed fourth.
State College’s Anneliese Vaira (112) and Reagan Johnson (130) finished sixth. Teammate Kaitlyn McShea (106) went 4-2 in round robin competition.
