PV’s unbeaten Ty Watson wins Southwest Regional Class 2A title
By TODD IRWIN
sports@centrecountygazette.com
Bellefonte’s Jude Swisher won his fourth Northwest Regional Class 2A title. State College crowned three regional champs. Penns Valley’s unbeaten Ty Watson won a Southwest Regional Class 2A title.
It was a good weekend for Centre County wrestlers, who have set their sights on the three-day PIAA Championships, which began at 9 a.m. Thursday morning for Class 2A and 4 p.m. for Class 3A.
The Class 2A finals and medal bouts set for 2 p.m. Saturday, and the Class 3A finals and medal bouts are scheduled for 7 p.m.
Here’s a closer look at the regional tournaments:
SWISHER PULLS OF RARE FEAT
Swisher pulled off the rare feat of winning a fourth Northwest title by beating Williamsport’s two-time regional champion Riley Bower, 7-0, in the 145-pound finals on Saturday at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
“It’s a pretty impressive feat,” Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said.
“I’m not sure how many four-timers there are, but I know it’s a pretty small group.”
State College freshman Asher Cunningham (120), sophomore Pierson Manville (138) and sophomore Nick Pavlechko (215) also captured titles. It was the first regional title for the three Little Lions, who helped State College finish fifth in the team standings with 124.5 points.
“It was great,” State College coach Ryan Cummins said. “The kids wrestled really well.”
Williamsport won the team title by four points, 153-149, over Mifflin County. Central Mountain (147) and Clearfield (127.5) followed.
A total of five Class 3A wrestlers are competing in Hershey. Bellefonte’s Aidan O’Shea (132) finished third to qualify for the state tournament. Only the top three at every weight class advanced to the PIAA Championships. State College’s Braden Newby (172) fell one win short of qualifying, placing fourth. Bellefonte’s Garrett Choates
(113) and Gage Long (138) finished fifth, while State College’s Jacob Campbell (126) and Shane Focht (285) were sixth.
Swisher has won titles at 113, 126, 132 and now 145. Swisher recorded a pin 1:49 and an 18-1 technical fall in the semifinals to get to the finals.
After a scoreless first period with Bower, Swisher scored a reversal and put Bower on his back for three points and a 5-0 lead. Swisher took Bower down with 17 seconds left in the bout. When the bout was over, Swisher held up four fingers to mark his fourth title.
“He wrestled great in the finals,” Maney said. “That was a 3-1 match earlier in the year, but he pretty much controlled it from start to finish against a really, really good guy. He’s just wrestling with a lot of confidence right now.”
Swisher (38-1), who is ranked No. 1 by PA Power Wrestling, is seeded second for the state tournament behind Franklin Regional’s returning state champion Finn Solomon (37-2). Swisher beat Solomon, 4-3, in the King of the Mountain finals on Dec. 18.
Cunningham went 3-0 over two days with a decision, 17-0 technical fall in the semifinals and a 16-3 major decision over Juniata’s Casey Smith. Cunningham widened the gap on Smith from a 4-1 win in the District 6 finals.
“I thought he wrestled great,” Cummins said. “He had a closer match with Smith before. He kind of really opened it up this time.”
Manville continued to bulldoze his way through the postseason, recording two technical falls of 18-3 and 19-4 before earning a 12-2 major decision of Central Mountain’s Taylor Weaver in the finals.
“Pierson is tough all the time,” Cummins said. “He’s really aggressive, kind of intimidating and he has that exciting, fun to watch style. We’re excited for him (at states).”
Pavlechko had pins in 3:10 and 2:26 to get to the finals, where he rallied to beat Mifflin County’s Anson Wagner, 4-3. Pavlechko beat Wagner, 14-5, in the district finals. Pavlechko was down 3-1 entering the third, but he escaped with 49 seconds left and got a takedown with 25 seconds remaining.
“Wagner wrestled really well,” Cummins said. “He got that takedown off the start. Nick came back and sealed it up at the end. It was a little bit of a scare, but he came through.”
WATSON IS PV’S 5TH CHAMP
Watson pinned his way through the Southwest Regional with times of 3:13. 3:16 over Philipsburg-Osceola Austin Foster and 5:36 before beating Chestnut Ridge’s Trevor Weyandt, 7-0, in the finals to become the program’s fifth regional champ.
Bald Eagle Area three-time District 6 champ Coen Bainey was unable to earn his first regional title, falling to Bentworth’s returning regional champ Chris Vargo, 4-0, in the 120-pound finals.
Bainey’s teammate, Lucas Fye, made it to the 113-pound finals in a District 6 rematch with West Branch Landon Bainey. Bainey turned an expected close bout into a pin of Fye in 1:18.
Six Centre County Class 2A wrestlers advanced to the state tournament, including BEA’s Caleb Close (fourth, 172) and Noah Foltz (fourth, 189) and Penns Valley’s Jack Darlington (sixth, 106). The top six at every weight advanced to Hershey.
“At the end of the day, we got our four through,” said BEA coach Ron Guenot, whose team was fifth in the team standings. “We could have liked to have a couple more, but that didn’t happen.”
P-O had three wrestlers place seventh or eighth but not qualify. Nick Coudriet (120) and Foster (145) placed seventh, while injured District 6 champ Marcus Gable (132) finished eighth.
Watson had a much easier time in the regional finals than he did in the district finals, where he beat Forest Hills’ Noah Teeter in overtime, 4-2. Against Weyandt, Watson scored five nearfall points and a reversal in the shutout.
“It feels great, especially in this region,” Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker said. “It’s very special. I’m very happy for him and his family. He’s wrestling with a lot of confidence right now.”
Watson remains undefeated with a 37-0 record, but he said again afterward he doesn’t think about the record. Speaking of undefeated, Watson could meet up with Montgomery’s 43-0 Conner Harer in the state semifinals.
“I’m just so confident,” Watson said. “I’ve got goals. I haven’t achieved them yet, but I’m working on it.”
Coen Bainey roared his way into the finals with a 35-second pin, a 16-0 technical fall and a 6-2 semifinal win over Burrell’s returning regional 106-pound champ Cooper Hornack.
In the finals, the bout was scoreless until Vargo reversed with 6 seconds left in the second period. The third-ranked Vargo was rugged on top, riding the second-ranked Bainey the entire third and scoring two nearfall points.
“He had a good tournament,” Guenot said. “Obviously we wanted a different result in the finals. He didn’t get off the bottom and Vargo put a good ride on in the third period.”
Fye opened with a 15-0 technical fall before earning a 1-0 win and a 5-4 win over Quaker Valley’s Jack Kasalas. Landon Bainey beat him, 7-5, in the district finals. This time, Bainey took Fye down, sunk in a bar and half and pinned him.
