LANCASTER — He’s often recognized as Bellefonte great Jude Swisher’s little brother, but Red Raiders junior Ezra Swisher is starting to make a name for himself.
Ezra followed up his title at the King of the Mountain by capturing the 152-pound title at the Turner Holiday Classic on Dec. 27, 2024, to Dec. 28, 2024, at Conestoga Valley High School.
Bellefonte’s Wyatt Long (127) and Noah Weaver (160) had to settle for second place. Jackson Long (172) finished third, while Cameron Garcia (139) was fourth.
Swisher completed a 5-0 weekend by earning a 4-0 decision over Central York’s Nathaniel Replogle in the championship finals. Swisher reached the finals with two technical falls, a pin and 10-0 major decision over Tulpehocken’s Seth Karpulk in the semifinals. Swisher hiked his record to 18-0.
Wyatt Long dropped a 5-2 decision to Dominic Lucian off Salesianum School, Delaware in the finals. Long had two technical falls, a decision and a pin of Coatesville’s Andrij Szczesniuk in 3:26 in the semifinals.
Weaver (16-3) reached the finals with a 6-2 decision over Shikellamy’s Cole Wetzel in the semifinals. He then dropped a 4-1 decision to Conestoga Valley’s Teagan Ruble in the finals.
Weaver also had a technical fall and major decision. His 4-0 win over Penn Manor’s Chase Harnish was Weaver’s 100th career victory.
Bellefonte finished fifth in the team standings with 146 points. Mifflin County won the team title by 11.5 points, 178.5-167, over Conestoga Valley. Salesianum School (162.5) and Central Dauphin (156) were third and fourth, respectively.
The Red Raiders will wrestle in the Laurel Highlands Championships on Friday, Jan. 3, and Saturday Jan. 4, at Central Cambria High School.
CUNNINGHAM SECOND AT POWERADE
State College star Asher Cunningham breezed to the 172-pound championship finals of the prestigious Powerade Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School, but he had to settle for second place.
Ryan Burton of St. Joseph Regional, New Jersey pinned the retuning Class 3A state champion in 5:15.
In his first four bouts, Cunningham (17-2) reeled off two pins and two technical falls, including a 17-1 romp over Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Dominic Sumpolec in 4:38.
State College’s Kael Davis finished sixth at 114, going 4-3 a technical fall, pin and a tiebreaker decision. His three losses were all by a point.
The Little Lions finished 16th in the 70-team event with 61.5 points. Bishop McCort won the team title by six points, 217-211, over Florida’s Lake Highland Prep.
State College was scheduled to host Mifflin County on Thursday, Jan. 2.
BEA’S GUENOT, GARDNER FINISH SECOND
Bald Eagle Area’s Tanner Guenot (127) and Gage Gardner (285) both finished second at 127 and 285, respectively, in the MyHouse Trojan Wars on Dec. 29, 2024, at Chambersburg High School.
Guenot was pinned by Trinity’s William Detar in 5:06 in the finals, while Gardner dropped a 9-4 decision to William Penn’s Eliedxander Jarquin-Torres in the championship bout.
BEA had two other placewinners in fourth-placer Caden Judice (133) and sixth- placer Dawson Lomison (139).
The second-seeded Guenot went 4-1 with two technical falls, a major decision and a 5-2 win over Chambersburg’s Zachary Sherman in the semifinals.
Gardner also went 4-1 with three falls and a 5-0 decision over Christopher Funches of Chesapeake, Virginia in the semifinals.
The Eagles finished 16th in the 47-team tournament with 106.5 points. Grassfield, Virginia won the team title by 1.5 points, 162.5-161, over Sun Valley.
BEA was scheduled to be back on the tournament trail Friday, Jan. 3, and Saturday, Jan. 4, in the Laurel Highlands Championships.
MOUNTIES GO 4-1 AT RED DEVIL DUALS
Philipsburg-Osceola went 4-1 and finished fifth in the Red Devil Duals on Dec. 28, 2024, at Central Cambria High School.
The 5-3 Mounties earned wins over South Williamsport, 37-31, Cambria Heights, 54-15, Richland, 42-33, and Mount Union, 38-30, in the fifth place match. Their only loss was to Bedford, 36-31.
P-O led Bedford from the second bout until the 12th, but James Fisher’s fall in 1:20 in the final bout gave the Bisons the win. The Mounties held a 3 point lead going into the final bout against Richland, but P-O’s Evan Eichenlaub secured the dual meet win at 215 with a fall in 1:05.
P-O’s Bradley Peters, Caleb Hummel and Ace Foster all went 5-0.
The Mounties are back on the mat in the Friday, Jan. 3, and Saturday, Jan. 4, Laurel Highland Championships.
3 LADY MOUNTIES CAPTURE TITLES
Three Philipsburg-Osceola girls captured titles and another finished second at the six-team Clearfield Square One Tournament on Dec. 28, 2024.
P-O’s Veda Kephart (106), Charli Hunt (136) and Daisy Glessner (235) won their weight classes at the round robin tournament, while Kendyl Meersand (130) was a runner-up. Cayce Davidson (124) finished fourth.
Bellefonte had a runner-up in Carly Bair (124), while Victoria Schellenberg (130), Ella Johnsonbaugh (136) and Bailey Scott (170) finished third.
Hunt was 3-0 with three technical falls, outscoring her opponents by a combined 55-8, while Glessner was 3-0 with three pins. Kephart went 2-0 with two pins. Meersand was 2-1 with two pins.
Bair went 4-1 with four first-period falls. Her only loss was a 16-13 setback to Altoona’s Brooklynn Veloz.
P-O was scheduled to wrestle in the Curwensville Girls Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 4.
Bellefonte is set to host Jersey Shore on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
