ALTOONA — Bald Eagle Area wrestlers have kept a streak going in the District 6 Class 2A Tournament that’s pretty impressive.
BEA wrestlers have been named the Outstanding Wrestler of the last three district tournaments.
After Caleb Close was the OW two years ago and Tanner Guenot got the award last year, junior Dawson Lomison was voted this year’s District 6 Tournament Outstanding Wrestler by the coaches on Feb. 14 at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
Lomison, who moved up to 152 from 145 for the postseason, went 4-0, including two falls and a major decision before the finals.
Lomison (33-11) captured the title with a last second 5-2 overtime decision over Bishop McCort’s Jackson Butler in the finals.
“It felt so good,” Lomison said. “I’ve been coming to districts for years growing up and watching and sitting in the BEA section. I remember one year me and Tanner went to Chuck E. Cheese during the break. It’s awesome to see my hard work pay off.”
“I’m really excited for Dawson,” BEA coach Ron Guenot said. “He works hard and puts the time in during the offseason. That hard work paid off this weekend. He’s a great kid.”
Tied 2-2, they appeared ready to go to the tiebreaker periods. And then both had chances for a takedown in the final seconds.
Lomison’s last chance was waved off as time expired, but when referee Dick Wood and the mat judge conferred a takedown was given to Lomison for the win. The McCort coaches protested to no avail while the crowd erupted in celebration.
“Honestly I’m kind of surprised,” Lomison said of getting the takedown call, “but I’m thankful nonetheless. When the whistle blew I wasn’t really sure and they went into a conference. I heard three (for a takedown) and I heard the roar of the crowd. I was like ‘Oh my, I just won.’”
Penns Valley senior Conner Myers (33-5) was the only other Centre County wrestler to win a title. Myers won the 127-pound title in dominating fashion, racking up a 16-1 technical fall over Westmont Hilltop’s Owen Dluhos in 6:00.
“It feels pretty darn good,” Myers said. “It’s been a crazy journey, getting hurt early on and coming back from that. I wasn’t too worried (about the move up). My whole life I’ve given up weight, so it’s sort of been something I’ve adapted to.”
Myers, who moved up to 127 from 121 for the postseason, reeled off two pins and a major decision to get to the finals.
Tanner Guenot, who had two pins and a technical fall, was denied his third district title by Bishop McCort’s Austin Carfley, who eked out a 4-3 win at 133 pounds.
Carfley was up 4-1 when he was penalized second time, giving Guenot a stalling point with 18 seconds. Another stalling call with 11 seconds left made the score 4-3. Guenot was in on a takedown late, but Carfley defended to win.
“It was another close call there,” Coach Guenot said, “but we had other times to score and maybe get a little more offensive instead of waiting until the end of the match.”
Penns Valley’s Max Dinges (121) and Brayden Lisowski (172) and BEA’s Caden Judice (145) also had to settle for second. It was the second time Dinges and Judice were wearing the second-place medal.
Dinges, ranked third at 121 by PA Power Wrestling, was beaten by McCort’s fourth-ranked Keegan Bassett, 14-3. Lisowski, battling rib issues, was pinned by McCort’s Emory Gunby in 3:39. Judice lost by technical fall, 19-4 in 2:00, to McCort’s two-time state champ Bo Bassett.
Gunby, who had two falls and a major decision to get to the finals, was losing 4-0 to Lisowski when he reversed Lisowski to his back and pinned him in 3:39. Lisowski lied on his back for some time in pain before he left the mat.
RAMS FINISH SECOND
Lisowski helped the Rams finish in second place in the team standings with 195 points. They had eight wrestlers place in the top six at their weights and qualify for the Feb. 27-28 Southwest Regional Tournament at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
Evan Lisowski (114), Erik Carlile (133) and Tripp Watson (139) finished third. Sawyer Fetterolf (152) and Robert Martin (215) placed fifth. Shane Rimmey (189) placed seventh but didn’t qualify for the regional.
“Getting eight to the regional tournament is pretty impressive,” Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker said. “This group is just a hard working group and they’re getting the rewards for it. I’m very proud of them.”
Brinker was voted the District 6 Class 2A Coach of the Year for the second straight year and third time in his career. The Penns Valley coaches were also voted District 6 Class 2A Staff of the Year by the district coaches.
“I’m very pleased,” he said. “I respect every coach in this district. I have a lot of great relationships with the coaches. It’s a credit to our entire program. This isn’t just me. This is our elementary program, our junior high program and our booster club is really supportive. I just kind of get the award for it.”
Penns Valley finished in second place to state and national power Bishop McCort, which amassed 321 points, breaking its 2025 record by one point, seven champions and 11 finalists.
BEA, which finished in third place with 148.5 points, qualified six to the regional tournament. Gage Gardner (285) took fourth, while Liam Purcell (127) was fifth and Ty Corey (114) finished sixth. Liam Corey (121) placed seventh.
Philipsburg-Osceola, which end up in sixth place with 128 points, qualified five to the regional. Caleb Hummel (121) placed third, while Hayden Koptchak (107) and Averi Gable (145) were fourth. Jacob Dugan (114) finished fifth, while Colton Chapman (189) took sixth.
Three Mounties placed but didn’t qualify. Ace Foster (133) and Connor Guenot (139) placed seventh, while Devin Long (127) was eighth.
Returning to Centre County’s finalists, Dinges (40-3) got the first takedown against Bassett, but the McCort sophomore got a reversal right before the end of the first period. Bassett added a four-point near-fall in the second and scored eight in the third.
“I know where Max’s mind is at already,” Brinker said. “He’ll bounce back. Hopefully we can get him the next time.”
Lisowski reached the finals with a 4-1 overtime win over Moshannon Valley’s top-seeded Rocco Reifer in the semifinals. He was beating Gunby, 4-0, in the second period when Gunby reversed him to his back and got the fall.
Judice (41-5) opened with two falls before he earned a 6-5 decision over United star Josef Garshnick in the semifinals. Judice, who lost to McCort’s Jax Forrest in last year’s final, was unable to stop Bo Bassett’s offensive attacks this season. Bassett (36-0) has 104 technical falls in his career.
BOYS CLASS 3A, GIRLS UP NEXT
The District 6 Class 3A Tournament and the girls District 5-6-9 Tournament will take place Saturday at the same time at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
District 6 Duals champion State College and Bellefonte will begin wrestling in the Class 3A tournament at 10 a.m. Girls from Bald Eagle Area, Bellefonte, Philipsburg-Osceola and State College are scheduled to start at 9 a.m.
The evening session begins at 5:30 p.m. with the District 6 Hall of Fame ceremony, which will immediately be followed by the championship finals and medals bouts.
The top three boys at every weight advance to the Feb. 27-28 West Regional. The top six girls at every weight advance to the Feb. 28 Central Regional at Milton High School.
