The Bellefonte wrestling team went 6-0 last week, including a 28-24 nail-biting win over Tyrone on Jan. 26 at home.
The Red Raiders went 5-0 in the Rumble in the Den on Jan. 28 at Meadowbrook Christian High School. The Raiders had wins over Mountainview, 76-0; Meadowbrook Christian, 66-7; Elk Lake, 65-6; Williamson, 56-12; and Wyoming Valley West, 34-24, in the championship finals. Wyoming Valley West fell to 16-4 with the loss.
Against Tyrone, the Red Raiders got pins from Gage Long (152) and Cameron Garcia (114). Addison Shawley (189) earned a major decision, and Aaron Shawley (145) won by forfeit.
Nash Irwin (215) and Ezra Swisher (127) came up with big decisions. Irwin earned a 5-2 decision over Caleb McKinney, and Swisher got by Logan Rumberger, 2-0, to secure the dual meet win.
The seventh-seeded Red Raiders (12-4) were scheduled to wrestle 10th-seeded West Branch in the first round of the District 6 Class 2A Duals on Jan. 31 at Huntingdon. The winner was to wrestle second-seeded Huntingdon immediately following.
PENNS VALLEY
Penns Valley cruised to wins over Hollidaysburg, 75-0, on Jan. 24, and Mifflinburg, 57-13, two days later before finishing sixth in the Fred Bell Tournament on Jan. 28-29 at Grove City High School.
In their second shutout of the season, the Rams got pins from Kollin Brungart (215), Landen Hess (285), Conner Myers (107), Jack Darlington (114), Zachary Rummel (127), Colten Shunk (133), Ty Watson (152) and Ethan Fetterolf (160).
Against Mifflinburg, Penns Valley got pins from Shunk (133), Chase Fleshman (145) and Watson (152) and six forfeit wins.
Eight Rams placed between fourth and eighth at the Fred Bell Tournament, including fourth-placers Darlington (114) and Watson (152). Brayden Lisowski (121) and Brungart (215) finished fifth. Myers (107) and Shunk (133) took seventh, while Hess (285) was eighth.
The 12-0 Rams are the top seed for the District 6 Duals. They were to open the duals on Jan. 31 at home against the winner of eighth-seeded Philipsburg-Osceola and ninth-seeded Juniata.
BALD EAGLE AREA
Bald Eagle Area went 1-1 in dual meets last week, beating Quentin Wright-coached Tyrone, 42-20, on Jan. 24, and losing at Central Mountain, 37-31, on Jan. 26.
Against Tyrone, the Eagles got pins from Kayson Tice (114), Coen Bainey (127) and Jeffre Pifer (152). Caleb Close earned a 4-2 decision over Tyrone freshman star Kyle Scott in the final bout at 172.
In the Central Mountain match, Tice (114), Bainey (127) and Shawn Knepp (172) won by fall. The dual meet came down to the final bout at 215 with the Wildcats leading, 33-31. Rocco Serafini earned a 10-1 major decision over BEA’s Gage Gardner at 215.
Bainey had to settle for second place at 127 in the Ultimate Warrior Tournament on Jan. 28 at West Branch High School.
Last year, he beat Bentworth’s Chris Vargo, 2-1, to win an Ultimate Warrior title. They met up again in the finals, but this time Vargo caught Bainey in a gramby roll while leading, 2-0, and pinned him in 3:50. Bainey (25-5) breezed to the finals with a 4-0 record. Vargo was voted the George W. Bainey Outstanding Wrestler.
Close (172) finished third, beating Scott again, 3-1, in the third-place bout.
Gardner (215) finished seventh. BEA, which was without junior star Lucas Fye (19-1), finished ninth out of 42 teams in the team standings with 92.5 points. Central Mountain (174) won the team title, while Mifflin County (152.5) was second.
Philipsburg-Osceola’s Marcus Gable (152) finished third, while teammate Caleb Hummel (107) placed seventh at the Ultimate Warrior.
The third-seeded Eagles (9-3) were hosting a first-round District 6 Duals matchup on Jan. 31. They were to wrestle the winner of sixth-seeded Forest Hills and 11th-seeded Penn Cambria.
STATE COLLEGE
In its only competition last week, State College won at Mifflin County, 39-33, Jan. 26, to improve to 2-7.
The Little Lions got pins from Nicholas Berrena (114), Hayden Cunningham (133), Pierson Manville (145), Asher Cunningham (152) and Nick Pavlechko (285). The dual meet was tied, 33-33, going into the final weight, and Pavlechko pinned Peyton Kearns in 56 seconds.
State College isn’t scheduled to wrestle again until Feb. 18, when it opens the postseason in the District 6 Class 3A Tournament at Altoona.
