ALTOONA — Ranked fourth in the state by PA Power Wrestling at 152 pounds, State College junior James Whitbred has a bigger focus than the District 6 Class 3A Tournament.
But there he was on Feb. 21 treating the tournament as a launching point for his bid to climb higher on the medals than when he placed sixth at the PIAA Championships as a sophomore last season.
Whitbred (41-5) rolled to a 20-2 technical fall in the semifinals and earned a 13-2 major decision over Bellefonte’s fifth-ranked Ezra Swisher in the finals to capture his third District 6 Class 3A title at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
“I’m pretty happy,” Whitbred said. “I think it went pretty good. I had fun wrestling. I worked hard to get everything I got today.”
“(Swisher) is no easy opponent,” State College coach Jason Nickal said, “and James really handled the match well and dominated. He’s wrestling probably as good as he has all year. It’s a good time for him to peak.”
Whitbred was one of three Little Lions and six Centre County wrestlers to win district titles. State College sophomore Luke Young (121) and freshman Teag Sanderson (172) won their first titles.
The Little Lions had two runners-up in Kael Davis (127) and Noah Williams (189). They had two other qualifiers this weekend’s Western Regional at Canon-McMillan High School in third-placers Noah Young (114) and Quillan Phillips (285).
Only the top three at every weight qualified for the regional. Non-qualifiers Jon Whitbred (133) and Nico Diaz (145) placed fourth.
District 6 Duals champ State College (148 points) finished fourth in the seven-team tournament.
Bellefonte had three champions, three runners-up and eight regional qualifiers. The Red Raiders finished third in the team standings with 168 points, trailing champion Central Mountain (180 points) and Altoona (175).
Twin brothers Wyatt Long (139) and Jackson Long (189) and teammate Luke Hockenberry (215) won titles for the Red Raiders. It was the first district titles for the trio.
In addition to Swisher, Andrew Gall (145) and Jack McHail (172) also finished second. Colin Harter (107) and Quinn Park (160) finished third to qualify for the regional. Non-qualifier Blake Glace (121) placed fourth.
Whitbred got a fast start against Swisher, nailing a takedown in the first 13 seconds. Swisher escaped and Whitbred got another takedown with 9 seconds remaining in the period. Whitbred added an escape and takedown in the second period and a takedown in the third period.
“It was a good match,” Whitbred said. “He’s a good opponent to wrestle against. I’ve wrestled him a bunch of times. I’m pretty happy with the outcome.”
“(Whitbred) is one guy who has been a tough opponent for him,” Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said, “and he hasn’t been able to figure him out, but hopefully next week he’ll get another shot at him. He knows he’s right there with some of the state’s best.”
They could wrestle each other again at the regional tournament.
“I’m excited to wrestle at regionals,” Whitbred said. “It will be fun out there in the WPIAL area.”
Jackson Long recorded a fall in the semifinals and edged Williams, 6-5, in the finals. Williams, a freshman, reached the finals with an 8-2 decision in the semifinals.
Long took Williams down in the first period, but Williams reversed in the second period to close within one. Long escaped and took a 4-2 lead into the third. He escaped early in the third, but Williams tied the score with a takedown with 37 seconds remaining. Long escaped with 29 seconds left for the deciding point.
“It was a match that could have gone either way,” Nickal said. “There was what I consider a controversial call, where we were on the short end of the stick on the takedown early in the match. We put ourselves into a position to win that match, but we ended up giving up the escape and ran out of time.”
Sanderson breezed to a technical fall in the semifinals and a 15-2 major decision over McHail. Sanderson notched three takedowns, a four-point nearfall and a reversal against McHail. McHail posted a technical fall and a 7-5 decision over Central Mountain’s Mario Serafini to get to the finals.
“Teag’s got a lot of talent,” Nickal said. “It’s always tough when you’re an underclassman wrestling up in the heavier weights. He’s really handling that well and he’s scoring a lot of points.”
Wyatt Long went 2-0 with a fall in the semifinal and a 7-0 win over Central Mountain’s Hayes Donley in the finals.
“It feels great. That’s only my second first-place ever in my career,” Long said. “I wrestled pretty well (in the finals). I feel like I could have scored some more points, but I was trying to wrestle smart and get the win because I don’t have many golds.”
“I’m really proud of Wyatt and Jackson,” Maney said. “They’ve been steady for us for four years now and are 100-match winners. It’s nice to see those guys finally get over the hump and become district champions.”
Hockenberry pinned both of his opponents, including a fall in 4:48 against Central Mountain’s Todd Caris in the finals.
“This year, he’s made big jumps, I think,” Maney said. “Last year, he didn’t even make it out of this tournament.”
Luke Young rolled to a technical fall in the semifinals and an 11-2 major decision over Hollidaysburg’s Brayden Sidney in the finals.
“He’s been wrestling well,” Nickal said. “He’s probably going to have the toughest weight class in our region at 121. In the second half of the season, he’s come on strong.”
Returning champion Davis outlasted Central Mountain’s Gavin Heverly, 6-2, in the tiebreaker in the semifinals. Davis looked like he’d be going into overtime with Altoona’s returning champion Deklan Barr in a scoreless bout, but Barr reversed with 19 seconds left to win, 2-0.
Bellefonte junior coach Evan Benner was named District 6 Class 3A Junior High Coach of the Year before the finals. Bellefonte’s 1996 state runner-up Rob Weikel was also inducted into the District 6 Hall of Fame.
2 P-O GIRLS PLACE SECOND
Philipsburg-Osceola’s Kendyl Meersand (148) and Daisy Glessner (235) finished second in the girls District 5-6-9 Tournament on Feb. 21 at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
Meersand went 2-1 with a pin and a decision in her first two bouts. She then got pinned by Chestnut Ridge’s returning state champion Juliet Alt in 3:10.
Glessner reached the finals with two falls and had a 4-3 lead over Bedford’s two-time district champion Mylah Steinbuch going into the third period. Steinbuch, though, pinned Glessner in 4:23.
Bellefonte’s Bailee Scott (155) finished third, while Ella Johnsonbaugh placed fifth to qualify for Saturday’s Central Regional at Milton High School. The top five at every weight qualified for the regional.
Bald Eagle Area’s Lilly Spicer (100) and State College’s Star Emel-Rash (190) qualified by placing fourth.
BEA’s Addison Tice (112), Bellefonte’s Carly Bair (124) and State College’s Aella Mally (155) finished sixth.
SOUTHWEST REGIONAL THIS WEEK
Penns Valley’s Max Dinges and Erik Carlile and Bald Eagle Area’s Tanner Guenot were Southwest Regional Class 2A Tournament champions last season.
Dinges and Guenot finished second at the District 6 Tournament, while Carlile was third. BEA’s Dawson Lomison and Penns Valley’s Connor Myers enter Friday and Saturday’s tournament at the Altoona Fieldhouse as district champions.
The top seven at every weight will advance to next week’s PIAA Championships in Hershey.
