By PAT ROTHDEUTSCH
sports@centrecountygazette.com
There were many outstanding sports teams, players and moments in Centre County during 2022.
It would be very difficult to list them all, so we’ve decided to compile a list of the most significant sports stories from the past year, along with a few honorable mentions and additions.
The list begins and ends with teams from Penn State, and in between there are stories recounting some of the successes from our local high schools and other venues like the Centre County Baseball League.
Here then, in no particular order, are our choices for the most impactful Centre County sports stories of 2022:
The Penn State wrestling team
The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team was nearly perfect in winning its 10th overall NCAA wrestling championship last March in Detroit.
The Lions, after an undefeated regular season and a Big Ten championship, also added five individual champions to its team championship, and those wrestlers went 5-0 in the national finals to cap off one of the most successful seasons ever in Happy Valley.
Senior Roman Bravo-Young, senior Nick Lee, sophomore Carter Starocci, junior Max Dean and junior Aaron Brooks all won individual championships for Penn State.
In the team competition, Penn State totaled 131.5 points, 36 points more than second-place Michigan’s 95. Iowa finished third with 74 points.
In addition, Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson was named the 2022 NCAA Championship Tournament Coach of the Year.
The 2022 State College High School football team
The State College Little Lion football team fought its way undefeated through a challenging regular season, won the District 6 championship, and then advanced all the way to the PIAA state semifinals held at Mansion Park in Altoona on Dec. 3.
In that game, unfortunately, the Harrisburg Cougars avenged an earlier loss to the Lions with a 27-7 win that sent them into the championship game against St. Joseph’s Academy out of Philadelphia.
The Lions were led all season by a group of talented seniors that included receiver Dante Nastasi, quarterback Finn Furmanek, defensive end Stephen Scourtis, linebacker John Scott and running back Matt Wall.
The Philipsburg-Osceola girls volleyball team
The 2022 Lady Mountie volleyball team won a total of 29 matches this past season, and the team was on a mission to return to the PIAA state semifinal, where it lost last season just one step away from a state title.
That mission was accomplished. P-O bulled through the playoffs, winning the District 6 championship and advancing into the PIAA tournament.
The Lady Mounties took care of Avonworth in the first round, 3-1, and then Shenango in the quarterfinal, 3-0.
But in the semifinal, again, luck was not on P-O’s side, and the Mounties fell to District 7’s Freeport, 3-2, ending their season.
P-O won the fourth set that day, 25-15, to tie the match, but the Yellowjackets prevailed 15-8 in the fifth set to take the match.
Don’t feel too badly for P-O, however, because there were no seniors on the roster and everyone will be back to try again in 2023.
Bald Eagle Area softball
The Bald Eagle Area softball team, after an up-and-down regular season, really showed its strengths when playoff time came around.
The Lady Eagles swept into the PIAA tournament and outscored Southmoreland in the first round, 4-1.
In the quarterfinals, they scored three runs in the second and third innings and held on for a 3-0 victory over Deer Lakes to advance into the state semifinals.
In that game, against 24-3 Avonworth, the Eagles fell behind early and could not recover in a 9-2 loss at St. Francis University on June 13.
Avonworth, the District 7 champs, would go on to win the title with a 7-2 victory over Lewisburg.
Bellefonte baseball takes District 6 championship
The 2022 Bellefonte Raider baseball team won an impressive 14 games in a row last spring on the way to a second-place finish behind Philipsburg-Osceola in the Mountain League.
The Raiders finished 17-4 overall for a season that was capped off with a 14-2 win over Juniata in the District 6, 4A championship held at Bald Eagle Area High School on May 31.
The Raiders eventually fell in the PIAA tournament to Montour High School in a shootout, 13-9, ending their season.
Peyton Vancas was the top hitter for Bellefonte, with a .456 average, with Triston Heckman at .422 and Derek Fravel hitting .397.
Fravel had the top ERA at 2.14 and Dominic Capperella was at 2.88.
Ty Cronin and Fravel were the only seniors on the Raider roster, and the team will return most of its top hitters and pitchers for the 2023 season.
Blanchard retakes Centre County Baseball League title
After falling to Howard in the 2021 Centre County Baseball League finals, the Blanchard Bees were focused on one thing during the 2022 CCBL season: retaking the championship. And if it was against Howard in the finals, all the better.
As it worked out, both things came true for the Bees in dramatic fashion.
Ahead 2-1 and playing against the Hawks in game 4 of the 2022 final series, the Bees staged an improbable three-run rally in the last inning that tied the game and sent it into extra innings.
They then went on to score two runs in the eighth inning and came away with a 5-3 victory and a CCBL championship, their third in the past four seasons.
“It was great,” Blanchard manager Toner Corl said. “It was an incredible game. It was fireworks. The last two final series have been really great, and it feels good to be a champion again. It has been a long time coming.”
Centre County wrestlers from State College, BEA, Bellefonte, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola
Centre County has always been known for its wrestling prowess, and last year was no exception as the county had impressive showings at the district and state levels.
State College’s Pierson Manville topped the list as he wrestled his way to a PIAA state championship at 138 pounds when he defeated Briar Priest from Hempfield Area, 5-4, in the finals at the Giant Center in Hershey on March 12.
Priest was 4-0 at the tournament, and he was one of a number of local wrestlers who found success in the 2022 postseason.
At the District 6, AA meet in Altoona on Feb. 19, Centre County wrestlers won 4 D6 championships and three runners-up.
Coen Bainey, from BEA, won the 120 title; Marcus Gable from P-O took the 132 title; Ty Watson, Penns Valley, won at 145; and BEA’s Noah Foltz won at 189.
The runners-up were Nick Coudriet, P-O, at 120; Lucas Fye, BEA, at 113; and Caleb Close, BEA, at 172.
P-O’s Scott Frantz, Jeffre Pifer, BEA, and Hunter Lyons, Penns Valley, all took third-place honors.
BEA took second place in the team standings.
In AAA, State College had three winners: Asher Cunningham at 120, Pierson Manville at 138 and Nick Pavlechko at 215. Bellefonte’s Jude Swisher won at 145, and Aidan O’Shea (132) and Garrett Choats (113) were runners-up. Braden Newby (172) and Carter Weverling (189) finished second for State College.
State College finished third in the team standings and Bellefonte fourth.
At the PIAA AA championships, Bainey finished third at 120, Fye was fifth at 113 and Watson was sixth at 145.
And, of course, Manville took home a state championship trophy.
Penns Valley football finishes 10-3
The Rams finished the 2022 season with a solid 10-3 record and just missed making it to the PIAA playoffs.
PV began the season with three wins, but then two losses to BEA and Clearfield put its record at 3-2.
The Rams, however, went on to win every game on their regular season schedule, including wins over P-O, Tyrone, Bellwood-Antis and Mount Union.
Then in the District 6 playoffs, the Rams avenged their earlier loss to BEA with a convincing 34-14 win over the Eagles at home on Nov. 10.
The next week, PV fell to Bishop Giulfoyle in the D6 final, 56-35, in Altoona on Nov. 18. The loss ended the Rams’ season because just one team from the district qualified for the PIAA tournament.
But with 10 wins and three of their top four offensive players returning, the Rams are looking ahead to a bright future.
Penn State football goes 11-2
It may have been a bit into 2023, but we are going to include Penn State’s impressive 35-21 victory over Utah in the Rose Bowl as being part of a very successful 2022 season for the Nittany Lions.
Tied with the Utes at halftime, Penn State used a crushing defense and two 80-plus-yard touchdowns to pull away from Utah and win its 11th game of the season against just two losses.
The Lions got an 88-yard sprint for a touchdown by Nicholas Singleton in the third quarter, and then quarterback Sean Clifford, playing in his final Penn State game, connected with KeAndre Lambert-Smith for an 85-yard score that gave the Lions a 14-point lead they would not relinquish. In all, Penn State scored 28 unanswered points until Utah scored a touchdown with just 25 seconds left to play.
Penn State came into the bowl game ranked No. 11 in the country after losing two games to arch-rivals Michigan and Ohio State, and that could have added to the Lions’ resolve on this night. Both the Wolverines and Buckeyes were among the teams chosen for the national championship playoff.
This was the second win ever for the Lions in a Rose Bowl, and 2022 marks the ninth time Penn State won 11 or more games in a season since the Lions joined the Big Ten in 1993. It was also head coach James Franklin’s fourth 11-game winning season.
And the future looks bright for PSU as well. There are young players all over the field, including two budding star running backs in Singleton and Kaytron Allen as well as linebackers Abdul Carter, Curtis Jacobs and Kobe King.
Penns Valley girls’ soccer wins D-6 title
The Penns Valley High School girls’ soccer team made history by winning the District 6 Class A Championship in 2022. The road to this championship started with a semifinal beating No. 1 seed BEA in a close battle, 2-1. The fourth-seeded Lady Rams continued on, beating No. 3 seed Bishop Guilfoyle in a thrilling 2-1 double overtime victory to win the title for the first time in the school’s history.
This was the first district championship ever won by Penns Valley’s Girls Soccer. Amazingly, it was done with a first-year head coach.
Honorable Mentions:
BEA girls soccer, BEA baseball, Bellefonte softball, P-O baseball, SC boys lacrosse, SC softball, SC girls tennis, SC boys hockey, SC field hockey and St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy baseball.
