Bald Eagle Area wrestling falls in district finals — but advances to PIAA preliminary round
When the high school season began this year, the District 6 Class 2A landscape changed drastically with the lifting of Bishop McCort’s suspension from the postseason.
When the district bracket was released, Bald Eagle Area was the No. 1-seed and the Crushers were No. 2. It was as if both schools were set up for an on-the-mat collision for the title Saturday.
It came to fruition, with both teams advancing in the postseason. But, first, in the semifinals, the Eagles beat county rival and No. 5-seed Penns Valley, 43-18, while Bishop McCort routed No. 3-seed Huntingdon, 54-18.
The finals saw the Crushers take care of the Eagles, 58-15, but it wasn’t BEA’s typical full lineup — since the losing team would have to face Huntingdon afterward to determine the true district runner-up.
“We did what we thought was best for the team, and what was best for our chance to make the state duals,” Eagles coach Ron Guenot said. “They are some of the best kids in the world there. It is hard to compete with. It’s a tough decision to make. McCort is an exceptionally tough team. You are not going to see very many tough teams like that in the season.”
Added Crushers coach Howard Forrest: “Coaches do what they need to do for their team’s best (interest) in each match. We understand that, and that’s what they did. There’s nothing wrong with that. We do different moves at different times too. It was cool. They’re one of the better teams. If they come out as the second-best team here, they’ll represent the district well at states.”
Forrest’s words came before Bald Eagle Area cemented its runner-up finish. Because of the district’s setup, and because Bald Eagle Area and Huntingdon each lost only to the eventual district champ, the two teams were required to square off — after the finals dual.
BEA came away with the 37-30 victory and will now host Quaker Valley, the No. 3 team from District 7, at a time to be announced Monday in a PIAA preliminary round dual. The winner there will head to Hershey to face off with the District 11 champion Notre Dame Green Pond on Thursday afternoon. With the district title, Bishop McCort has already advanced to Thursday’s first round in Hershey, against an opponent to be determined.
The district final didn’t start well for BEA.
Bishop McCort set the tone early by winning the first eight bouts, all with bonus points, thanks to six first-period pins and a pair of forfeits.
Lincoln Sledzianowski received a forfeit at 121 pounds to get things underway. Devin Magro (172 pounds) received the other forfeit. Jax Forrest (127), Mason Gibson (133), Bo Bassett (139), Sam Herring (145), Josh Spontak (152) and Melvin Miller (160) were the pinners.
The Crushers also picked up more bonus points later in the match.
Marquez Gordon (215) racked up a 14-1 major decision. Jordan Butler followed him by earning a pin in 1 minute, 21 seconds.
Caleb Close (189), Tanner Guenot (107) and Caden Judice (114) were the lone winners for the Eagles. Guenot and Judice each received forfeits since the dual was in hand.
Close snapped off six takedowns on Owen McMullen to secure a 13-6 victory.
“The guys that we put in there, the guys that stepped up and the guys that wanted to wrestle — they weren’t afraid to go out there and do it,” Ron Guenot said. “We just did what we had to do to put ourselves in position, in that next match against Huntingdon.”
As Guenot mentioned, BEA had to take on the Bearcats for a true second-place finish.
That match, with the winner advancing in the postseason, began at 127 pounds, which was right in BEA’s wheelhouse because they could start with Lucas Fye and end with Tanner Guenot and Judice with a little bumping around.
Fye got things underway with a fall in 53 seconds with Dawson Lomison following with a 9-0 major decision. After an injury default win went in Huntingdon’s favor, Mason Reese earned another pin for the Eagles at 145 pounds.
Gavin Bennett, who has been consistent for BEA, picked up a 7-1 win after Reese to give the Eagles a 19-6 lead.
Huntingdon won the next three bouts to take the lead, 21-19, with a pair of pins as part of those three victories.
Close gave BEA the lead back with a pin at 215 pounds in 3:02. After Huntingdon got a 4-1 win at heavyweight, the Eagles led 25-24 with three bouts left.
BEA won all three with bonus points.
Michael Wesley received a forfeit. And Tanner Guenot and Judice each secured first period pins to give the Eagles a 37-30 win.
“We just had to do what we thought was best with bumping Tanner and Judice. They’ve been strong for us all year long,” Ron Guenot said. “When you have those couple of guys to end a match, it’s a good feeling. Most of the time, you are going to be in a good situation if they are ending the dual for you, so that’s what we went with.”
Rams go 0-2
A year ago, Penns Valley was the No. 1 seed in the district dual championships, and suffered a loss to a tough United team in the semifinals.
This year, the Rams were the No. 5 seed and opened with the loss to BEA. On Jan. 12, the teams battled in a dual that the Eagles rallied to win, 34-29.
Saturday saw BEA win easily, which forced Penns Valley to wrestle the Bearcats.
The Rams raced out to a 15-0 lead thanks to pins from Jack Darlington (121 pounds) and Colten Shunk (133). Tripp Watson (127) earned a 9-6 win to be sandwiched between those falls.
After Huntingdon picked up a pin, Penns Valley upped its lead to 21 points as Brayden Lisowski (145) and Ty Watson (152) strung together consecutive pins.
The dual turned sour after those falls.
At 160 pounds, Huntingdon’s Grady Clark trailed Ethan Fetterolf, 4-2, late in the third period. But Clark was able to throw Fetterolf to his back for a fall with just 11 seconds remaining.
“Its frustrating. We had a match in the bag, and then we end up getting pinned,” Rams coach Joel Brinker said. “It’s a nine-point swing just in that match.
“You just got to know better. This time of the year, we got to be wrestling cleaner and smarter. To see that happen, we’re all frustrated with it.”
The Bearcats won the remaining five of six bouts, with bonus points in four of them. They had major decisions from Luke Uplinger and Gaige Sholly, and pins from Landron Erdman and Andrew McMonagle.
Now, Penns Valley shifts its focus toward the individual postseason. For Brinker, Saturday’s performance showed what the Rams need to take care of within the next two weeks.
“Things happened today that I’m sure the kids are frustrated with. It definitely exposed some things,” he said, “but it’s just positioning, being aware of situations and aware of score. You got to keep trying to separate the score instead of trying to hang on to win, or that’s going to happen (dual and bout losses).”
District 6 Class 2A Championships
Saturday at Wingate
Finals
Bishop McCort 58, Bald Eagle Area 15
121: Lincoln Sledzianowski, BM, won by forfeit
127: Jax Forrest, BM, pinned Lucas Fye, 1:54
133: Mason Gibson, BM, pinned Owen Johnson, 1:20
139: Bo Bassett, BM, pinned Kayson Tice, :32
145: Sam Herring, BM, pinned Alex Surovec, 1:36
152: Josh Spontak, BM, pinned Harrison Harter, 1:19
160: Melvin Miller, BM, pinned Hunter Davis, :49
172: Devin Magro, BM, won by forfeit
189: Caleb Close, BEA, dec. Owen McMullen, 13-6
215: Marquez Gordon, BM, major dec. Kyle Watson, 14-1
285: Jordan Butler, BM, pinned Austin Moyle, 1:21
107: Tanner Guenot, BEA, won by forfeit
114: Caden Judice, BEA, won by forfeit
Takedowns: BM 13, BEA 6
Records: Bishop McCort (14-0)
True 2nd place
Bald Eagle Area 37, Huntingdon 30
127: Fye, BEA, pinned Chris Gibson, :53
133: Dawson Lomison, BEA, major dec. Liam Simpson, 9-0
139: Eric Mykut, H, injury def. Conner Maney, 3:37
145: Mason Reese, BEA, pinned Reese Hughes, 1:27
152: Gavin Bennett, BEA, dec. Dominick Peruso, 7-1
160: Grady Clark, H, dec. Cameron Dubbs, 6-5
172: Luke Uplinger, H, pinned Shawn Knepp, :55
189: Andrew McMonagle, H, pinned Watson, 2:23
215: Close, BEA, pinned Landron Erdman, 3:02
285: Lincoln Miller, H, dec. Gage Gardner, 4-1
107: Gaige Sholly, H, pinned Michael Wesley, :30
114: Tanner Guenot, BEA, pinned Deegan Brown, :48
121: Caden Judice, BEA, pinned Gavin Bilich, 1:39
Takedowns: H 8, BEA 11
Records: Huntingdon (20-4), Bald Eagle Area (11-2)
Consolation Finals
Huntingdon 35, Penns Valley 33
121: Jack Darlington, PV, pinned Bilich, 2:27
127: Tripp Watson, PV, dec. Gibson, 9-6
133: Colten Shunk, PV, pinned Simpson, 2:42
139: Mykut, H, pinned Zach Rummel, 1:50
145: Brayden Lisowski, PV, pinned Hughes, 2:51
152: Ty Watson, PV, pinned Peruso, 1:18
160: Clark, H, pinned Ethan Fetterolf, 5:49
172: Uplinger, H, major dec. Robert Martin, 8-0
189: Erdman, H, pinned Shane Rimmey, :15
215: McMonagle, H, pinned Brandon Corl, 1:18
285: Miller, H, dec. Landon Hess, 2-1
107: Sholly, H, major dec. Conner Myers, 16-7
114: Erik Carlile, PV, won by forfeit
Takedowns: H 18, PV 9
Records: Penns Valley (10-4)
Semifinals
Bald Eagle Area 43, Penns Valley 18
114: Judice, BEA, major dec. Carlile, 10-0
121: Darlington, PV, pinned Liam Purcell, :45
127: Lomison, BEA, dec. Tr. Watson, 4-2
133: Fye, BEA, dec. Shunk, 9-3
139: Maney, BEA, pinned Rummel, 2:57
145: Reese, BEA, pinned Lisowski, 5:13
152: S. Fetterolf, PV, dec. Alex Surovec, 6-1
160: T. Watson, PV, pinned Bennett, 2:21
172: E. Fetterolf, PV, dec. Dubbs, 4-3
189: Knepp, BEA, pinned Martin, 3:21
215: Close, BEA, pinned Corl, 1:11
285: Gardner, BEA, dec. Hess, 2-1
107: Guenot, BEA, pinned Myers, 3:56
Takedowns: PV 7, BEA 13
