BEA’s Caleb Close, P-O’s Caleb Hummel claim LHAC wrestling titles. Here’s how others fared

The second edition of the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference wrestling championships got underway on Friday at Central Cambria High School.

On Saturday, champions were crowned, with two Centre County wrestlers bringing back gold.

Bald Eagle Area, Bellefonte, Penns Valley and Philipsburg-Osceola combined to send seven wrestlers to the finals. The Eagles, Red Raiders and Rams each had two finalists a piece.

Bishop McCort ran away with the team title as it scored 302.5 points while claiming six champions. Clearfield (185 points), Chestnut Ridge (149), Bellefonte (144) and Penns Valley (136.5) rounded out the top five.

Here’s a look at how the county team’s fared:

Philipsburg-Osceola

Team finish: 10th, 84.5 points

Champions: Caleb Hummel (121)

Other placewinners: Bradley Peters (8th, 107), Averi Gable (6th, 127), Ace Foster (4th, 133), Connor Guenot (5th, 139), Evan Eichenlaub (8th, 215)

Recap: The Mounties entered nine wrestlers in the tournament and had six come back with conference medals.

Hummel led the way with his title at 121 pounds, but it didn’t come easy.

The Bloomsburg commit trailed Bishop McCort’s Jack Silfies, 5-4, with five seconds left in the match. The pair restarted after going out of bounds, with Hummel hitting a slide by for the winning takedown right before the buzzer went off.

“I knew there was short time. I wasn’t sure if it (takedown) was in time or not,” Hummel said. “Then I heard the buzzer, so that felt pretty good. I was just relieved that I scored that three at the end.”

The crowd came to a roar, which Hummel heard: “It was loud.”

He felt good about his tournament but knows that he has some work to do from the bottom position. P-O coach Justin Fye said there were “some highs and lows” in the match but praised Hummel.

“At no time did he stop wrestling, I love seeing that as a coach sitting in the corner,” Fye said. “He didn’t get frustrated when he got scored upon. He kept trying to wrestle through positions. To see him meet one of his goals, get to the top of the podium and beat somebody that he knows he was right there with earlier in the year was a great feeling, because he deserved that.”

Fye was pleased with so much success from his other wrestlers, too.

He mentioned that a couple of them were second and third year wrestlers, but the experience of this tournament will only propel them toward the postseason.

“The kids wrestled really well. There’s always ups and downs in a tournament like this. I think our guys had great matches throughout,” Fye said. “I felt like there were a couple matches we could have won, and a couple matches we came back and scored at the end to win. The stuff our coaching staff is putting together and working on with them in the room, we’re seeing it carrying on the mat now.”

Bald Eagle Area

Team finish: 6th, 131 points

Champions: Caleb Close (189)

Other placewinners: Tyler Corey (6th, 107), Tanner Guenot (3rd, 127), Caden Judice (2nd, 133), Dawson Lomison (4th, 139), Alex Surovec (7th, 160), Gage Gardner (5th, 285)

Recap: It’s been a rather rough start to Close’s senior year.

He had to miss some time due to an injury and illness, but since getting back on the mat, he’s excelled.

“I’m grateful to be wrestling. It’s never something that really was a problem for me. This past year and a half, I’ve realized that it’s a privilege to be able to do this,” Close said. “I’m not taking any moment for granted.”

The American commit got a moment on Saturday by avenging a second-place finish from last year’s conference championships.

Close took on Tyrone’s Kyle Scott, who is a familiar foe. The duo has faced each other five times in their careers, with Close winning all five.

Close recorded a takedown in the first period for the opening score. He tacked on an escape in the second and Scott helped by giving up two stall points in the third for a 6-1 win that the Eagles wrestler felt he could’ve done better in.

“I felt like I kept the pressure on him, but I couldn’t shoot on the edge of the mat. We were on the edge of the mat a lot,” Close said. “I should have shot him out and got back to the center. It’s hard to get an attack when his feet are out of bounds, because by the time you shoot you’re both out.”

BEA also had Judice make the finals and nearly had a third in Guenot.

Judice ran into a buzzsaw of Bishop McCort’s Jax Forrest in his 133-pound finals. Forrest racked up a 19-4 technical fall in 1:25.

Guenot suffered a tough 4-1 sudden-victory loss to Penns Valley’s Erik Carlile in the semifinals. Guenot was able to rebound for his third-place finish, where he tallied a 15-0 technical fall over Central Cambria’s Burke Niebauer.

“It’s a mixed bag of things, a lot of good things, a lot of things we have to work on and fine tune,” Eagles coach Ron Guenot said of his team’s performance. “It’s a tough tournament. It kind of shows you some of the things you need to do, and shows you where you’re at. We’ll move forward next week, starting with practice on Monday.”

Bellefonte

Team finish: 4th, 144 points

Champions: None

Other placewinners: Wyatt Long (5th, 127), Cameron Garcia (3rd, 139), Andrew Gall (7th, 145), Ezra Swisher (2nd, 152), Noah Weaver (2nd, 160), Jackson Long (5th, 172), Luke Hockenberry (3rd, 189), Logan Rarrick (6th, 285)

Recap: The Red Raiders were tied with Penns Valley for the most medalists at eight.

However, they had the highest finish of all the county teams, as all eight medalists finished in the top seven of their respective weight classes.

“Overall, there’s certainly some positives. When you look at individual matches, we were able to avenge some losses from earlier in the year. Those are some things you look for,” Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said Saturday. “As far as improvement, yesterday, we had a little bit more hustle. (We have) some things to build on, but certainly some things we got to work on too for preparation for the postseason.”

Swisher and Weaver had dominant runs to the finals, where they ran into some more Bishop McCort wrestlers.

Swisher, who was undefeated going into the finals, had a pair of pins and a major decision to set up his finals match with the Crushers’ Devon Magro.

Magro snapped off five takedowns and added nearfall points for a 19-4 technical fall in 1:41.

Weaver had just two matches to get to the finals, but he opened with a 21-3 technical fall in 3:23 over Penn Cambria’s Nate Mack. He then shut out Clearfield’s Ty Aveni, 7-0, in sudden victory to take on Bishop McCort’s Melvin Miller in the finals.

Miller, who is a reigning PIAA champion, rattled off seven first-period takedowns in a 21-6 technical fall in 2:00.

“Obviously, that’s the next level. We won’t see them anymore the rest of the year, but nonetheless, that’s the next level up,” Maney said. “Ezra, who has high goals for himself, this tournament, not a huge tournament numbers wise, but the quality certainly was there, and to make the finals is an accomplishment. He had a good solid match. Same way with Weaver, in the semis to win a good, solid match there in overtime to get to the final. Those guys are going to come with the mindset to get better, but it’s also what the next level looks like.”

Penns Valley

Team finish: 5th, 136.5 points

Champions: None

Other placewinners: Max Dinges (2nd, 114), Conner Myers (8th, 121), Erik Carlile (2nd, 127), Tripp Watson (7th, 133), Sawyer Fetterolf (6th, 145), Brayden Lisowski (3rd, 160), Robert Martin (6th, 172), Landon Hess (5th, 215)

Recap: The Rams began the day with three semifinalists in Dinges, Carlile and Lisowski.

The underclassmen in Dinges (freshman) and Carlile (sophomore) each were able to punch their tickets to the finals, where they squared off with some veterans on the high school level from Chestnut Ridge.

Dinges faced Easton Mull, who is a senior and three-time PIAA qualifier. Mull is also ranked No. 2 in the state according to PA Power Wrestling, while Dinges is No. 8.

The rookie tallied the match’s first points by countering a Mull takedown attempt with 59 seconds left in the first period. The second period saw Mull tie the bout up thanks to a penalty point from Dinges and a reversal.

In the third period, Dinges got a reversal with 50 seconds remaining in the bout to hold a 5-3 lead. Mull stayed focused though and got a reversal and nearfall points right before the buzzer to clip the Rams wrestler, 7-5.

“Max is a freshman, but by no means is he your typical freshman,” Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker said. “He’s going to have a very, very good career. He’s right there with one of the best kids in the state. A couple of position things that we got to work on. He’s aware of it. As soon as the match was over, he kind of identified what we identified. He’ll be excited to wrestle him again sometime.”

Carlile, who gutted out a nice 4-1 sudden-victory win over BEA’s Tanner Guenot in the semifinals, took on junior Dominic Deputy. Deputy, who is a North Carolina State commit, is a two-time PIAA runnerup.

The Lions wrestler showed why he’s been so successful by racking up a 16-1 technical fall on Carlile in 3:54. Deputy had three takedowns and three sets of nearfall points.

“I knew Eric was up for it. He really was looking forward to it, to see where he stood with one of the best guys in the state,” Brinker said. “He just got overwhelmed. I think the wheels came off the track, so to speak. It was hard to battle back from that. All kudos to Deputy and Mull, they are great kids, and congratulate them both.”

Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference Championships

Saturday at Ebensburg

Team key: Bald Eagle Area (BEA), Bedford (BF), Bellefonte (B), Bellwood-Antis (BA), Bishop McCort (BM), Central Cambria (CC), Central (C), Chestnut Ridge (CR), Clearfield (CF), Forest Hills (FH), Hollidaysburg (H), Huntingdon (HD), Johnstown (J), Penn Cambria (PC), Penns Valley (PV), Philipsburg-Osceola (P-O), Richland (R), Somerset (S), Tyrone (T), Westmont Hilltop (WH)

Team scores: 1. Bishop McCort 302.5, 2. Clearfield 185, 3. Chestnut Ridge 149, 4. Bellefonte 144, 5. Penns Valley 136.5, 6. Bald Eagle Area 131, 7. Hollidaysburg 121, 8. Huntingdon 106.5, 9. Somerset 96, 10. Philipsburg-Osceola 84.5

Finals

107: Keegan Bassett, BM, tech. fall Garrett Weyandt, CR, 17-2 (2:35); 114: Easton Mull, CR, dec. Max Dinges, PV, 7-5; 121: Caleb Hummel, P-O, dec. Jack Silfies, BM, 7-5; 127: Dom Deputy, CR, tech. fall Erik Carlile, PV, 16-1 (3:54); 133: Jax Forrest, BM, tech. fall Caden Judice, BEA, 19-4 (1:25); 139: Sam Herring, BM, tech. fall Cash Diehl, CF, 18-3 (1:47); 145: Bo Bassett, BM, tech. fall Aaron Ickes, CR, 18-3 (1:06); 152: Devon Magro, BM, tech. fall Ezra Swisher, B, 19-4 (1:41); 160: Melvin Miller, BM, tech. fall Noah Weaver, B, 21-6 (2:00); 172: Brady Collins, CF, dec. CJ Pensiero, BM, 15-11; 189: Caleb Close, BEA, dec. Kyle Scott, T, 6-1; 215: Landon Erdman, HD, pinned Zane Hagans, S, 4:23; 285: Rowan Holmes, S, dec. Jonah McCoy, WH, 9-5

Consolation Finals

127: Tanner Guenot, BEA, tech. fall Burke Niebauer, CC, 15-0 (4:12); 133: Brady Kostick, R, tech. fall Ace Foster, P-O, 18-1, 3:45; 139: Cameron Garcia, B, dec. Dawson Lomison, BEA, 9-3; 160: Brayden Lisowski, PV, inj. default Ty Aveni, CF; 189: Luke Hockenberry, B, major dec. Stefan Noronha, BM, 12-0

Fifth-Place Match

107: Landon Maul, FH, pinned Tyler Corey, BEA, 2:20; 127: Wyatt Long, B, dec. Averi Gable, P-O, 4-0; 139: Connor Guenot, P-O, dec. Kaden Horn, C, 6-5; 145: Isaac Filak, PC, pinned Sawyer Fetterolf, PV, 3:39; 172: Jackson Long, B, pinned Robert Martin, PV, :46; 215: Landon Hess, PV, pinned Blaine O’Farrell, CC, 2:05; 285: Gage Gardner, BEA, pinned Logan Rarrick, B, 2:39

Seventh-Place Match

107: Xavier Lutz, CF, pinned Bradley Peters, P-O, :25; 121: Landon Krupka, H, med. forfeit Conner Myers, PV; 133: Tripp Watson, PV, med. forfeit Logan Rumberger, T; 145: Andrew Gall, B, pinned Eli Wallen, HD, 2:10; 160: Alex Surovec, BEA, dec. Cuyler Hale, BF, 5-4; 215: Connor Ward, WH, dec. Evan Eichenlaub, P-O, 5-1

Semifinals

114: Dinges, PV, dec. Eli Herring, BM, 5-2; 121: Hummel, P-O, pinned Owen Dluhos, WH, 3:45; 127: Carlile, PV, dec. Guenot, BEA, 4-1 (SV); 133: Forrest, BM, pinned Foster, P-O, :49; Judice, BEA, tech. fall Brady Kostick, R, 17-0 (3:30); 139: Diehl, CF, major dec. Lomison, BEA, 11-1; 152: Swisher, B, major dec. Colton Ryan, CF, 10-1; 160: Miller, BM, tech. fall B. Lisowski, PV, 25-10 (2:27); Weaver, B, dec. Ty Aveni, CF, 7-0 (SV); 189: Close, BEA, pinned Jeremy Hajzus, CC, 1:44

Consolation Semifinals

107: Conner Sidney, H, dec. T. Corey, BEA, 6-0; 127: Niebauer, CC, dec. W. Long, B, 2-1; Guenot, BEA, dec. Gable, P-O, 10-3; 133: Foster, P-O, dec. Trenden Willey, CR, 2-1; 139: Lomison, BEA, dec. Guenot, P-O, 11-9; Garcia, B, major dec. Kaden Horn, C, 9-0; 145: Colton Bumbarger, CF, pinned Sa. Fetterolf, PV, 1:24; 160: B. Lisowski, PV, pinned Nate Mack, PC, 2:41; 172: Mitchell Barroner, H, pinned Martin, PV, 1:59; 189: Hockenberry, B, dec. Hazjus, CC, 6-0; 215: Marquez Gordon, BM, pinned Hess, PV, 3:24; 285: Caleb Rodriguez, BM, pinned Rarrick, B, 3:34; Nick Bailor, CF, pinned Gardner, BEA, 3:29

Consolation Quarterfinals

107: Landon Maul, FH, dec. Peters, P-O, 8-4; T. Corey, BEA, dec. Lutz, CF, 8-4; 121: Tucker Boone, BF, med. forfeit Myers, PV; 127: W. Long, B, pinned Bryndin Chamberlain, CF, :49; Gable, P-O, tech. fall Isaiah Chyr, PC, 15-0 (1:48); 133: Jacob Brua, H, dec. Watson, PV, 8-2 (SV); 139: Guenot, P-O, dec. Maddux Sipe, CR, 6-2; Garcia, B, dec. Christian Taylor, HD, 9-2; 145: Isaac Filak, PC, major dec. Andrew Gall, B, 17-6; Sa. Fetterolf, PV, dec. Wallen, HD, 12-6; 160: Blake Kennedy, H, dec. Surovec, BEA, 6-1; 172: Martin, PV, dec. Tristan Casey, CR, 5-3; J. Long, B, major dec. Nick Noon, FH, 9-0; 189: Hockenberry, B, dec. Blair Miller, 2-0; 215: Hess, PV, dec. Connor Ward, WH, 15-12; Blaine O’Farrell, CC, dec. E. Eichenlaub, P-O, 9-2; 285: Rarrick, B, dec. Ryvan Audi, R, 4-1; Gardner, BEA, dec. Scott Payne, H, 4-1

Consolation Third Round

107: Peters, P-O, pinned Pierce Polacek, R, :34; T. Corey, BEA, won by forfeit; 121: Myers, PV, pinned Bailey Wilt, C, 2:16; Landon Krupka, H, major dec. Liam Purcell, BEA, 10-1; 127: W. Long, B, pinned Brayden Moss, FH, :48; Gable, P-O, pinned Rylen Morningstar, HD, 2:22; 133: Watson, PV, dec. Carter Kozielec, BF, 8-2; 139: Guenot, P-O, tech. fall Deshonn Valentine, S, 16-1 (3:15); Garcia, B, major dec. Zach Rummel, PV, 13-2; 145: Gall, B, tech. fall Hunter Kephart, P-O, 18-2 (4:52); Sa. Fetterolf, PV, pinned James Bialo, H, 2:07; 152: Mason Schenk, H, dec. Seth Fetterolf, PV, 8-2; 160: Surovec, BEA, major dec. Christian McCall, HD, 14-0; 172: Martin, PV, major dec. Kyler Suhoney, T, 9-1; J. Long, B, pinned Chase Tresnicky, R, :28; 189: Hockenberry, B, pinned Joey Huxta, BF, 1:51; Miller, C, pinned Caden Simco, PV, 4:46; 215: Hess, PV, pinned Paul Tisinger, J, 2:15; Ward, WH, pinned Ian Valimont, B, 3:44; E. Eichenlaub, P-O, dec. Ryan Ludwig, CF, 2-1 (UTB2); 285: Rarrick, B, pinned Dayne Summerville, PC, 3:32; Gardner, BEA, dec. Noah Metz, HD, 7-0