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Tom Elling on wrestling: Central Mountain had fast start at PHAC Duals

It was nice to see Montoursville grad and three-time state champion Gavin Hoffman make the starting lineup for Ohio State. He split in two appearance this past weekend at 197 pounds, dropping a 4-2 verdict to Illinois’ Matt Wrobleski then decisioning Wisconsin’s Andrew Salemme, 7-3. Hoffman’s father Jimmy wrestled for Hank Hawkins andAl Madden at Lock Haven High School.

His brother Garrett is a graduate transfer (from Bucknell) and is now wrestling for Indiana, ironically, also at 197 pounds.

Wrestling suffered two more losses recently with the passing of Ed Taylor (former Hughesville and Bloomsburg State star) and longtime wrestling analyst Craig Phillips. Phillips did some coaching at Meadville with Dick Lumley and was the ace writer for Norm Palovcsik’s Keystone Round-Up.

Central Mountain got off to a fast start with five wins at the PHAC Duals tournament hosted by Jersey Shore. The big win was a 39-30 nip-and-tuck over Williamsport. Both coaches — Biff Walizer and Brian Nasdeo — shuffled their line-ups to get the best match-ups. The heroes were many for the Wildcats, but Nik Miller’s win giving up forty-plus pounds to veteran 285-pounder Charles Cruise started things off right. The young faces in the line-up all gave great performances all day long.

You have read elsewhere the individual results. Luke Simcox had a banner day, as did fellow frosh Zane Cooper — both going 5-0. Gino Serafini was also undefeated going 4-0. Clayton Foster, Taylor Weaver, Rocco Serafni and Caleb Porter, all went 4-1.

On Tuesday, the Wildcats took on 12-0 Selinsgrove and got a great team effort in downing the Seals, 35-25. There were many heroic efforts, but Gino Serafini clinched the win with a fall in 1:30. Luke Simcox put some icing on the cake shutting out veteran Aiden Gaugler, 5-0. The Wildcats are slated to host BEA tonight.

You’ll be hearing a lot more from this team as they continue under the Wildcat staff.

Dalton Perry (117) — the outstanding eighth grader from Bucktail — won gold in the Tulsa Nationals held at Tulsa, Oklahoma. He competed in the15-and-under division.

Shore is once again battling the numbers game, but both Crock Herman and Dan Muthler said there are some football players from the PIAA Class AAAA runner-up squad who are nursing injuries and should be back soon. This is a good time to congratulate coach Tom Gravish and his staff and team for a great season. Well done, Bulldogs.

How about that Bellefonte team? Coach Mike Maney has a great tournament team as they showed by winning the NW Class AAA Region last February. Most of that team is back. Bellefonte is 3-0 having downed Jersey Shore on Jan. 14, and then sweeping a tri-meet two days later over Clearfield (48-20) and P-O (54-15).

The premier match was Ethan Rossman’s fall over fellow PIAA qualifier Mark McGonigal in the 189 match-up in 3:46. The other Ethan– Richner — captured his 100th career win.

Nate Cobbler does a bang-up job reporting wresting fo the newspaper up the road. He is the Joe Walker of Centre County. He is so very good at keeping me up-to-date with the Wildcats win-loss record and compilation of falls, techs, etc.

Two former PA wrestlers are busy putting the finishing touches on their second novels. Dr. Billy Welker of Wheeling, West Virginia, and Wade Schalles (now in Florida) alerted me of the progress. Welker is even using a few familiar names in his work.

Sugar Valley Rural Charter opened at Loyalsock on Tuesday losing a 40-30 contest. Kirk Johnson (152) and Caden Weaver (172) had falls. Their next action is at Meadowbrook Christian on Saturday. New coach Jason Bilbay has a limited schedule but hope to prepare his wrestlers for the always-tough District 4 tournaments.

The Phoenix have nine wrestlers on the varsity, making it tough to be competitive in duals. Corey King, Dominick Kennedy, Gavin Hampton and Kyle Stahl are the top returnees. Former coach Charlie Barner had to resign because his job demanded more of his time. Thanks to Craig Buskirk for keeping me updated with SV progress.

Bald Eagle Area “may” be seeing their first action tonight at Central Mountain. The Eagles had to quarantine because of a few Covid outbreaks internally. They should once again be competitive and the rivalry meet always produced some unexpected results.

Brody Teske, the four-time state champion from Iowa who went 5-2 for Penn State during his short tenure, is now wrestling for Northern Iowa and is ranked 18th in the nation at 125.

Bucknell is starting five freshmen. We expect to have more information on the Lock Haven season by next week.

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” — Anonymous.

PHAC DUALS RESULTS

(Saturday, Jan. 16)

Central Mountain 49, Jersey Shore 18

160: Tyler Bauder, JS, dec. Damien Galentine, 4-0. 172: Lucas Porter, CM, won by forfeit. 189: Hayden Packer, JS, pinned Brayden Blackwell, :52. 215: Gage Sutliff, CM, pinned Dyllian Ross, 4:59. 285: Nik Miller, CM, won by forfeit. 106: Brock Weiss, JS, won by forfeit. 113: Clayton Foster, CM, won by forfeit. 120: Zane Cooper, CM, won by forfeit. 126: Gino Serafini, CM, won by forfeit. 132: Luke Simcox, CM, maj. dec. Liam Goodrich, 11-3. 138: Taylor Weaver, CM, won by forfeit. 145: Gabe Andrus, JS, dec. Griffin Walizer, 4-3. 152: Rocco Serafini, CM, dec. Cadey Vuocolo, 5-1.

Mifflinburg 31, Jersey Shore 29

172: Gabe Packer, JS, won by forfeit. 189: Hayden Packer, JS, pinned Jonathan Melendez, 1:26. 215: Quentin Doane, M, pinned Dyllian Ross, 1:32. 285: Emmanuel Ulrich, M, won by forfeit. 106: Double forfeit. 113: Brock Weiss, JS, pinned Dylan Starr, 4:56. 120: Brady Struble, M, won by forfeit. 126: Jeremy Page, M won by forfeit. 132: Gabe Gramly, M, dec. Liam Goodrich, 7-1. 138: Double forfeit. 145: Troy Bingaman, M, maj. dec. Gabe Andrus, 8-0. 152: Cade Vuocolo, JS, won by forfeit. 160: Tyler Bauder, JS, won by forfeit.

Shikellamy 35, Jersey Shore 23

189: Hayden Packer, JS, pinned Mason Rebuck, :56. 215: Adam Young, S, tech. fall Dyllian Ross, 18-3, 5:26. 285: Blake VanKurk, S, won by forfeit. 106: Brock Weiss, JS, tech. fall Alex Reed, 21-5, 4:15. 113: Double forfeit. 120: Double forfeit. 126: Blaize Souder, S, won by forfeit. 132: Liam Goodrich, JS, pinned Gabby Bradigan, :47. 138: Nicholas Koontz, S, won by forfeit. 145: Gabe Andrus, JS, dec. Caleb Yoder, 2-0. 152: Coltyn Sempko, S, pinned Cade Vuocolo, 1:19. 160: Drew Balestrini, S, won by forfeit. 172: Tyler Bauder, JS, dec. Gage Wolfe, 8-2.

Williamsport 42, Jersey Shore 21

215: Dyllian Ross, JS, dec. Charlie Lundy, 8-6. 285: Charles Crews, W, won by forfeit. 106: Double forfeit. 113: Cael Nasdeo, W, dec. Brock Weiss, 9-5. 120: Devin Harris, W, won by forfeit. 126: Austin Stugart, W, won by forfeit. 132: Carter Weaver, W, dec. Liam Goodrich, 5-1. 138: Braden Bower, W, won by forfeit. 145: Riley Bower, W, pinned Gabe Andrus, 1:24. 152: Cade Vuocolo, JS, pinned Santino White, 4:43. 160: Roman Morrone, W, pinned Tyler Bauder, 4:21. 172: Gabe Packer, JS, pinned Sebastian Robinson, :37. 189: Hayden Packer, JS, pinned Ryan Dunlap, :57.

Jersey Shore 39, Danville 30

285: Justin Kutcher, D, won by forfeit. 106: Brock Weiss, JS, tech. fall Blake Sassaman, 20-4, 5:52. 113: Braeden Earlston, D, won by forfeit. 120: Kyle Vanden Heuvel, D, won by forfeit. 126: Andrew Johnson, D, won by forfeit. 132: Liam Goodrich, JS, tech. fall Gavin Haggerty, 18-2, 4:03. 138: Aaron Johnson, D, won by forfeit. 145: Gabe Andrus, JS, dec. Sam Meloy, 9-2. 152: Cade Vuocolo, JS, maj. dec. Jacob Ray, 8-0. 160: Tyler Bauder, JS, maj. dec. Weston Whapham, 10-2. 172: Gabe Packer, JS, pinned Caden Hagerman, :20. 189: Hayden Packer, JS, pinned Jacob Gilbert, 1:19. 215: Dyllian Ross, JS, pinned Joe Shipe, 2:17.

Central Mountain 39, Williamsport 30

106: Madison Packer, CM, won by forfeit. 113: Cael Nasdeo, W, pinned Clayton Foster, 3:18. 120: Zane Cooper, CM, pinned Devin Harris, 4:35. 126: Gino Serafini, CM, pinned Austin Stugart, 3:42. 132: Luke Simcox, CM, won by forfeit. 138: Carter Weaver, W, dec. Taylor Weave, 9-3. 145: Braden Bower, W, dec. Griffin Walizer, 8-3. 152: Riley Bower, W, pinned Rocco Serafini, 3:26. 160: Roman Morrone, W, pinned Damien Galentine, 2:54. 172: Sebastian Robinson, W, won by forfeit. 189: Caleb Porter, CM, pinned Ryan Dunlap, :59. 215: Gage Sutliff, SM, pinned Charlie Lundy, 1:39. 285: Nik Miller, CM, dec. Charles Crews, 5-2.

Williamsport 48, Danville 27

189: Caden Hagerman, D, pinned Ryan Dunlap, :48. 215: Charlie Lundy, CM, pinned Joe Shipe, 1:27. 285: Charles Crews, W, pinned Justin Kutcher, :32. 106: Blake Sassaman, D, won by forfeit. 113: Cael Nasdeo, W, pinned Braeden Earlston, 1:14. 120: Kyle Vanden Heuvel, D, dec. Alex Randell, 8-7. 126: Andrew Johnson, D, pinned Austin Stugart, 3:23. 132: Carter Weaver, W, pinned Gavin Haggerty, 1:14. 138: Braden Bower, W, pinned Aaron Johnson, :46. 145: Riley Bower, W, pinned Jacob Ray, 1:26. 152: Weston Whapham, D, pinned Santino White, 1:27. 160: Roman Morrone, W, won by forfeit. 172: Sebastian Robinson, W, pinned Jacob Gilbert, :48.

Williamsport 41, Mifflinburg 27

160: Roman Morrone, W, won by forfeit. 172: Sebastian Robinson, W, won by forfeit. 189: Jonathan Melendez, M, pinned Ryan Dunlap, 3:54. 215: Quentin Doane, M, pinned Charlie Lundy, :25. 285: Emmaniel Ulrich, M, dec. Charles Crews, 2-1, tb. 106: Double forfeit. 113: Cael Nasdeo, W, pinned Dylan Starr, :50. 120: Brady Struble, M, pinned Devin Harris, 1:46. 126: Gabe Gramly, M, pinned Austin Stugart, 1:17. 132: Carter Weaver, W, pinned Jeremy Page, :39. 138: Braden Bower, W, won by forfeit. 145: Riley Bower, W, tech. fall Troy Bingaman, 16-1, 5:46. 152: Santino White, W, won by forfeit.

Williamsport 51, Shikellamy 16

172: Sebastian Robinson, W, pinned Gage Wolfe, 4:54. 189: Mason Rebuck, S, pinned Ryan Dunlap, :46. 215: Adam Young, S, maj. dec. Charlie Lundy, 17-5. 285: Charles Crews, W, won by forfeit. 106: Double forfeit. 113: Cael Nasdeo, W, pinned Alex Reed, :40. 120: Alex Randell, W, won by foreit. 126: Austin Stugart, W, pinned Blaize Souder, 2:31. 132: Carter Weaver, W, pinned Gabby Bradigan, :45. 138: Braden Bower, W, pinned Nicholas Koontz, 1:14. 145: Riley Bower, W, pinned Caleb Yoder, 1:10. 152: Coltyn Sempko, S, pinned Santino White, 1:18. 160: Roman Morrone, W, dec. Drew Balestrini, 4-0.

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