WINGATE–There’s no surprise that Central Mountain came into Bald Eagle Area High School ready to challenge any opponent on the mat. While the Wildcats did that, they also placed four wrestlers atop the Pennsylvania Big 7 wrestling tournament on Saturday. The Wildcats made numerous efforts and are continuing to make strides as a team at a critical point in their season.

By no means was Saturday a team effort, but Dalton Perry, Luke Simcox, Griffin Walizer and Rocco Serafini were locked in. Serafini won by major decision, 15-4, Walizer and Perry both picked up a fall and Simcox grabbed a 16-1 technical fall win.

But even as the four main guys took care of business for Central Mountain, guys like Collin Bauman, Jake Weaver, Braylen Corter Luke Ananea and Jaggar Pardoe, who had a comeback victory in the finals, deserve their credit. Pardoe battled for a fifth-place spot while Ananea and Carnell Noone battled for fourth. But Corter, Weaver and Bauman all placed third.

“It was nice to be able to get a lot of our backup guys into the varsity tournament, that’s good experience for them,” coach Biff Walizer said after the tournament. “But overall, the effort was there, we’re moving in the right direction and guys are getting better.”

The Wildcats look solid early on. There were some matches where guys got into their offense early, or some waited and let the offense come to them later on. But the Wildcats clashed in every match they were in, despite win or loss.

Luke Ananea advanced to semifinal action at 139, Braylen Corter at 152, Jake Weaver at 172 and Giovanni Tarantella at 215. Dalton Perry, Luke Simcox advanced at 133 by forfeit along with Walizer, Gino Serafini and Rocco Serafini by forfeit.

In the first round, with Central Mountain dropping their first three bouts of the morning, Perry, Ananea, and Corter picked up three consecutive wins to advance to the semifinal round. Perry looked as sharp as could be, getting a fall in just 16 seconds, and Ananea and Corter continued their impressive wrestling, scoring nine points on the way to major decision and decision victories, respectively.

In Weaver’s match, the young stud picked up a fall in 1:34 after scoring eight effortless points. Weaver looked sharp, staying on his attack early and dictating the match from the first whistle. To finish the quarterfinals for Central Mountain, Wildcats heavyweight Giovanni Tarantella picked up a pin in the second period after scoring eight consecutive points.

Despite Central Mountain having seven wrestlers drop their opening round bouts, many Wildcats made up for their losses in the first round of the consolation bracket. Collin Bauman and Carnell Noone both picked up wins by fall, Hunter Donley picked up a major decision victory and Wyatt Kramer also won by fall.

In the consolation semifinals, Collin Bauman continued his strong efforts by gutting out a 6-4 decision victory, Carnell Noone won a 4-3 decision victory and Luke Ananea–who lost his championship semifinal match, bounced back with a 9-4 decision victory. Braylen Corter battled teammate Hunter Donley and won a 1-0 decision while Jake Weaver and Giovanni Tarantella picked up decision victories.

A lot of what the younger guys are going through is learning curves–something that they must go through in order to wrestle at a high-level down the road. Dropping matches in tournaments is okay for the younger guys, especially having the experienced upperclassmen lead by example.

“Overall, everybody competed hard and I feel like we’re moving in the right direction,” coach Walizer said.

But even as the younger guys gain experience, they are still giving an exceptional amount of effort in each match. They are trying to score points and battle against their opponent.

Collin Bauman is one example, as the freshman dropped his first match of the tournament, but came back winning three in a row. This gives Bauman hope, but it also shows coach Walizer and his staff that Bauman won’t give up. But there were plenty of others Wildcats that flourished in the consolations.

“January in the winter sports season can be a grind,” coach Walizer said. “Coming in today we were just hoping guys would bounce back from the competition they saw at Escape the Rock.”

Looking ahead, it’s crunch time for the Central Mountain. With Bald Eagle coming down to Mill Hall on Thursday night for a dual matchup, the Wildcats have to be ready to compete as they’ve done all year.

The Eagles are going to bring it, but what should motivate Central Mountain is making sure they’re preparing for the postseason road ahead.

“Thursday should be fun,” coach Walizer concluded. “I expect a good crowd from Bald Eagle Area, they always travel well. They have a great tradition and they’re a tough team so it should be fun.”

Walizer continued: “If you get to the state tournament you have to weigh in three times. So, this next weekend is going to be a trial run for some of our guys.”

1. Shikellamy (184.5) 2. Central Mountain (175) 3. Bellefonte (158.5) 4. Bald Eagle Area (137) 5. Altoona (118.5) 6. Jersey Shore (94) 7. State College (78) 8. Hollidaysburg (68)

Championship Quarterfinals: 107- Wyatt Long (Bellefonte) maj. dec. Collin Bauman, 8-0; 114 – Carson Krupka (Hollidaysburg) pinned Jaggar Pardoe, 5:11; 127 – James Bialo (Hollidaysburg) dec. Zachary St. Clair, 11-6 SV; 133 – Caleb Fasick (Altoona) maj. dec. Carnell Noone, 16-6; 139 – Luke Ananea maj. dec. Jacob Brua (Hollidaysburg), 9-0; 139 – Dalton Perry pinned Hunter Ishler (Bald Eagle Area), 0:16; 152 – Cole Wetzel (Shikellamy) dec. Hunter Donley, 3-0; 152 – Braylen Corter dec. Gavin Bennett (Bald Eagle Area), 9-4; 160 – Maxwell Murray (Bellefonte) dec. Bryce Brungard, 8-3; 172 – Tyler Bauder (Jersey Shore) pinned Wyatt Kramer, 2:36; 172 – Jacob Weaver pinned Aiden Schenk (Hollidaysburg), 1:34; 215 – Giovanni Tarentella pinned Rally Hoover (Hollidaysburg), 3:32. Championship Semifinals: 133 – Luke Simcox pinned Connor Maney (Bald Eagle Area), 1:47; 139 – Charles Keener (Shikellamy) won by tech. fall over Luke Ananea, 16-0 2:22; 139 – Dalton Perry pinned Eric Weaver (State College), 1:24; 145 – Griffin Walizer won by tech. fall over Alex Surovec (Bald Eagle Area), 28-13 4:35; 152 – Luke Sipes (Altoona) won by tech. fall over Braylen Corter, 16-0 4:23; 160 – Gino Serafini maj. dec. Kaden Walker (Jersey Shore), 9-1; 172 – Tyler Bauder (Jersey Shore) dec. Jacob Weaver, 4-0; 189 – Rocco Serafini dec. Slate Sechrist (Jersey Shore), 9-2; 215 – Mason Rebuck (Shikellamy) maj. dec. Giovanni Tarentella, 11-2. Consolation Round 1: 107 – Collin Bauman pinned Liam Purcell (Bald Eagle Area), 2:25; 133 – Carnell Noone pinned Gavin DuFour (Bellefonte), 1:44; 152 – Hunter Donley maj. dec. Jack McHail (Bellefonte), 9-0; 160 – Mitchell Baronner (Hollidaysburg) dec. Bryce Brungard, 3-0; 172 – Wyatt Kramer pinned Aiden Schenk (Hollidaysburg), 2:03. Consolation Semifinals: 107 – Collin Bauman dec. Logan Krupka (Hollidaysburg), 6-4; 114 – Kayson Tice (Bald Eagle Area) pinned Jaggar Pardoe, 4:36; 127 – Brady Bucher (State College) pinned Zachary St. Clair, 1:48; 133 – Carnell Noone dec. Connor Maney (Bald Eagle Area), 4-3; 139 – Luke Ananea dec. Wyatt Young (Altoona), 9-4; 152 – Braylen Corter dec. Hunter Donley, 1-0; 172 – Jacob Weaver dec. Matt Shaffer (Shikellamy), 3-1; 172 – William Garrison (Bellefonte) pinned Wyatt Kramer, 3:51; 215 – Giovanni Tarentella dec. Nash Irwin (Bellefonte), 5-2. Fifth Place: 114 – Jaggar Pardoe pinned Nicholas Berrena (State College), 4:11; 127 – Zachary St. Clair won by forfeit; 152 – Hunter Donley pinned Gavin Bennett (Bald Eagle Area), 2:03; 172 – Matt Shaffer (Shikellamy) pinned Wyatt Kramer, 1:50. Third Place: 107 – Collin Bauman dec. Mason Sanderson (State College), 4-0; 133 – Isaac McGregor (Shikellamy) pinned Carnell Noone, 1:19; 139 – Noah Weaver (Bellefonte) dec. Luke Ananea, 4-3; 152 – Braylen Corter dec. Cole Wetzel (Shikellamy), 1-0; 172 – Jacob Weaver maj. dec. William Garrison (Bellefonte), 13-4; 215 – Gage Gardner (Bald Eagle Area) dec. Giovanni Tarentella, 7-5. Championship finals: 133 – Luke Simcox won by tech. fall over Caleb Fasick (Altoona), 16-1 4:30; 139 – Dalton Perry pinned Charles Keener (Shikellamy), 4:18; 145 – Griffin Walizer pinned Gage Long (Bellefonte), 4:57; 160 – Connor Wetzel (Shikellamy) dec. Gino Serafini, 3-2; 189 – Rocco Serafini maj. dec. Brody Rebuck (Shikellamy), 15-4.