FRANK DIMON/For The Express Central Mountain's Collin Bauman wrestles Brody Coleman of Boyertown in their bout at 121 pounds.

ALTOONA – Despite an up-and-down start to Friday’s state quarterfinal match against No. 8 Boyertown, Central Mountain (15-1) seemed to be getting back on track in pursuit of its third straight semifinal bid. A quick pin from Patrick Tarantella had put it in a spot to take a lead and though he had moved up two weights and was facing a state-ranked wrestler in No. 18 Beck Babb, sophomore Aiden Kunes appeared primed to grant it one.

An escape at the start of the third period put him up 4-0, a lead he’d hold for over a minute and a half with little issue. But just when it seemed like he’d edge out a hard-fought decision, Babb struck and struck hard, wrapping around Kunes after absorbing a shot for one takedown then getting him down on the mat for another to secure the comeback, 6-5 decision.

“He was going against a tough kid, up two weight classes, wanted to go out there and do it. He won five minutes and 50 seconds of the match,” said Central Mountain head coach Biff Walizer on Kunes. “That one shifted the momentum, got them pretty fired up.”

With the Wildcats going down 14-9 there, their chances quickly began to unravel. Through the next seven bouts, the Bears came out on top in five of them, running away with a 36-18 victory to hand Central Mountain its first loss of the season and send it down to consolations.

In its toughest test of the season, a lot had to go right for the Wildcats to keep their undefeated season alive another day. Unfortunately, not enough went their way initially and they struggled to find momentum once their more assured weights had past.

“To beat a team like Boyertown, we needed everything to go our way,” said Walizer. “Boyertown’s a heck of a team; they’re very balanced. Obviously, the most balanced team we’ve wrestled all year and that shows in their lineup. That’s why they have a great dual meet team.”

For the dual to go their way, they needed the light and lower-middle weights to get them out to a decent lead, as Boyertown harbored an advantage down the stretch with multiple state-ranked wrestlers in the mid-to-upper-mid range. Though there were positives from that group, they just couldn’t muster up enough points to place them in a winnable spot.

After bouncing back from a tough second period, freshman Cael Dorman surrendered a takedown with ten second left on the clock to fall by major decision at 107, 10-1. At 114 against 2024 regional qualifier Boden Waite, No. 11 Gavin Heverly went into the third period with a 9-3 lead but couldn’t translate it into a major, with Waite turning it up a notch to put him on skates down the stretch. And Luke Garman suffered a tight, 5-1 decision loss at 127, almost working Cole Fogle on his back on multiple occasions out of top through the third with no dice.

“Going through those early weights, I thought we had a decent shot at coming out ahead going into the middle weights, where they’re pretty tough at 152, 160 and 172,” said Walizer. “That included from 107, to getting bonus at 114 and 127 was another one we needed.”

It would’ve been tough sledding either way, with Boyertown picking up pins at 152 and 172 from two state-ranked wrestlers in No. 19 Owen Dykie and No. 21 JD Heiser. But strong bonus-point victories from No. 1 Dalton Perry and Bryce Brungard, a tech fall and 12-2 major decision respectively, likely would’ve held more weight and served to boost the upperweights more effectively.

Brungard picked up his major at 189 over a 2024 regional qualifier in Josh Larrimore, a wrestler who went into the match with a 26-10 record. Perry secured his tech fall over No. 15 Shane Stankina, racking up 12 points through the third and almost finishing things with a pin. And outside of the pair, Collin Bauman put together a solid performance against Boyertown’s highest ranked wrestler in No. 12 Brody Coleman, going the distance and falling by 16-5 major decision after trailing 16-3 early in the third.

The Wildcats will have an opportunity to bounce back on Saturday morning against a similarly tough test, taking on District 7 champ and No. 6 ranked Franklin Regional in hopes of keeping their PIAA run alive another round. Whatever ends up happening there, in another lofty test for the inexperienced squad, Walizer is proud of the team for making it as far as it has.

“Franklin Regional, they’re the District 7 champs so they’re a solid squad from top to bottom,” said Walizer. “Proud of the work and effort the guys have put in to get this far. We’ve got one more tomorrow to try to extend the dual meet season.”

That match is set for 8 a.m.

Boyertown Area 36, Central Mountain 18

(PIAA CLASS AAA TEAM TOURANMENT)

107: Jake Stanchak (B) maj. dec. Cale Dorman, 10-1. 114: Gavin Heverly (CM) dec. Boden Waite, 11-7. 121: Brody Coleman (B) maj. dec. Collin Bauman, 16-5. 127: Cole Fogle (B) dec. Luke Garman, 5-1. 133: Patrick Tarantella (CM) pinned Liam Diamdon, 1:04. 139: Beck Babb (B) dec. Aiden Kunes, 6-5. 145: Dalton Perry (CM) tech fall Shane Stankina, 22-6, 5:24. 152: Owen Dykie (B) pinned Dakoda Packer-Edwards, 1:42. 160: Carter StoucH (B) dec. Luke Ananea, 9-3. 172: Jonathan Heiser (B) pinned Dalton McDermott, 3:17. 189: Bryce Brungard (CM) maj. dec. Josh Larrimore, 12-2. 215: Kaleb Dumin (B) maj. dec. Kai Fravel, 10-0. 285: Michael Palmiero (B) dec. Hayes Henry, 6-1.