I haven't been able to find full results from Altoona yet - hopefully they'll be updated by morning - but I was able to speak with Westmont coach Matt Beaujon and Johnstown coach Bill Bassett for a story I did for The Tribune-Democrat.
Westmont still has all 14 of its wrestlers alive in the tournament, including eight in the semifinals. Seven of those were seeded in the top, so the Hilltoppers took care of business where they were supposed to and got a minor upset at 195 from fifth-seeded Eric Kowalewski.
Beaujon said that he thought Westmont was in third place after the first day. Things will obviously get much tougher in the semifinals, as Ryan Burnheimer and Josh Duplin are the only Hilltoppers seeded first and Mike Walsh is seeded second.
If Walsh does manage to make it to the 132-pound finals, he'll likely encounter a familiar face in Johnstown's Malcolm Harris, who is the top seed. Harris scored a tech fall in the quarterfinals and "is on a mission," according to Bassett.
Harris is one of two semifinalists for Johnstown, which only took six wrestlers to Altoona. Trey Leeth also advanced at 145 for the Trojans.
Gervon Simon, who was only seeded sixth at 195 despite a 13-0 record, didn't fare so well. He lost to Bald Eagle Area's Aaron Varner in the quarterfinals and will now have to try to wrestle back to the consolation finals in order to advance to next week's Northwest Regional tournament in Altoona.
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