District 6 regional qualifiers and recap

Unfortunately, due to a big project at work and a wild winter storm, I wasn't able to make it to the District 6 tournament in Altoona this weekend. Andy Elder covered the tournament for The Tribune-Democrat.
Complete brackets are available on the District 6 site. Here's a rundown of the regional qualifiers with my thoughts on the weight along with the top guy who won't be at regionals:

106

1. Logan Pirl, LV. 2. Derrick Christie, WH. 3. Huntur Campbell, CH. 4. Darren Yearick, PV. 5. Josh Boozel, MU.

Analysis: I didn't know anything about Pirl coming into the season, but he's been an impressive freshman. He made a name for himself by pinning top-seeded Campbell in the semis and beating Westmont's Derrick Christie in the finals.

Left out: Third-seeded Devon Brown of Tyrone was pinned by Boozel in the quarters, then lost 7-3 to Juniata's Tylynn Miller, who finished sixth, in the consis.

113

1. Max Murin, CC. 2. Nolan Link, PC. 3. Jake Keiper, FH. 4. Joseph Couteret, WB. 5. Izac Benson, HU.

Analysis: This one followed the seeds exactly. Murin beat Link in the finals, to avenge his lone loss of the season, which came in the finals at Bedford.

Left out: Mount Union's Andrew Todaro had a nice tournament from the 12 seed, as he beat No. 7 Clayton Dorian of Westmont Hilltop and No. 9 Bryce Campbell of Cambria Heights but fell just short, placing sixth.

120

1. Collin Glorioso, HU. 2. Carnell Andrews, WH. 3. Braedon Swab, CEN. 4. David Wiles, MC. 5. Tanner McCall, FH.

Analysis: Glorioso winning wasn't a surprise, but it looks like Andrews did a nice job, as the freshman pinned unbeaten Hunter Kern in the semifinals and dropped a 5-0 decision in the final.

Left out: Kern. The Juniata Valley sophomore won his first 24 matches of the season before losing his final three to finish sixth.

 

126

1. Triston Law, FH. 2. Curtis Decker, PV. 3. Ian Ostrowski, CC. 4. Brock Biddle, CEN. 5. Stephen Rouser, RI.

Analysis: Law was pretty dominant here. It looks like he only allowed a single point in the tournament - to Ostrowski in a 9-1 major in the semis.

Left out: Charlie Beatty, Marion Center. The freshman was the eighth seed, but beat No. 5 Alex Caldwell of Ligonier Valley.

132

1. Jake Boozel, MU. 2. Adam George, RI. 3. Richie Gilson, JU. 4. Jared Hurd, PV. 5. Drake Dorian, WH.

Analysis: This one surprised me. I saw Boozel struggle at Bedford and George has been remarkably consistent. Dorian getting out was also a surprise for me. The senior came in as the ninth seed, but he beat No. 10 Devon Walker of United, who had knocked off No. 5 Hunter Parks of West Branch, and then beat No. 4 Ethan Kennedy of Central.

Left out: Kennedy. The Central sophomore was the fourth seed and dropped a 4-3 decision to top-seeded George of the semis, but then lost 6-3 to Hurd and 4-2 to Dorian.

138

1. Tommy Opdenhoff, CC. 2. Dalton Clark, LV. 3. Nick Hoenstine, CEN. 4. Tyler Scott, HU. 5. Robbie Steel, MU.

Analysis: Clark was the top seed, but as I said earlier, I really liked the winner of the semi between Opdenhoff and Hoenstine to win this one.

Left out: Michael Stewart, Marion Center. There are quite few here - No. 4 Jacob Confer of Penns Valley and sixth-place finisher Zach Stephens of Penn Cambria come to mind - but the Stingers sophomore suffered a couple of tough losses. The No. 11 seed, Stewart beat Stephens before falling, 3-0 to Hoenstine. He also lost 3-2 to Steel, showing that he was right in matches with place-winners.

145

1. Robby Patrick, LV. 2. Isaac Stewart, MC. 3. Larry Brown, MV. 4. Travis Templeton, FH. 5. Seth Baney, HU.

Analysis: Patrick turned the tables on Stewart, who had beaten him earlier in the season. Brown did the same against Templeton, who beat him in the quarters but won their consi final match.

Left out: Mike Eckenrode, Penn Cambria. The No. 5 seed would have been good enough to make it out of most weights, but not this weekend in the deepest weight in the tournament. He lost twice to Baney, including by fall in the fifth-place match, and won't be going to regionals despite having beaten Patrick earlier in the season.

152

1. Jacob Oliver, HU. 2. Dominic Farabaugh, PC. 3. Andrew Hurd, PV. 4. Bryce Biddle, CEN. 5. Brent Troutman, JV.

Analysis: No surprise at the top, as Oliver is one of the studs of the tournament. Farabaugh hung with him in the district duals, losing 5-2, but it was a major this time. Farabaugh came into the tournament with just a 13-8 record, but a few quality wins got him the third seed, and he showed that he was better than his record with a 13-3 major of second-seeded Hurd in the semis.

Left out: Kris Smeal, West Branch. The fifth seed was pinned by Biddle and Hurd, then dropped a 12-6 decision to sixth-seeded Troutman for the final regional spot.

160

1. Drew Doak, BL. 2. Andrew Walters, WH. 3. Jon Wagner, HU. 4. Clayton Green, WB. 5. Ryan Thomas, MV.

Analysis: I was asked on Saturday evening how I thought a Doak-Walters final would go. I said I thought Walters could slow down Doak, but probably not enough to win, and anticipated a 3-2 Doak win. It turned out to be pretty close to that, as Doak didn't get the takedown I expected until overtime in a 3-1 victory. It was the 150th career win and fourth D6 title for Doak, so it says something about the freshman from Westmont that he was able to go toe-to-toe with the Blairsville senior.

Left out: Exree Loe, Greater Johnstown. The eighth seed had a chance to be the Trojans' first regional qualifier in AA, but lost in tiebreaker to Mo Valley's Thomas. He also dropped a 3-2 decision to Green, the fourth-place finisher.

170

1. Levi Niebauer, CH. 2. Luke Slippey, WB. 3. Nick Pecze, BL. 4. Jake Driskel, PC. 5. Zach Mock, BA.

Analysis: Not too many surprises at the top. 1-2 went according to seeds while 3-4 flip-flopped. Driskel doesn't get much attention, but the Penn Cambria junior has had a nice season. Mock was a surprise in the fifth spot, as he came from the eighth seed.

Left out: Ty Treaster, Juniata. The fifth-seeded senior got pinned by Pecze in the quarters and then pinned again by Central Cambria's Caliber Castel in the consis.

182

1. Corey Hazel, PV. 2. Scott Carbaugh, SH. 3. Taylor Foster, JU. 4. Dalton Waksmunski, CH. 5. Josh Wilson, BA.

Analysis: Statewide, I think this is the weakest weight. Hazel was second according to the most recent Off the Mat rankings, so I expected him to cruise through this bracket, but he only beat Foster 4-3 and Carbaugh - a surprise finalist from the sixth seed - 6-3. Other than a 4-3 victory over No. 3-ranked Dakota Geer of Franklin, Saturday's decisions marked the first time in two months that Hazel hadn't gotten bonus points. Waksmunski, the No. 10 seed, put together a nice tournament with a victory over second-seeded Wilson and a pair of wins over No. 7 Brad Smith of Marion Center.

Left out: Logan Fisher, Huntingdon. The third seed was 13th in the state according to Off the Mat, but was edged, 4-3, by Carbaugh in the quarters, then lost 3-2 to Wilson in the consis.

195

1. Scott Thompson, BL. 2. Vince McDowell, WB. 3. Cody Hamilton, MV. 4. Richard Reader, TY. 5. Matt Norris, HU.

Analysis: No surprise at the top, as Thompson joined 160-pound teammate Drew Doak as a four-time champ and picked up his second straight OW award. He pinned McDowell in the finals, his third fall in four bouts on the weekend. Reader kind of came from nowhere. He was the 10th seed and had only wrestled nine matches entering the tournament - although he did win eight of them. He pinned sixth-seeded Dennis Link of Cambria Heights and majored No. 4 Adam Rigney of Mount Union in the consis.

Left out: Rigney, Mount Union. I haven't seen Rigney at all, but he came in with a 20-4 record and reached the semis. His was the only guy to go 6 minutes with Thompson on the weekend, but his 14-7 defeat was the first of three straight losses, which will keep from from attending the regional tournament in Canonsburg.

220

1. Buzzy Maines, WB. 2. Josiah Jones, WH. 3. Tyler Oliver, UN. 4. Mason Hockenberry, MU. 5. Raymond Carlheim, GL. 

Analysis: For me, Josiah Jones is the story of the tournament. I thought the Westmont freshman might be able to hang with Oliver, who was a D6 champ last season and a state place-winner; I didn't expect Jones to beat him in the semis. And I certainly didn't expect him to hang with Buzzy Maines, who is one of the most dominant guys I've seen in AA this season and deserving of his No. 1 ranking in the state. I knew that Jones, who missed the first part of the season while recovering from a knee injury, was good, but this was a really impressive showing, even if he only finished one spot above his No. 3 seed.

Left out: Tyler Elder, Claysburg-Kimmel. The Bulldogs will be shut out of regionals, as the fifth-seeded Elder lost by fall to the sixth-seeded Carlheim for the final spot.

285

1. Andrew Deitman, UN. 2. Nick Winfield, SH. 3. Kody Ness, GL. 4. Stevie Colyer, TY. 5. Jake Smith, BL.

Analysis: This went pretty close to expectations. Deitman, the second seed, beat top-seeded Winfield in the ultimate tiebreaker - shocking for heavyweights, I know. 3-4-5 went as expected.

Left out: Hussein Sbeitan, Westmont Hilltop. The Westmont senior, who could have wrestled 220, won 14 matches in just his second year of wrestling and was just one spot short of qualifying for regionals.

Team race

1. Huntingdon (175). 2. West Branch (157). 3. Westmont Hilltop (135.5). 4. Penns Valley (134.5). Blairsville (129.5). 
Analysis: I would have pegged Huntingdon as the favorite with West Branch in the mix. I believe it was actually pretty close until the placement rounds. Westmont's four freshmen runners-up made a big difference for the Hilltoppers. I wouldn't have expected a top-five finish from Penns Valley, which had a rough year in duals, but the Rams have some solid individuals. I was surprised Central slipped to seventh and Forest Hills was all the way down to No. 14. Glendale, which finished 19th, looks like it could be a program on the upswing.