There were a ton of matches on Tuesday night, and quite a few of them turned out to be really good ones, with some of the biggest upsets of the season so far.
I wasn't able to make it out to any matches, as I spent most of my day off tracking down two big stories.
Here's what I think of the duals:
I raved about Westmont's great crop of freshmen before the season, and this is exactly why. Now that Josiah Jones is back from injury, the Hilltoppers are looking very solid. They might be a year or two away from contending for the District 6 AA title, but this result shows that they're as good as some of the top teams in the area.
Jones had one of the biggest victories for Westmont on Tuesday, as he pinned Somerset's Nate Zanoni at 285. Zanoni, who used to wrestle for Berlin, is a decent heavyweight, and the fact that Jones pinned him - with just 17 seconds left in the match - made the difference in a one-point dual.
Westmont's six freshmen combined to go 6-0 and scored 29 of the Hilltoppers' 32 points. They were big in pressure situations, winning four of the final five bouts in the victory.
The one upperclassman to get a win for Westmont was Drake Dorian at 138. His 6-5 decision over Morgan Bell in the first bout would have changed the dual had it gone the other way.
The victory, combined with Cambria Heights' win over Penn Cambria, leaves Westmont Hilltop as the only undefeated team in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference. The Hilltoppers have just two conference meets remaining - Jan. 20 vs. Bedford and Jan. 27 at Cambria Heights.
I didn't see this one coming, and I'm guessing the Highlanders didn't either. Even though they trailed 31-25 with three matches to go, they had the meat of their order coming up in regional qualifier Austin Gill, district placewinner Dalton Waksmunski and state placewinner Levi Niebauer. But the Panthers took two out of three, making Niebauer's points moot.
Dominic Farabaugh's 7-2 decision over Gill put the pressure on the Highlanders and Austin Farabaugh's pin of Waksmunski eliminated any hope for a comeback.
The Panthers have now won four in a row and have established themselves as contender in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference, although early losses to Westmont Hilltop and Somerset hurt. Now that coach Todd Niebauer has freshman Brock Talko - whose 8-2 victory over Bryce Campbell at 120 was huge - and Dominic Farabaugh back in the lineup - neither was available for the conference losses - Penn Cambria is looking very dangerous.
Cambria Heights still has to wrestle Somerset and Westmont Hilltop, so the conference title could still be within reach, or a season that started with such promise could result in a middle-of-the-pack finish.
Maybe the biggest surprise of the night, and possibly the year. I know that Bald Eagle Area wrestles a much more difficult schedule than Central, but I certainly didn't foresee the Eagles beating the Scarlet Dragons.
The biggest shock of the night - and the difference in the dual - came at 182 pounds, where Bald Eagle's Colton Comly, who came in with a 5-9 record, pinned 7-0 Jordan Quarello.
That was a big loss for Central, as was the one at 126, where 7-0 Brock Biddle was pinned by 12-4 Seth Koleno. While not as surprising as Quarello's loss, it still had to sting for the Scarlet Dragons to see one of their best wrestlers not only lose, but to do so by fall.
Back-to-back close victories in high-profile matches gave Bald Eagle the dual-meet win, as Coby Bainey beat Ethan Kennedy 3-1 at 132 and Clint McCaslin edged Bryce Biddle 6-4 in sudden victory.
I found a story online by Gant Daily for this one. Looks like it was a very good one and another huge surprise to me. I'm a big supporter of Class AA, but this is another case of a AAA team without a winning record beating one of the top AA teams in District 6. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement for the small schools.
Freshman Luke McGonigle gave Clearfield a 31-18 lead with a 10-3 victory over Seth Baney at 145. Huntingdon ripped off four straight victories to take a 36-31 lead, but the fact that Jacob Oliver was only able to get a technical fall over Tallin Norris at 160 was huge. That left the door open for the Bison in the final bout and Travis Ogden took it, pinning Mark Zoerner for the stunning victory.
Other results (with links to boxes and some brief analysis)
Bedford 45, Richland 15 - It's been a rough year by Bedford's lofty standards, but the Bisons got back to the .500 mark with a thumping of Richland. There were two decent matchups in this one, which featured just as many double forfeits. Bedford's Jon Gabriel beat Stephen Rouser 6-1 in the highlight of the night at 126 while the Rams' Adam George beat Kyle Mehle 15-5 at 132.
Bellefonte 40, Penns Valley 25 - This followed the trend of the night was a AAA squad beating a AA squad, but didn't fit into the surprise category. Brock Port was not in the Bellefonte lineup. Eight of the 12 contested bouts brought bonus points, so there weren't many close matches to speak of. Luke Leathers beating Jacob Confer 7-0 looks like one of the bigger matchups.
Berlin Brothersvalley 60, Shade 9 - This one must have been over in about 20 minutes, as only six bouts were wrestled and half of those ended with a first-period fall. The only six-minute match of the night brought the big surprise, as Shade's Trevor Brown beat Anthony Collins 8-5 at 285. It isn't a huge surprise, considering I saw Brown push Collins to the limit at the WestPAC tournament last season, but Collins controlled their conference rematch this year in a 9-4 victory. Still, it was just the second loss of the season for Collins (13-2) and the biggest win for Brown (10-3).
Blairsville 43, Forest Hills 30 - One of the better duals of the night. Blairsville gave up two forfeits (and got one back), and couldn't pull away until Drew Doak and Nick Pecze picked up falls in the final two bouts. The Bobcats' Colin Weinell avenged a 14-6 loss to Gage McCall at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic with a 13-9 victory at 106 pounds.
Central Cambria 60, Greater Johnstown 15 - Not much to write about, as only six matches were contested and five of those ended by fall. The lone six-minute match would have been the highlight, as the Trojans' Exree Loe beat Caliber Castel 6-3 at 170.
Chestnut Ridge 65, Everett 3 - The Lions have been so dominant that perhaps the biggest surprise is the one match they didn't win. Everett's Kyle Peterson improved to 9-3 on the season with a 9-8 victory over Shane Davis at 285.
Jersey Shore 45, Hollidaysburg 21 - Don't know much about Jersey Shore, and most of the Hollidaysburg names I know won. One thing I did notice is that Noah Worley, one of the Golden Tigers top wrestlers through the first month of the season, hasn't wrestled since the Southmoreland tournament.
Juniata Valley 53, Tussey Mountain 30 - This wasn't nearly as close as their meeting three days ago at the Bloody Run Duals, when Juniata Valley won 42-40. Much of that swing was a result of JV's Damion Dunkle pinning Skyler Brumbaugh at 170 after getting majored by him on Saturday.
Marion Center 40, Kittanning 34 - Challen Cornetto's 1-0 decision over Matthew Vukovich at 132 proved to be key in dual with seven forfeits.
Mount Union 51, Moshannon Valley 21 - The best match in a lopsided dual looks like it came at 152, where Larry Brown beat Nathanel Morgan.
North Star at 56, HOPE for Hyndman 18 - The match of the night looks like it was at 160, where North Star's Gus Strasiser beat Lee Moskey 7-3. Moskey is a solid wrestler and it looks like he hung around. While Strasiser is one of the better 160-pounders in the area, he tends to be more of a grinder than a big point-scorer, so the close match isn't that big of a surprise. The Hornets' lone win on the mat came at 285, where Brandon Greise pinned Brady Vinisky.
Philipsburg-Osceola 54, Tyrone 22 - Another AAA school beating a AA squad, although this one wasn't much of a surprise, as it's been a rough year for Tyrone. The Mounties Dakota Weitosh pinned Sage Dixon at 138 in one of the better matchups of the night while the Golden Eagles' Stevie Colyer continued his strong season with a fall over Eddie Voyzey at 285.
Southern Huntingdon 42, Bellwood-Antis 28 - The Blue Devils won six of the nine contested bouts, but couldn't overcome five forfeits. The highlight match came at 182, as Jeremy Wilson beat Scott Carbaugh 9-8.
No report
West Branch at Glendale
