BEA has memorable weekend at D6, 2A tournament

The 2023 District 6 Class 2A tournament will be something Bald Eagle Area fans, wrestlers and coaches will remember for a long time.

It was a banner tournament over the weekend at the Altoona Fieldhouse for the Eagles, who won the team championship and claimed three individual titles, including Coen Bainey’s history-making fourth title. BEA also advanced eight wrestlers to the regional tournament, and Ron Guenot was voted Class 2A Coach of the Year.

The Class 2A team race was expected to be up for grabs, but the Eagles led from start to finish and won the team title by 43.5 points, 201.5-158, over Huntingdon. Penns Valley (143) and Bellefonte (130) were third and fourth, respectively, and Philipsburg-Osceola (93) was ninth.

“We wrestled great as a team,” Bainey said. “We didn’t wrestle well at district duals. That’s the best way to put it. We knew we had to put in the work these past two weeks and get ready for this tournament, and it showed.”

“I’m excited for everybody, especially the wrestlers, coaching staff, families, administration and just the community,” Guenot said. “From the first whistle to the last whistle of our matches, the kids wanted it. They believed they could do it.”

It was the 17th team title for BEA, but it was the Eagles’ first championship since 2006.

In addition to Bainey, junior Lucas Fye (121) won for the first time in three finals appearances, and sophomore Caleb Close (172) won his first in his second finals appearance. Seventh-seeded Cameron Dubbs (189) finished second, losing to Mount Union’s Josh Ryan, 2-0.

Fye earned a 5-4 decision over United’s Gideon Bracken, while Close edged Southern Huntingdon’s Tommy Cohenour, 2-0.

Penns Valley’s Ty Watson repeated as a District 6 champion, beating P-O’s returning district champ Marcus Gable, 3-0, in the 152-pound finals. PV’s Colten Shunk (133) took second place, falling to Forest Hills’ Hunter Forcellini.

The Class 2A wrestlers will have to wait another week to wrestle in the southwest regional tournament at the Fieldhouse. BEA, Bellefonte, Penns Valley and P-O combined to qualify 25 wrestlers to the regional.

In Class 3A, State College had a tournament-high five champions, including three-time champ Pierson Manville, who was voted the Class 3A Outstanding Wrestler after beating Central Mountain’s Dalton Perry, 1-0, in a highly anticipated matchup of returning state champs.

Asher Cunningham (145) and Nick Pavlechko (285) repeated as champs, while Hayden Cunningham (127) and Carter Weaverling (172) won their first titles.

Asher Cunningham beat Central Mountain’s Griffin Walizer, 9-5, in the finals, while Pavlechko pinned Mifflin County’s Peyton Kearns in 1:05. Hayden Cunningham pinned Altoona’s Caleb Fasick in 44 seconds, and Weaverling followed later with a pin in 1:54 of Mifflin County’s Avery Aurand.

Jacob Campbell (133) finished in second place after being pinned by CM’s Luke Simcox in 2:39.

The Little Lions finished in third place in the six-team standings with 174 points and eight regional qualifiers. Central Mountain won the team title by 4 points, 193.5-189.5, over Mifflin County.

State College’s Mason Anderson (107) and Nicholas Berenna finished third to qualify for this weekend’s northwest regional at the Altoona Fieldhouse. State’s Rudi Skucek (160) finished fifth.

Northwest regional wrestling begins at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 and resumes at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 25. The final round is set for 5:15 p.m.

The top six at every weight qualified for the southwest regional. BEA also advanced Jeffre Pifer (fifth, 152), Gage Gardner (fifth, 215), Alex Surovec (sixth, 139) and Mason Reese (sixth, 145). Kayson Tice (114) and Connor Maney (133) finished seventh.

Bellefonte has seven regional qualifiers in Gage Long (third, 145), Addison Shawley (third, 189), Ezra Swisher (fourth, 121), Jackson Long (fourth, 127), Noah Weaver (fourth, 139), Max Murray (fourth, 152) and Cameron Garcia (sixth, 114). Wyatt Long (107) finished eighth.

Penns Valley advanced six wrestlers, including Jack Darlington (third, 114), Kollin Brungart (third, 215), Brayden Lisowski (fifth, 121) and David Martin (fifth, 160). Brandon Corl (189) finished eighth.

P-O qualified four wrestlers to regionals, including third-placers Caleb Hummel (107), Ben Gustkey (127) and Nate Fleck (133).

With his three pins and 13-1 win over Mount Union’s Jacik Hess in the finals, Bainey became only the third wrestler in the history of the storied BEA program to win four titles, joining 2003 graduate Brandon Guenot and 2008 grad Quentin Wright.

“That means a lot,” Bainey said. “It’s crazy to only be the third person ever to do this at Bald Eagle Area.”

“If you think of all the wrestlers that went through the Bald Eagle program, for him to be the third to accomplish being a four-time district champ is an amazing feat,” Coach Guenot said.

All of Bainey’s wins in every district tournament have been bonus wins (pins, technical falls, major decisions), but Bainey was less than thrilled about his major decision in the finals.

“I wanted the pin, to be honest,” he said. “I’m actually upset with myself that I didn’t get it. I’ve had bonus point wins throughout my whole district career, but that one would have felt special if I could have finished this tournament out with a pin.

“I’m happy that I’m a four-time district winner. That’s always something to be proud of. And I look forward to keep going on down this road.”

Many in the packed gym, including fans, wrestlers and coaches in both classes, were looking forward to Manville wrestling Perry. It turned out to be a clinic by Manville in riding and toughness.

Manville (26-2) rode the entire final period, reacting successfully to every move sophomore Perry (37-4), who has already verbally committed to Penn State, made from the bottom position.

Manville, the Outstanding Wrestler of last year’s PIAA Class 3A championships, declined comment after his win.

Watson had beaten Gable twice by the same 7-4 score during the season. This time, Watson (32-4) made a second-period escape and takedown of Gable (31-9) stand. He also rode the entire third period.

“I didn’t wrestle my best match,” Watson said. “I was trying to keep it close, which I shouldn’t have. I should have opened up a little more, but it is what it is. Last match, he reversed me twice, so I want to stay tough on top and ride him out.”

“He wore different shoes in the finals than he’s worn all year,” PV Coach Joel Brinker said. “I saw him skating around at the beginning of the match, and I knew it was changing him. He adapted to it and overcame it.”

“Ty Watson is one of the best 152-pounders in the state,” P-O coach Justin Fye said. “We’ve had three matches with him, and all three have been 3-point matches. We still feel if we can clean up a couple positions we’re in, we can close that gap or maybe be able to beat him.”

Fye (25-1) was up 5-0 in the second period when Bracken reversed him to his back with 4 seconds left for a four-point move. But Fye, a two-time district runner-up, avoided any dangerous moves in the third period.

“Giving up the two and two at the end of the second put him in a precarious situation,” Guenot said. “He dominated for most of the match. He was dealing with a sinus infection throughout the week. Hopefully we can get him healthy for regionals.”

P-O graduates Jim Dickson and Jason Bainey were inducted into the District 6 Hall of Fame before the final round, as were BEA grads Hunter Guenot and Larry Guenot.