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Altoona’s Manley captures third regional crown

03/04/17 By Gary M. Baranec Altoona's Cole Manley wins his District 6 championship match with Dubois's Kolby Ho at 132 lbs. Saturday at the AAHS Fieldhouse.

With a school-record third Northwest Regional Class 3A title under his belt, Altoona’s Cole Manley, can now look forward to winning that elusive state title he’s been shooting for his whole career.

Manley captured his third title with a 9-5 win over DuBois’ Kolby Ho in the 132-pound championship bout on Saturday night at the AAHS Fieldhouse. It was the first time this season an opponent avoided giving up bonus points to Manley, but the Mountain Lion was firmly in control the entire bout.

“It feels good to be the first one in our school history to do that,” said Manley, who has taken second and third at states the last two years. “I wanted to be on my own list, so that’s pretty cool. Now I’ve just got states to look forward to and chase the goal I’ve been chasing since I started wrestling, the state title. I feel like I’m definitely on the road to do that.”

“He should be very happy, very proud of himself for what he’s done,” Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. “I know we are as a coaching staff and the school district.”

The area’s other finalists weren’t as fortunate. Hollidaysburg’s Nathan Swartz (138) and Hunter Gill (285) and Altoona’s Parker McClellan (195) had to settle for second with losses in the finals.

Six area wrestlers advanced to the PIAA Championships, which start on Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Altoona has four of the six, as Hunter Hileman (120) and a banged-up Brinton Simington (170) finished third. The top three at every weight advanced to states. The four qualifiers match a school record, with the last time being in 2013.

“That’s a great day,” Gilbert said. “I thought we really wrestled well. I was real happy with our performances.”

The Mountain Lions finished fifth in the team standings with 87.5 points. Cathedral Prep repeated as team champion, winning by 22 points over a rising DuBois, 140-118.

Hollidaysburg senior Dalton Long (145) and sophomore Mason McCready (182) dropped heartbreakers in their consolation finals bouts, placing fourth and coming up one win shy of making it to Hershey.

Manley (21-0) reached the finals with a pin of Cathedral Prep’s Spencer Staab in 1:58 in the semis. In the finals, he fought off a couple of Ho takedown attempts and a jaw or ear problem that forced a blood timeout.

“I hurt my jaw wrestling last week, and at the beginning (this week), he shot and hit it a little bit,” Manley said. “I honestly thought my ear was bleeding a little bit. It’s good now, though.”

Manley, though, set his offensive tone with a sweet duck-under for a takedown with 15 seconds left in the first period. Up 3-1 in the second, Manley spun behind Ho at the edge of the mat for a takedown for a 5-1 lead.

“I was attacking the whole time,” Manley said. “I’ve wrestled him before, so he knew what I did. He was trying to shut me down and try to get some of his stuff working. I had to find out another way to win.”

Manley took a 5-3 lead into the third, but he scored two more takedowns with his duck-under move.

“He wrestled a good match, a smart match,” Gilbert said. “They had a great gameplan against him. It was more of a stay-away, cat-and-mouse game. Cole adjusted and began to work his things, get to his ties and began to score. He’s going to find those kinds of guys at the state tournament, and we have to be able to beat those guys down there. I think that was really good to get that match in tonight.”

Swartz beat Bald Eagle Area’s Seth Koleno for a district title, but Koleno avenged that loss, 10-3, in the finals.

After rallying from down 3-0 to beat St. Marys’ eventual third-placer Alec Bittler in the semis, Swartz struck first with a takedown of Koleno in the first period. But Koleno escaped, took Swartz down and put him on his back with a low-leg cradle at the end of the period. Koleno led 6-2 at the end of the first.

Swartz couldn’t bring Koleno down to the mat from the top position in the second, and he was penalized two stalling points, the last coming with 3 seconds left in the period. A caution point to start the third made it 9-2. Swartz received a stalling point, and Koleno escaped to set the final.

“He had some things happen in that match that took his focus away from the actual competition,” Hollidaysburg coach Mike Moore said. “You can’t do that. If you take your mind out of it, you find yourself in a pretty big hole trying to climb out of. So, he’s got to do a better job of that.”

McClellan rolled to the finals with an 11-2 win over Prep’s Michael Hughes, but he ran into General McLane’s Ethan Laird (36-1), who rolled to an 18-2 technical fall in 6:00.

“Parker McClellan ran into a buzz-saw tonight,” Gilbert said. “We knew Laird was really good. We wrestled him earlier in the year. I thought Parker had a great tournament.”

Gill reached the finals with a pin of Perry’s Malik Townsend in 2:21, but DeBoe, a returning regional runner-up, was tough to score on throughout the tournament. He took Gill down twice, the last time right before the final buzzer, to win, 5-0.

“DeBoe is very good,” Moore said. “He’s one of the top heavyweights in the state. He got a takedown when we were probably being too aggressive (in the first period). That was a big takedown. Hunter has some adjustments going down to Hershey, but he’ll make those adjustments.”

Hileman punched his ticket to Hershey with a 1-0 win over Cathedral Prep’s Andrew Stark.

Hileman, knocked into the consolations with a 5-0 ultimate tiebreaker loss to St. Marys’ eventual champion Tyler Dilley, defeated State College’s Jacob Pammer, 3-0, in the consolation finals. In the consy finals, he escaped with 21 seconds left in the second and rode hard the entire third for the win.

“Out of all of the guys, I’m probably more ecstatic for him,” Gilbert said with a laugh, “because with Hunter, you never know what you’re going to get sometimes. He was phenomenal on his feet. Nobody took him down.”

Simington lost his semifinal to Cathedral Prep’s Luigi Yates, 3-0, and he injured his left knee in the process. He, however, gutted out a 7-2 win over Mifflin County’s Austin Haubrick in the consy semis, and the limp was hardly noticeable in a 5-3 win over McDowell’s Lilyaz Veysalov in the consy finals.

“He sucked it up,” Gilbert said. “He did what he had to do, got to his takedowns and wrestled his match out there. (The injury) is nothing too bad. He might have strained a ligament or something that of nature.”

When the bout was over, he got a big hug from Gilbert, and his dad, assistant coach Meade Simington, fought back tears as he followed his son off the mat.

“I think there were a lot of people who had happy tears,” Gilbert said with a laugh. “Those are the tears we like to see, not the sad tears.”

Long, a returning regional runner-up, dropped a 7-2 overtime decision to Cathedral Prep’s Albert Taylor. McCready followed later with a 2-1 loss to Central Mountain’s Caleb Turner.

“That round was painful,” Moore said. “You always have those year after year, and they don’t get any easier.”

Altoona’s Hunter Stoudnour (160) and Nate Simmers (220) fell in the consy semifinals, while Haden Boutiller (152) lost in the consy quarterfinals

Philipsburg-Osceola’s Levi Hughes (138) and Micah Sidorick (220) lost in the consolation semifinals, while Josh Hubler (182) fell in the consy quarterfinals. Hollidaysburg’s Gus Dellinger (195) was stopped in the first round of consolations.

TEAM KEY

ALL–Allderdice; A–Altoona; BEA–Bald Eagle Area; B–Bellefonte; BRA–Brashear; CAR–Carrick; CP–Cathedral Prep; CM–Central Mountain; C–Clearfield; D–DuBois; EC–Erie Central; EE–Erie East; ESV–Erie Strong Vincent; GM–General McLane; H–Hollidaysburg; M–McDowell; MEAD–Meadville; MC–Mifflin County; O–Obama; OC–Oil City; P–Perry; PO–Philipsburg-Osceola; PUNX–Punxsutawney; S–Selinsgrove; SHIK–Shikellamy; SOM–Somerset; SM–St. Marys; SC–State College; W–Warren; WEST–Westinghouse; WILL–Williamsport

TOP 15 TEAM STANDINGS

1. Cathedral Prep 140; 2. DuBois 118; 3. General McLane 93; 4. Central Mountain 90; 5. Altoona 87.5; 6. State College 87; 7. Bald Eagle Area 80; 8. Mifflin County 79; 9. Bellefonte 69; 10. McDowell 65; 11. Hollidaysburg 63; 12. St. Marys 57; 13. Shikellamy 48; 14. Clearfield 42; 15. Meadville 32.

FIRST ROUND CONSOLATIONS

106–Giedroc, BEA, dec. Moffatt, EE, 4-0; Stanley, OC, pinned Smith, W, 2:18; 113–Butterfield, M, maj. dec. Smay, C, 13-1; Anderson, W, won by injury default over Emma, CAR; 120–Smith, B, pinned Chatman, MEAD, 1:16; Burk, MC, won by forfeit over Helping, OC; 126–Rossey, OC, pinned Cebula, CAR, 2:17; Skarbek, PUNX, tech. fall Dennis, P, 15-0, 2:11; 132–Giedroc, BEA, dec. Weston, W, 11-7; Reed, SM, maj. dec. Emma, CAR, 13-3; 138–Lowrie, WILL, dec. Supsic, SHIK, 7-5; Peterman, S, tech. fall Williams, BRA, 19-3, 4:18; 145–Weaver, CM, pinned Balas, W, :52; Resch, SM, won by forfeit over Jarrett, BRA.

152–Pulliam, ESV, dec. Ramsey, P, 5-1; Heminger, D, won by forfeit over Butch, ALL; 160–Carrier, GM, pinned Wagner, BRA, 1:39; Giavedoni, PUNX, pinned Trowell, P, 1:38; 170–Connolly, GM, dec. Cooper, B, 11-7; Biesel, BEA, pinned Cummings, W, 2:45; 182–Sawyer, C, pinned Stevenson, W, 3:50; Hubler, PO, maj. dec. Babull, ALL, 10-2; 195–Cherry, SM, dec. Dellinger, H, 8-5; Zeiders, S, pinned Chan, CAR, 1:19; 220–Houtz, CM, pinned Norman, CP, 1:50; Cook, M, won by forfeit over Steffan, SM; 285–Oharah, D, pinned Howard, CAR, 3:34; Neal, PUNX, dec. Singler, EC, 6-3.

SECOND ROUND CONSOLATIONS

106–Giedroc, BEA, dec. Leidy, SC, 5-4; Dang, CAR, maj. dec. Samson, O, 8-0; Boyer, S, pinned Zartman, SHIK, 3:21; Stanley, OC, pinned Smay, C, 2:48; 113–Nyman, BEA, dec. Butterfield, M, 10-3; Taptich, MC, dec. Coppolo, B, 7-0; Anderson, W, dec. Payne, ALL, 6-4; Carr, EE, won by forfeit over Tettis, SM; 120–Smith, B, maj. dec. Ryan, C, 13-0; Frankhouser, W, dec. Schooley, S, 3-1; Mwete, BRA, dec. Burk, MC, 7-1; Pammer, SC, maj. dec. Sheffield, P, 14-2; 126–McKinney, CP, dec. Tettis, CM, 8-2; Hilner, WILL, pinned Rossey, OC, 2:15; Stover, SC, dec. Frankhouser, W, 7-2; Boyd, M, maj. dec. Skarbek, PUNX, 14-4; 132–Rothrock, B, dec. Giedroc, BEA, 3-0; Reichenbach, S, dec. Wise, MC, 6-2; Reed, SM, pinned Dobbins, O, 2:38; Tidball, MEAD, dec. Dickey, WILL, 6-4; 138–Mallory, GM, dec. Chess, MEAD, 7-5 TB; Lowrie, WILL, won by forfeit over Engstrom, W; Jones, CAR, pinned Long, CM, :32; McClorin, CP, pinned Peterman, S, 1:29; 145–Taylor, CP, dec. Charles, S, 4-2; Weaver, CM, maj. dec. Rinella, MEAD, 10-2; Resch, SM, dec. Rodriguez, CAR, 5-0; Abbott, ESV, dec. Burgess, SHIK, 2-0.

152–Ristau, W, pinned Smith, PUNX, 3:56; Parker, SHIK, pinned Pulliam, ESV, :34; Boutiller, A, dec. Robinson, WILL, 4-0; Corl, CM, pinned Heminger, D, 1:23; 160–Weaver, CM, dec. White, SHIK, 9-6; Barr, SC, pinned Carrier, GM, :12; Morgan, C, pinned Bardsley, M, 1:19; DeSimone, W, pinned Giavedoni, PUNX, 3:39; 170–Haubrick, MC, dec. Connolly, GM, 8-6; Williams, CAR, dec. Edwards, BRA, 5-2; Kerner, D, dec. Becker, SM, 3-0; Campbell, S, dec. Biesel, BEA, 7-1; 182–Kaulis, GM, dec. Miller, PUNX, 4-2; Pollard, MEAD, dec. Sawyer, C, 7-1; Hubler, PO, won by forfeit over Shields, O; Turner, CM, pinned Powley, WILL, :59; 195–Cherry, SM, pinned Hall, ESV, 1:42; Krieger, SHIK, pinned Bielak, M, 1:36; Riggle, CM, pinned Wilson, BRA, 5:36 OT; Henninger, D, dec. Zeiders, S, 3-2; 220–Simmers, A, pinned Davis, CAR, 1:54; Houtz, CM, dec. Miyares, WEST, 3-1; Sidorick, PO, pinned Ritter, S, 2:53; Cook, M, pinned Swanger, SHIK, :16; 285–Irvin, B, pinned Oharah, D, 2:44; Lenhardt, GM, pinned Whistler, MEAD, 2:08; Kitko, C, pinned Kucenski, SM, 2:40; Linnes, SC, pinned Neal, PUNX, :53.

SEMIFINALS

106–Fisher, MC, dec. Brest, GM, 12-9; Donahue, D, dec. Stewart, B, 4-2; 113–Barzona, CM, dec. Balestrini, SHIK, 7-2; Scott, D, maj. dec. Sittinger, CP, 8-0; 120–Woodrow, D, dec. Stark, CP, 2-1; Dilley, SM, dec. Hileman, A, 5-0 UTB; 126–Myers, MC, maj. dec. Supsic, SHIK, 14-4; Rigg, BEA, dec. Andrus, CM, 7-1; 132–Manley, A, pinned Staab, CP, 1:58; Ho, D, dec. Ciotti, M, 12-6; 138–Koleno, BEA, dec. Hughes, PO, 5-1; Swartz, H, dec. Bittler, SM, 4-3; 145–Port, B, pinned Adams, D, 3:39; McClenahan, BEA, dec. Long, H, 4-2.

152–Starocci, CP, dec. Gardner, B, 5-2; Watkins, GM, dec. Hemminger, SOM, 7-6; 160–Hidlay, MC, pinned Stoudnour, A, 1:13; Casto, CP, pinned Hanna, D, 1:05; 170–Yates, CP, dec. Simington, A, 3-0; McGonigal, C, dec. Veysalov, M, 9-2; 182–Paulson, M, dec. McCready, H, 3-2; Urbas, SC, tech. fall Hepler, SHIK, 17-2, 3:41; 195–Laird, GM, pinned Kyper, MC, 3:23; McClellan, A, maj. dec. Hughes, CP, 11-2; 220–Craig, M, dec. Bizousky, PUNX, 11-8; Haffner, SC, dec. Vaughn, GM, 5-4; 285–DeBoe, CP, dec. Thompson, CM, 6-0; Gill, H, pinned Townsend, P, 2:21.

THIRD ROUND CONSOLATION

106–Giedroc, BEA, pinned Dang, CAR, 1:39; Stanley, OC, pinned Boyer, S, :16; 113–Nyman, BEA, dec. Taptich, MC, 5-3; Carr, EE, maj. dec. Anderson, W, 10-0; 120–Frankhouser, W, pinned Smith, B, 2:56; Pammer, SC, dec. Mwete, BRA, 3-2; 126–Hilner, WILL, dec. McKinney, CP, 9-7; Boyd, M, dec. Stover, SC, 5-2; 132–Reichenbach, S, pinned Rothrock, B, 5:43 OT; Tidball, M, dec. Reed, SM, 4-0; 138–Lowrie, WILL, pinned Mallory, GM, :47; Jones, CAR, dec. McClorin, CP, 4-3; 145–Taylor, CP, dec. Weaver, CM, 3-2; Resch, SM, dec. Abbott, ESV, 5-1.

152–Parker, SHIK, dec. Ristau, W, 5-0; Corl, CM, pinned Boutiller, A, 4:59; 160–Barr, SC, dec. Weaver, CM, 3-1; DeSimone, W, maj. dec. Morgan, C, 9-1; 170–Haubrick, MC, dec. Williams, CAR, 6-2; Kerner, D, dec. Campbell, S, 2-1; 182–Kaulis, GM, dec. Pollard, M, 1-0; Turner, CM, pinned Hubler, PO, 2:07; 195–Krieger, SHIK, dec. Cherry, SM, 6-2; Henninger, D, dec. Riggle, CM, 11-6; 220–Simmers, A, dec. Houtz, CM, 6-4 OT; Sidorick, PO, dec. Cook, M, 3-2; 285–Lenhardt, GM, pinned Irvin, B, 1:25; Linnes, SC, dec. Kitko, C, 2-1.

CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS

106–Brest, GM, maj. dec. Giedroc, BEA, 9-1; Stewart, B, pinned Stanley, OC, 2:31; 113–Balestrini, SHIK, maj. dec. Nyman, BEA, 12-1; Sittinger, CP, dec. Carr, EE, 7-2; 120–Stark, CP, maj. dec. Frankhouser, W, 9-0; Hileman, A, dec. Pammer, SC, 3-0; 126–Hilner, WILL, dec. Supsic, SHIK, 6-2; Boyd, M, pinned Andrus, CM, 2:56; 132–Staab, CP, dec. Reichenbach, S, 5-3; Ciotti, M, dec. Tidball, MEAD, 6-0; 138–Lowrie, WILL, dec. Hughes, PO, 7-5; Bittler, SM, dec. Jones, CAR, 9-3; 145–Taylor, CP, dec. Adams, D, 5-3; Long, H, dec. Resch, SM, 7-1.

152–Gardner, B, maj. dec. Parker, SHIK, 8-0; Hemminger, SOM, maj. dec. Corl, CM, 13-1; 160–Barr, SC, dec. Stoudnour, A, 3-1; Hanna, D, dec. DeSimone, W, 9-7; 170–Simington, A, dec. Haubrick, MC, 7-2; Veysalov, M, dec. Kerner, D, 3-2; 182–McCready, H, dec. Kaulis, GM, 4-2; Turner, CM, maj. dec. Hepler, SHIK, 12-4; 195–Krieger, SHIK, pinned Kyper, MC, 4:22; Henninger, D, dec. Hughes, CP, 7-4; 220–Bizousky, PUNX, dec. Simmers, A, 4-0; Vaughn, GM, pinned Sidorick, PO, 3:34; 285–Thompson, CM, pinned Lenhardt, GM, 5:45 OT; Linnes, SC, dec. Townsend, P, 5-2.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

106–Donahue, D, pinned Fisher, MC, 3:02; 113–Scott, D, dec. Barzona, CM, 6-5; 120–Dilley, SM, dec. Woodrow, D, 4-2; 126–Rigg, BEA, dec. Myers, MC, 6-4 OT; 132–Manley, A, dec. Ho, D, 9-5; 138–Koleno, BEA, dec. Swartz, H, 10-3; 145–Port, B, dec. McClenahan, BEA, 1-0.

152–Starocci, CP, maj. dec. Watkins, GM, 9-0; 160–Hidlay, MC, dec. Casto, CP, 5-3; 170–McGonigal, C, dec. Yates, CP, 8-2; 182–Urbas, SC, dec. Paulson, M, 6-3; 195–Laird, GM, tech. fall McClellan, A, 18-2, 6:00; 220–Haffner, SC, dec. Craig, MEAD, 7-4; 285–DeBoe, CP, dec. Gill, H, 5-0.

CONSOLATION FINALS

106–Stewart, B, dec. Brest, GM, 3-0; 113–Balestrini, SHIK, dec. Sittinger, CP, 3-1; 120–Hileman, A, dec. Stark, CP, 1-0; 126–Boyd, M, dec. Hilner, WILL, 7-5; 132–Ciotti, M, dec. Staab, CP, 5-0; 138–Bittler, SM, pinned Lowrie, WILL, 1:47; 145–Taylor, CP, dec. Long, H, 7-2 OT.

152–Hemminger, SOM, dec. Gardner, B, 9-6; 160–Barr, SC, dec. Hanna, D, 8-5; 170–Simington, A, dec. Veysalov, M, 5-3; 182–Turner, CM, dec. McCready, H, 2-1; 195–Henninger, D, dec. Krieger, SHIK, 8-3 OT; 220–Bizousky, PUNX, dec. Vaughn, GM, 8-6 OT; 285–Thompson, CM, dec. Linnes, SC, 6-2.

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