Altoona’s Sipes crowned champ
Ultimate Warrior wrestling
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MORRISDALE -- Altoona freshman Luke Sipes continued to have a sensational first high school season at the rugged Ultimate Warrior Tournament over the weekend at West Branch High School.
Sipes won his second tournament title in his third finals appearance this season by claiming the 152-pound title at the 35-team tournament.
Sipes (27-1) defeated Canton's Hayden Ward, 6-1, in the championship finals to complete a 5-0 performance over two days. He also had two pins, a 20-5 technical fall and a 2-0 win over Mifflin County's Parker Kearns in the semifinals.
"I think I wrestled pretty good," Sipes said, "but it was definitely not my best. I'd give my performance a B+."
Altoona senior Luke Hileman, down to 106 for the first time, wrestled a remarkable finals bout against Hickory's returning Class 2A state champion Louie Gill before falling, 6-4.
Tyrone, which finished in 10th place with 104.5 points, didn't have a finalist, but the Golden Eagles had six placewinners. Korry Walls (106) and Ashton Sipes (132) were semifinalists and placed third. Andrew Weaver (160) took fifth, while Logan Rumberger (113) and Reese Wood (145) were sixth. Braden Ewing (285) placed seventh.
"We did about as well as I could have expected us to do," Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. "They wrestled really hard and really tough. This is one of the best competitions in the state, and our guys really stepped up to the plate and finished strong."
Two other Blair County 215-pounders placed in the top eight in Hollidaysburg's Nicklas Eppihimer, who was fourth, and Bellwood-Antis' Ethan Norris, who finished eighth.
Mifflin County won the team title by 23.5 points over Clearfield, 215.5-192, by going 4-for-4 in the finals.
Luke Sipes scored the initial takedown against Ward before successfully defending against the Canton wrestler's rolls from the bottom position.
"He was a funky guy," Sipes said. "Once I controlled him a little bit, I had him flat."
Leading 2-0 in the second, Sipes scored a reversal and gave up an escape. Sipes was aggressive on his feet and notched takedown off a double-leg shot for a 6-1 lead. He rode Ward the entire third period to secure the win.
"In my semifinal, I didn't open up, and I didn't commit to my attacks the way I should have in neutral," Sipes said. "But in the finals, my main focus was to get to my attacks and hand-fight a little bit better. I definitely opened up, and I felt good in my finals match.
"I had a good overall tournament. It's definitely a good lead-up to the next month to come with districts, regionals and states. I'm going to go back to the room, clean up some mistakes and be ready for that."
"Overall, he pretty much dominated that match from beginning to end," Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. "We were really happy with his performance. He was definitely on his offense. In the semis, he didn't get to his shots, but in that match, he definitely did."
Hileman was down 4-0 to Gill in the second period when he reversed the state champ to his back and got two nearfall points to tie the score, 4-4.
"When you're wrestling a returning state champion, 6-4 is a very respectable score," Gilbert said. "Hileman is a very dangerous wrestler. He can put anybody on their back and pin them at any given time. I think he's going to make some noise at 106."
Hileman chose down for the third period and forced a stalemate at one point, but Gill clamped on and rode the entire period.
Hileman is having a heck of a senior season, posting a 27-3 record, even though he hasn't wrestled since he was a freshman.
Walls won his first two bouts with a pin and a decision, but he lost to Gill, 13-0, in the semifinals. But he responded with two shutouts in the consolations, including a 2-0 victory over United's Jacob Sombronski in the third-place bout.
Ashton Sipes recorded a 16-1 technical fall and a decision to reach the semifinals, but he was pinned by Southern Columbia's eventual runner-up Mason Barvitskie in 3:50. Sipes bounced back with a major decision and a pin of Mifflin County's Blake Aumiller in 3:52 in the third-place bout.
"They both wrestled really tough," Wright said of his third-placers.
The finalists wrestled in the middle of a packed gymnasium at West Branch. The coaches and wrestlers raved about the quality of competition at the growing tournament.
"It was a great tournament with a good atmosphere," Gilbert said. "I think all of the finals matches were well contested. There was a lot of great wrestling there. I think you'll see a lot of guys place in the states, and there are probably going to be a few state champions among that bunch."
Tyrone will be action on Tuesday in the first round of the District 6 Class 2A Duals. The seventh-seeded Golden Eagles will wrestle 10th-seeded Southern Huntingdon at 6 p.m. at Huntingdon. The winner faces the third-seeded Bearcats afterward. Huntingdon nipped Tyrone, 33-31, on Jan. 18.
"We're really looking forward to District Duals," Wright said. "I told the guys we're going to rest up (Sunday), get back in Monday, get our weight down and really focus on that. There's a really good chance we could go far."
KEY, TOP 25 TEAM STANDINGS
1. MC--Mifflin County 215.5; 2. C--Clearfield 192; 3. CM--Central Mountain 149.5; 4. H--Hickory 129; 5. BEA--Bald Eagle Area 127; 6. R--Reynolds 120; 7. CY--Central York 114; 8. SC--Southern Columbia 112; 9. CAN--Canton 106; 10. T--Tyrone 104.5; 11. B--Brockway 100.5; 12. A--Altoona 78.5; 13. PO--Philipsburg-Osceola 78; 14. WB--West Branch 66; 15. PAL--Port Allegany 64.5; 16. J--Juniata 63.5; 17. BENT--Bentworth 60.5; 18. TOW--Towanda 49.5; 19. U--United 48.5; 20. BRAD--Bradford and JOHN--Johnsonburg 46; 22. MU--Mount Union 44.5; 23. MW--Midd-West 42.5; 24. MAC--Marion Center 42; 25. RV--River Valley 40.5; 26. HOL--Hollidaysburg 34; 27. PAR--Pen Argyl and W--Wilson 27; 29. BA--Bellwood-Antis 23; 30. LL--Lake Lehman 22; 31. MV--Moshannon Valley 16.5; 32. JV--Juniata Valley 11; 33. RICH--Richland and RID--Ridgway 9; 35. AM--Ambridge 3.
Championship Finals
106--L. Gill, H, dec. Hileman, A, 6-4; 113--Allison, MC, dec. Bainey, WB, 6-3; 120--Bainey, BEA, dec. Vargo, BEN, 2-1; 126--Perry, CM, maj. dec. Collins, C, 18-7; 132--Simcox, CM, dec. Barvitskie, SC, 1-0; 138--Davis, CY, dec. Saylor, H, 5-3 OT; 145--C. Gill, H, dec. Walizer, CM, 7-0; 152--Sipes, A, dec. Ward, CAN, 6-1; 160--Everly, MC, dec. Myers, CY, 14-7; 172--Garcia, SC, dec. McGonigal, C, 8-7; 189--Shoemaker, MC, pinned Foltz, BEA, 4:50; 215--Wagner, MC, dec. Kovalick, C, 6-3; 285--Billotte, C, pinned Thompson, B, :33.
Outstanding Wrestler: Carter Davis, Central York
Third Place
106--Walls, T, dec. Sombronski, U, 2-0 OT; 113--Pisarchick, B, dec. Fye, BEA, 12-7; 120--Johnson, MC, dec. C. Smith, J, 5-2; 126--Long, CY, dec. T. Smith, J, 3-0 OT; 132--Sipes, T, pinned Aumiller, MC, 3:52; 138--Heckman, MW, dec. Biscoe, SC, 2-0 OT; 145--Heilbrun, MAC, dec. Kettering, R, 2-0; 152--Kearns, MC, dec. Foster, PO, 3-1; 160--Laktash, BRAD, dec. Zimmerman, JOHN, 6-1; 172--Wagner, R, dec. Dennis, JOHN, 7-1; 189--Chamberlain, C, pinned Parker, CAN, 3:45; 215--Daniels, BENT, tech. fall Eppihimer, HOL, 16-0, 4:31; 285--Miller, CY, dec. Pupo, MC, 4-1.
Area Results
Fifth Place
113--Davis, C, pinned Rumberger, T, 2:21; 145--Ferguson, CAN, dec. Wood, T, 9-6; 160--Weaver, T, pinned Gentile, R, :59.
Seventh Place
215--Carolus, JV, dec. Norris, BA, 7-3; 285--Ewing, T, dec. Scully, CY, 5-0.