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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
Wednesday was a benchmark night for the Altoona Area High School wrestling program.
The Mountain Lions closed their dual meet season at 9-8 by winning their sixth straight match, 41-32 over DuBois at the Altoona Area High School Fieldhouse.
It also marked the 600th dual meet victory for Altoona's venerable wrestling program, which kicked off competition over six decades ago.
"It was a great night to finish up our dual meet season,'' Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. "The 9-8 finish gives us a good feeling. We won our last six matches in a row after starting 3-8. The kids have worked hard to turn this season around.
"I was pretty happy to get the 600th victory in school history at home, too,'' Gilbert said. "We wanted to get it here rather than on the road.''
The match was in the balance with two bouts left and Altoona leading just 35-28. That's when Eli Houser, a senior and first-year wrestler, clinched the victory for the Mountain Lions by pinning senior Ian Pancake in just 37 seconds to give Altoona a 41-28 advantage.
"It was just a matter of going out there and seeing what he would do,'' Houser said of his opponent. "He tried to put me in a headlock, but I reversed it, and put him on his back.''
It was either team's dual meet until that point.
"He used a nice little cement job and secured the fall and a victory for our team,'' Gilbert said of Houser. "Eli is a first-year wrestler, and I'm glad he came out for the sport this year. He's added a lot to our team.''
Other Altoona winners included junior Alex Yost, who kicked off the bout at 215 pounds with a 40-second pin of freshman Eric Guzman, and senior Jordan Carlucci, a four-year veteran who pinned sophomore Gavin Rucinski with a headlock in 1:23.
"Carlucci got a big win for us,'' Gilbert said. "He's been a four-year starter who has done everything we've asked of him.''
Freshman Luke Sipes improved to 28-1 for Altoona by racking up seven takedowns and a pair of 3-point near-falls in a 21-5 technical fall over freshman Carter Wilson at 152 pounds, and another Altoona freshman, 106-pounder Nick Irwin, built a 7-0 lead midway through the second period before pinning junior Aubree Donahue, a spirited female wrestler in the DuBois starting lineup.
Senior Luke Hileman (113) and junior Eli Wisor took forfeit wins for Altoona, while DuBois (4-9) got falls from Zach Gallagher (285) and Austin Mitchell (145), and technical falls from Davey Aughenbaugh (138) and Cadin Delaney (160).
"Altoona has some good guys at some weights where we have newer wrestlers,'' DuBois coach Garrett Brown said. "Overall, I think my wrestlers wrestled fine, but Altoona put together a good match, and scored bonus points when they needed to do so.''
Altoona will host the District 6 Class 3A Tournament Feb. 26 at the Fieldhouse.
"We're getting ready for the postseason,'' Gilbert said. "We've got to prepare for districts now, and we're in one of the toughest districts in the state.''
215--Yost, A, pinned Guzman, :40. 285--Gallagher, D, pinned Kline, 3:28. 106--Irwin, A, pinned Donahue, 3:10. 113--Hileman, A, won by forfeit. 120--Wisor, A, won by forfeit. 126--Carlucci, A, pinned Rucinski, 1:23. 132--Orr, D, won by forfeit.
138--Aughenbaugh, D, tech. fall Wyatt Young, 17-2, 6:00. 145--Mitchell, D, pinned Will Young, 4:38. 152--Sipes, A, tech. fall Wilson, 21-5, 3:26. 160--Delaney, D, tech. fall Z. Reimer, 15-0, 5:00. 172--Houser, A, pinned Pancake, :37. 189--White, D, maj. dec. C. Reimer, 11-0.
Official: Tyler Morder.
Records: DuBois (4-9); Altoona (9-8).
Exhibition matches: Logan Brandt, A, fall; Matthew Riccio, A, fall; Calvin Troutman, A, fall; Hayden McMillon, A, decision; Ja'Reese Stowe, D, fall.