Seniors Hileman, Sleeth get first gold at districts
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By Todd Irwin
sports@altoonamirror.com
For Altoona senior Luke Hileman and Hollidaysburg senior Aaron Sleeth, the wait to get to the top of the District 6 Class 3A Tournament medals stand has been a long one.
Hileman was a runner-up at 106 as a freshman before taking a two-year hiatus from wrestling. Sleeth, a four-year starter, was second as a sophomore and third as a junior.
Both top-seeded wrestlers finally made the sweet climb to the top of the stand at the District 6 3A Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
Hileman didn't waste any time in getting there, pinning Bellefonte's Cameron Garcia in 29 seconds to claim the 106-pound title. Sleeth eked out a 1-0 white-knuckle win over State College's Braden Newby to claim gold at 172.
"I put all my hard work I put in this year for that match," Hileman said. "I wanted a district title. I wanted it when I was a freshman, but I couldn't get it. I'm glad I won it my senior year. I'm proud of my work, and I'm ready for regionals."
"It feels good," Sleeth said. "I came pretty close my sophomore year. I just really thought about it a lot and how I needed to do it for myself this year. I built it up in my mind that this is what I'm working for every year."
Altoona top-seeded freshman Luke Sipes claimed the first of probably many District 6 titles by beating Mifflin County's Parker Kearns, 9-1, in the 152-pound finals.
"It's the first one of four, hopefully," Sipes said. "I'm super grateful and thankful that I had the opportunity today, but I believe in myself, and I got it done."
Four other area wrestlers placed in the top four to qualify for the Northwest Regional Tournament, which is set for Friday and Saturday at the Fieldhouse.
Hollidaysburg senior Nicklas Eppihimer (215) placed third, while his freshman teammate Carson Krupka (106) was fourth. Altoona freshman Nick Irwin (113) and senior Will Young (145) also placed fourth.
"It's a huge accomplishment for (Eppihimer) to come out of here with a third place," Hollidaysburg coach Christian Harr said. "Beating a guy twice (Juniata's Jonathan Kauffman) that beat him earlier in the year was really good for him. It was certainly a stellar performance from Carson as well."
"We're real happy with those guys," Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. "Nick wrestled at 106 until Hileman dropped down. It was nice to see him get out of this tournament. Will Young has wrestled with Luke Sipes all year. Sometimes you have to feel real happy for a guy who takes his beatings daily in the wrestling room."
Altoona's Jordan Carlucci (126), Elijah Houser (172), Connor Reimer (189), Alexander Yost (215) placed fifth, while teammates Eli Wisor (120), Logan Brandt (132), Wyatt Young (138) and Michael Riccio (285) were sixth.
Hollidaysburg's Bryce Conway (113), Noah Horne (120), Jacob Brua (132), Mitchell Baronner (138), Quinton Ritchey (145) and Rally Hoover (285) placed fifth. Mason Schenck (126) was sixth.
Mifflin County won the team title by 12 points, 201.5-189.5, over Central Mountain. Altoona (113) and Hollidaysburg (90) finished fifth and seventh, respectively.
The top-seeded Hileman (30-3) only spent 1:12 on the mat in his two bouts, recording a pin 43 seconds against Krupka in the semifinals. In the final, Hileman, ranked 11th by PA Power Wrestling, took Garcia down, bar-armed him to his back and got the fall.
"I thought it was going to be a lot better a match," Hileman said, "but I guess I had more strength than him."
"Luke Hileman was on a mission this year," Gilbert said. "I'm looking forward to see what he does again next week and the following week. I'm pretty excited for him."
Sleeth, who pinned Mifflin County's Avery Aurand in 3:16 in the semifinals, and Newby had split two overtime bouts this season.
They were predictably close again. After a scoreless first period, Sleeth (23-11) rode Newby the entire second period, which proved big. Newby rode until Sleeth escaped with 23 seconds left in the third. The 21st-ranked Sleeth then had to defend a Newby shot for the remaining 15 seconds, but he captured that long-awaited title.
"Trying to hold him and keep him from getting those two points was tough," Sleeth said, "but once I saw the final seconds winding down, I knew I secured my victory."
"We're extremely proud of him and his effort today," Harr said. "Coming in here, we knew he had an opportunity to win a district title. That second period was pretty big with Aaron riding him out. There are things to build on going into regionals."
After racking up a technical fall in the semifinals, the 11-ranked Sipes (30-1) aimed at improving upon a 2-0 win over Kearns at the Ultimate Warrior Tournament. He certainly did that, nailing four takedowns, including one with 7 seconds left to get the major decision.
"I consider (the 2-0 win) my dullest match of the year," Sipes said. "I didn't get out to my offense at all. I didn't take a single shot in that match. I've been wrestling with (Matt) Sarbo in the practice room. I've been focusing on forward pressure, forcing him into bad shots, get to my attacks."
"I was hoping he'd look real sharp and open up his offense," Gilbert said, "and he did. I'm happy for him. If he does that, he's going to be real tough to beat down the road."
Benson, Robertson Inducted
Todd Benson, a state runner-up for Altoona in 1977, and long-time Altoona assistant coach John Robertson were inducted into the District 6 Hall of Fame before the finals.
Benson, who was a 2012 Blair County Sports Hall of Fame inductee and football star, was presented his plaque by his younger brother Troy, who played six years with the New York Jets.
"It feels great. It brings back a lot of memories," Todd said. "This is where I wrestled in high school. I get back a lot. My mom is still here. On top of that, I come back and golf with some of my friends from high school."
The 79-year-old Robertson, who has coached wrestling, boxing, basketball and softball at Altoona, did some playful shadowboxing moves as he accepted his plaque from Gilbert. Robertson didn't want to talk about himself, but Gilbert did.
"If you put in 42 years, you deserve to get in," Gilbert said. "There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. John has been a constant here at Altoona wrestling and in the community. If anybody is deserving, it's him, that's for sure."
KEY, TEAM STANDINGS
1. MC--Mifflin County 201.5; 2. CM--Central Mountain 189.5; 3. SC--State College 160; 4. B--Bellefonte 133.5; 5. A--Altoona 113; 6. J--Juniata 90.5; 7. H--Hollidaysburg 90; 8. JO--Johnstown 14.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
106--Hileman, A, pinned Garcia, B, :29; 113--Allison, MC, pinned Choates, B, :32; 120--Cunningham, SC, dec. C. Smith, J, 4-1; 126--Perry, CM, tech. fall T. Smith, J, 23-5, 5:33; 132--Simcox, CM, dec. O'Shea, B, 7-1; 138--Manville, SC, tech. fall Weaver, CM, 18-1, 4:00; 145--Swisher, B, maj. dec. Walizer, CM, 10-0
152--Sipes, A, maj. dec. Kearns, MC, 9-1; 160--Everly, MC, dec. Serafini, CM, 9-3; 172--Sleeth, H, dec. Newby, SC, 1-0; 189--Shoemaker, MC, pinned Weaverling, SC, 1:41; 215--Pavlechko, SC, maj. dec. Wagner, MC, 14-5; 285--Pupo, MC, dec. Blackwell, CM, 5-1.
Outstanding Wrestler: Jude Swisher, Bellefonte. Coach of the Year: Kirby Martin, Mifflin County.
THIRD PLACE
106--Coates, SC, dec. Krupka, H., 4-2; 113--Foster, CM, pinned Irwin, A, :34; 120--Johnson, MC, dec. Ananea, CM, 8-3; 126--Campbell, SC, maj. dec. Weaver, B, 13-4; 132--Aumiller, MC, maj. dec. Painer, J, 8-0; 138--Long, B, maj. dec. Cunningham, MC, 13-5; 145--Scheaffer, MC, dec. Wi. Young, A, 7-3
152--Corter, CM, dec. Smith, B, 6-1; 160--Hershbine, SC, dec. Josh Bomberger, J, 4-3; 172--Aurand, MC, won by forfeit over Weaver, CM; 189--Galentine, CM, pinned Tissinger, JO, 1:58; 215--Eppihimer, H, dec. Kauffman, J, 3-2; 285--Focht, SC, dec. Putnam, B, 2-1 TB.
FIFTH PLACE
106--Joey Bomberger, J, dec. Oden, MC, 8-2; 113--Conway, H, pinned Smith, J, 2:12; 120--Horne, H, dec. Wisor, A, 9-2; 126--Carlucci, A, pinned Schenk, H, 2:38; 132--Brua, H, pinned Brandt, A, 2:05; 138--Baronner, H, pinned Wy. Young, A, 4:30; 145--Ritchey, H, bye.
160--Gibson, JO, dec. Garrison, B, 5-2; 172--Houser, A, pinned Mummah, J, 3:36; 189--C. Reimer, A, maj. dec. Peiper, J, 8-0; 215--Yost, A, dec. Shawley, B, 6-3; 285--Hoover, H, pinned Mi. Riccio, A, 1:53.