Seventh-seeded Blue Devil Norris in semifinals
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By Todd Irwin
sports@altoonamirror.com
Ethan Norris has been a bright spot in a very gloomy season for the Bellwood-Antis wrestling program.
He endured the Blue Devils going 1-16, and coach Kyle Fink resigning during the season. B-A also had matches canceled in the torrent of anger toward the school district regarding the sexual assault case of former junior high coach Ryan Blazier.
But Norris was putting together a winning record at 215. And the seventh-seeded junior gave his team and fans something to cheer about on the first day of the District 6 Class 2A Tournament on Friday at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
Norris knocked off Glendale's second-seeded Britton Spangle, 6-5, in the quarterfinals, avenging losses of 10-5 and 2-1 this season. Norris advanced to the semifinals and qualified for the Southwest Regional Tournament. The top six at each weight class advance to regionals.
"It feels great," Norris said. "I've been working with my boys and coaches in practice every day. And it finally paid off here when it's needed. It feels great to come back strong from the coaching changes and everything like that."
"It was a big, exciting win for him," B-A coach and 2019 Tyrone graduate Aric Reader said. "He's been working real hard. I would say all of the guys on our squad have been working extra hard. It's been a tough year for everybody, but we're trying to make the most of it."
Norris was one of 16 wrestlers from the Mirror coverage area who advanced to the semifinals, including four from Tyrone and Penn Cambria, respectively.
Tyrone's Korry Walls (106), Ashton Sipes (132), Andrew Weaver (160) and Braden Ewing (285) won in the quarterfinals, as did Penn Cambria's Trent Hoover (126), Nathan Little (152), Austin McCloskey (160) and Austin Wagner (189).
"We did really well in that first round," Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. "We were leading in the team points. I took a screen shot so I could save it. Hey, listen, you've got to enjoy the little wins when you get them. Overall, our guys did an awesome job. This is a tough tournament."
"I thought we were a little slow out of the gate at times in some of our earlier matches," Penn Cambria coach Todd Niebauer said. "But then we caught some fire there. Not a bad quarterfinal round. I thought we had a shot to win one more."
Glendale advanced three in George Campbell (132), Zeke Dubler (160) and Suds Dubler (172). Central's Ty Biesinger (113) and Jaxon Matthews (132), and Central Cambria's Ethan Kubat (189) and Karter Quick (285) also made it to the semifinals.
Wrestling resumes at 10:30 a.m. today with a consolation round. The semifinals will follow. The championship finals, third-place and fifth-place bouts follow the 4:45 p.m. Hall of Fame induction.
Defending champion Forest Hills leads second-place Philipsburg-Osceola in the team standings by four points, 94-90. Bald Eagle Area (81), Tyrone (78.5) and Penns Valley (76) rounded out the top 5.
Spangle (28-8) scored the first takedown, but Norris (19-11) escaped and scored a takedown with 3 seconds left in the first period for a 3-2 lead. Norris escaped again, and Spangle took him down to tie the score, 4-4. Norris escaped with 10 seconds left to take a 5-4 lead into the third.
In the third, Norris, who had a pin in his first bout, received a point for a technical violation by Spangle. Spangle escaped with 1:04 left and was in on a shot with about 15 seconds left, but Norris defended and won.
"I knew he wrestled with a lot of defense, so I knew I had to go in there wrestling defense," Norris said. "When I was up one in the whole third period, I knew I had to say on my base and play good defense."
Norris will wrestle Moshannon Valley's third-seeded David Honan (22-2) in the semifinals. Honan pinned Norris earlier in the season.
"I'm excited," Norris said. "Me, my friends, my coaches, we're all excited."
One of the other highlights of the day for area wrestlers was McCloskey surviving a 2-1 tiebreaker win over Bald Eagle Area's Cameron Dubbs in the quarterfinals.
McCloskey, a junior, and Dubbs went into overtime tied, 1-1. McCloskey was aggressive on his feet, but they went scoreless in the 1-minute overtime. McCloskey (21-13) rode Dubbs in the first 30-second period. In the second, McCloskey escaped and avoided danger to win.
"It was definitely my biggest win this year," McCloskey said. "The semifinals are going to be tough, but I got to just try to fight."
"I thought conditioning came into play," Niebauer said. "We just had to be smart. We kept shooting, and I was worried we were tiring ourselves out. That's a good confidence booster for Austin. He had to deal with getting beat out for his spot (by Little). I'm happy for both of them that it worked out."
Returning area runners-up Hoover, Zeke Dubler and Suds Dubler had no problem on the first day. Hoover (26-6) pinned Glendale's Zach Vereshack in 36 seconds in the quarters.
Zeke (30-2) had pins in 54 seconds and 1:57 to earn a semifinal berth against McCloskey. Suds (31-2) racked up a 19-3 technical fall and a pin of Central Cambria's Jon Hajzus.
Other No. 1 seeds Walls and Sipes rolled. Walls had a pin, while Sipes had two technical falls. Sipes faces fourth-seeded Matthews, a district runner-up two years ago, in the semifinals.
KEY, TEAM STANDINGS
1. FH--Forest Hills 94; 2. PO--Philipsburg-Osceola 90; 3. BEA--Bald Eagle Area 81; 4. T--Tyrone 78.5; 5. PV--Penns Valley 76; 6. H--Huntingdon 69; 7. PC--Penn Cambria 64.5; 8. G--Glendale 55; 9. MC--Marion Center 52.5; 10. CC--Central Cambria 47; 11. WB--West Branch 46; 12. MU--Mount Union 43; 13. U--United 41; 14. BA--Bellwood-Antis and RV--River Valley 36; 16. MV--Moshannon Valley 34; 17. WH--Westmont Hilltop 27; 18. C--Central and JV--Juniata Valley 26; 20. SH--Southern Huntingdon 24.5; 21. CK--Claysburg-Kimmel 14; 22. CH--Cambria Heights 13.5; 23. R--Richland 9.
SEMIFINALS
106--Walls, T, pinned Simpson, H, :43; Darlington, PV, dec. Shilcosky, FH, 6-2 OT; Beatty, MU, dec. Guenot, BEA, 6-4; Sombronski, U, pinned McDonald, PO, :36. 113--Fye, BEA, pinned Michuk, FH, 3:53; Bracken, U, dec. Yocum, H, 8-6 OT; Biesinger, C, dec. Rumberger, T, 5-4; Bainey, WB, pinned Cromwell, SH, 1:31. 120--Bainey, BEA, pinned Dick, JV, :59; Gladfelter, H, pinned Stewart, MC, 4:43; Shunk, PV, pinned A.J. Chilcote, MU, 3:51; Coudriet, PO, pinned Monty, U, :47. 126--Hoover, PC, pinned Vereshack, G, :36; Frantz, PO, pinned C. Chilcote, MU, 3:16; Dunsmore, H, pinned Yarger, MV, 3:10; Forcellini, FH, maj. dec. Henning, U, 15-4. 132--Sipes, T, tech fall Taylor, 16-1, 4:02; Matthews, C, dec. Wagner, H, 7-2; Campbell, G, pinned Coukart, PC, 1:15; Gable, PO, maj. dec. Long, PV, 13-4; 138--Toth, FH, pinned Fetterolf, PV, 1:02; Mykut, H, pinned Syfert, R, 1:35; Cornetto, MC, dec. McCully, U, 4-1; Pifer, BEA, dec. L. Walk, T, 6-0. 145--Watson, PV, maj. dec. WH, 11-2; Foster, PO, pinned Grubb, H, :50; Teeter, FH, tech fall Wood, T, 16-0, 4:12; Heilbrun, MC, dec. Barnhart, RV, 8-3.
152--Arrington, FH, pinned Shank, BA, :35; Little, PC, dec. Martin, PV, 7-1; Stuchal, RV, dec. Reese, BEA, 6-4; Hughes, PO, dec. Hanley, WH, 1-0. 160--Z. Dubler, G, pinned Fetterolf, PV, 1:57; McCloskey, PC, dec. Dubbs, BEA, 2-1 TB; Weaver, T, maj. dec. Panebianco, WH, 10-2; Flinn, FH, tech fall Reck, MU, 19-2, 4:14. 172--S. Dubler, G, pinned Hajzus, CC, 1:18; Cohenour, SH, dec. Felker, PV, 10-6; Stewart, MC, tech fall Folmar, WB, 15-0, 3:32; Close, BEA, dec. Templeton, FH, 2-0. 189--Foltz, BEA, pinned Miller, H, :30; Lyons, PV, pinned Barr, T, 1:54; Wagner, PC, maj. dec. Shaw, PO, 8-0; Kubat, CC, maj. dec. Ryan, MU, 13-4; 215--Bearjar, FH, dec. Bumbarger, WB, 4-2; Carolus, JV, pinned Knepp, BEA, 5:16; Honan, MV, pinned Raymond, PC, 4:10; Norris, BA, dec. Spangle, G, 6-5. 285--Singleton, H, pinned Gable, FH, :59; Klinger, PO, pinned Holsinger, C, 4:34; Ewing, T, pinned Summerville, PC, 5:42; Quick, CC, pinned Miller, RV, 3:33.