Luke Sipes

By Todd Irwin

sports@altoonamirror.com

HERSHEY — Altoona freshman star Luke Sipes has been saying consistently this season that he wants to win a state title.

The Mountain Lion is two wins away from doing that.

Sipes advanced to Saturday’s 9 a.m. semifinals of the PIAA Class 3A Championships with a 2-1 win over Nazareth’s Dominic Wheatley in the quarterfinals on Friday at Hershey’s Giant Center.

“It feels great,” Sipes said. “This is what I’ve been working for since I was little to get on this high school (medals) podium. I just punched my top six spot. As soon as I saw the bracket, or even before the bracket, I’ve known I’ve been one of the best kids at my weight.

“I work hard every day. I believe in myself and, yeah, I was confident coming into this tournament.”

Glendale’s Zeke Dubler (160) and Suds Dubler (172) will wrestle in respective third-place bouts today in Class 2A. Their only losses were to wrestlers named Garcia. The championship finals, third, fifth and seventh-place bouts are at 2 p.m.

Zeke dropped a heartbreaking 3-0 decision to Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Holden Garcia in the semifinals. He responded with a pin in the consolations. Suds lost to Southern Columbia’s Garrett Garcia, 2-1, in the quarterfinals, but went 3-0 in the consolations.

Penn Cambria’s District 6 and Southwest Regional champ Trent Hoover went 0-2 on Friday and was eliminated in what is called the blood round – the round prior to the medal rounds. Tyrone’s Braden Ewing (285) went 1-1 Friday and also lost in the blood round.

Tyrone’s Korry Walls (106) and Ashton Sipes (132) and Central Cambria’s Ethan Kubat (189) were all eliminated after they lost their first consolation bouts on Friday.

Sipes reversal was big

Sipes, who hiked his record to 35-1, nearly converted on shot in a scoreless first period. He rode Wheatley the entire second period, drawing a curious stall call along the way.

In the third, Sipes reversed 8 seconds into the period to draw first blood. A bear on top, Sipes rode until Wheatley escaped with 27 seconds left in the bout.

“I knew I’d have to grind somebody on top to get on the podium here,” Sipes said. “In the quarterfinals, I got it done.”

Sipes not only avoided danger late in the bout, he was in on a shot in the final seconds.

“It feels real good,” Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. “I’m happy for him and what he’s done. He wrestled hard. You’ve got to grind those wins out down here. That’s just the way it is.

The one-point win came a day after earning a 3-1 overtime victory over Daniel Boone’s J.T. Hogan.

“They were tough,” Sipes said of his first two bouts. “I had to gut them out, but everyone down here is tough. There are no slouches here. Coach Gilbert had me prepared, and I’m thankful for that.”

Sipes will wrestle Chartiers Valley’s Southwest Regional champion Dylan Evans (31-4) in the semifinals. Evans, a junior ranked No. 1 by PA Power Wrestling, earned a 10-3 win over Shippensburg’s Dominic Frontino in the quarterfinals for his 100thcareer victory.

“I’m so confident in my ability I can beat anyone in the state when I wrestle my best,” Sipes said. “I’m just going to go out there score points, have fun and do my thing.”

“Down here in the semifinals, upsets happen,” Gilbert said. “When you’re a freshman, sometimes you get out there on the center stage and it doesn’t bother you. I don’t think it’s going to bother him, so I’m real hopeful that he’s going to do real well.”

Dublers bounce back

Zeke Dubler reached the semifinals with his second pin of the tournament – in 4:13 over Bishop McDevitt’s Anthony Glessner in the quarterfinals.

Against Holden Garcia, he got taken down with 10 seconds left in the first period and couldn’t make up the difference. He was involved in long flurry in the third, but Garcia stayed in control.

He followed the loss with a pin of Lackawanna Trail’s Robert Schneider in 4:35 in the consolation semifinals. Zeke (38-4) will wrestle Newport’s Ganon Smith for third.

“It’s definitely not where I want to be,” Zeke said, “but I wrestled pretty tough today. Garcia is a tough opponent. It’s all right. I bounced back, got a pretty dominant win over a pretty tough kid. I’m excited for tomorrow.”

After Suds suffered his loss Garrett Garcia in the quarterfinals, but he responded with a pin of McDevitt’s Lucas Lawler in 2:53 in his first consolation bout, a 7-0 win over Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Garret Tettemer and a 5-0 shutout of Canton’s Riley Parker.

“I thought I did well,” Suds said. “I dropped that first one to Garcia, but I fought back, and now I’m wrestling for third. I hope I keep it rolling into tomorrow. I’m definitely excited and very happy to wrestle for third.”

Suds (40-4) will face Benton’s Nolan Lear in the third-place bout.

Hoover drops two

Hoover (33-8), who reached the quarterfinals with a pin in the first round on Thursday, had a winless Friday. Hoover dropped a 6-0 loss to Warrior Run’s Kaden Milheim, who had a five-point move in the second period.

He then lost, 6-2, to Boiling Springs’ Eli Bounds in his consolation bout to finish his sophomore year.

“We just didn’t look our best today,” Penn Cambria coach Todd Niebauer said. “I didn’t think we looked bad in the first loss. We just got caught in a five-pointer. And this last match definitely wasn’t us.

“I’m sure it’s going to sting for him for awhile. He’s tough on himself. I don’t need to say a word to him. He’s young. He’s going to have to figure it out. It’s tough to lose that closing to placing, but I’m sure he’ll train. There’s no question about that.”

Ewing (34-13), a sophomore, went 1-2 in his first state tournament. He survived a 2-1 tiebreaker win over Titusville’s Lodge Nosko in his first consolation bout, riding Nosko out in second 3-second tiebreaker period to win.

Ewing was then pinned by Mifflinburg’s Emmanuel Ulrich in 3:30 in the third round of consolations.

Walls (29-11) went 0-2 in the tournament and finished his junior season with an 8-5 loss to Mount Union’s Mason Beatty.

Sipes (33-12), a senior who went 1-2 over two days, closed out his first states appearance with a 3-1 loss to Beth-Center’s Kyle McCollum.

“Today’s results were like getting a banana split with the whipped cream and cherry on top,” Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. “It still tastes good but not quite finished. These boys did a great job, and I’m proud of them. They should be proud of themselves.”

Kubat (30-9) finished his career with an 8-3 loss to Saegertown’s Landon Caldwell to complete a 1-2 performance here.