Dublers, Hoover, Sipes all triumph on first day
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By Todd Irwin
sports@altoonamirror.com
HERSHEY -- Glendale junior Zeke Dubler and senior Suds Dubler and Penn Cambria sophomore Trent Hoover spent a combined 4:09 on the mat in the first round of the PIAA Class 2A Championships.
It was a dominant Thursday morning for the trio at Hershey's Giant Center.
The Dubler brothers and Hoover all had first-period pins to advance to the quarterfinals.
Altoona freshman 152-pounder Luke Sipes later survived a 3-1 overtime nailbiter over Daniel Boone's J.T. Hogan in the Class 3A first round.
Zeke Dubler pinned Reynolds' Vito Gentile in 1:06 at 160, and Suds followed a few minutes later with a fall over another Reynolds wrestler, Jalen Wagner, in 1:38 at 172.
"It's pretty awesome," Zeke said. "Not many people have another sibling just tearing it up with them. You're pinning your kid on one mat and look over and see your brother getting his hand raised is pretty cool."
The 126-pound Hoover had no problem wrestling in his first state tournament, decking Littlestown's Cameron Mingee in 1:25.
The Class 2A quarterfinals and second-round consolations begin at 9 a.m. this morning. The semifinals are set for 7:30 tonight. The Class 3A quarterfinals are at 2:15, and the semifinals aren't until 9 a.m. Saturday.
Seven of the eight Class 2A wrestlers are still alive. Tyrone's Korry Walls (106), Ashton Sipes (132) and Braden Ewing (285) are still going in the consolations.
"Our three guys with their first time at the state tournament are doing well," Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. "Any time you can make it to the top 20 in the state and get a win is an accomplishment."
Central Cambria's Ethan Kubat (189), who was slammed at the Southwest Regional on Saturday and rushed to Pittsburgh Children's Hospital, is still wrestling after a dramatic pin in his first consolation bout.
Glendale's Britton Spangle (215) was the only 2A wrestler eliminated on the first day. Altoona's Luke Hileman (106) was eliminated in Class 3A.
Zeke Dubler (36-3) built a 5-0 lead on Gentile before getting the fall and advancing to the quarterfinals. He'll wrestle Bishop McDevitt's Anthony Glessner (33-11), who went 2-0, including a 2-0 win over Lackawanna Trail's fourth-ranked Robbie Schneider.
"I got the nerves out," Zeke said. "I felt good out there wrestling. I didn't know what to expect, but I just went out and did my thing and got it done.
"Tomorrow, I have to get to my offense and my attacks, and I'll worry about myself.
Suds Dubler (37-3) took Wagner down, sunk his highly effective bar-arm in, put Wagner on his back and pinned him. The fifth-ranked Dubler has a big quarterfinal against Southern Columbia's third-ranked Garrett Garcia (36-3), who pinned Berks Catholic's Gabriel Davis in 1:45.
"It feels great," Suds said. "I wanted to get that first match out of the way. There were definitely nerves. I've never won a championship round match at states. It's all new to me. It's fun competing in the Giant Center as well. I'm definitely enjoying these last moments in high school wrestling."
"I've got Garcia tomorrow. I know he's going to be tough, so I just have to come in focused and have a good match."
Hoover (33-6) bolted out to an 8-1 lead on Mingee, amassing six nearfall points and a takedown. Hoover hooked up a cradle and got the pin.
"I don't take anybody lightly," Hoover said. "Every match is the same. I went out, got my hands on him and you saw what happened. I'm nervous for every match. I have good butterflies."
"He's been on these stages," Penn Cambria coach Todd Niebauer said. "You wonder as a sophomore, first time here, how he's going to react. He looked like a man on a mission. I think he's in a good place. We'll get his weight down and be ready to roll for tomorrow."
Hoover faces Warrior Run's second-ranked Kaden Milheim (41-6) in the quarterfinals. Milheim pinned Brandywine Heights' Dillon Reinert in 4:54.
"It's the same mindset," Hoover said. "Why not me? Why can't I win this whole tournament? That's what it comes down to."
Kubat dropped a 9-6 decision to South Williamsport's Landon Lorson in the pigtail round. Kubat was losing 7-0 to Bishop McDevitt's Kade Werner in the first round of consolations when he reversed Werner to his back and pinned him in 2:29.
"It felt really good getting it because that guy was real tough," Kubat said.
Asked how he feels five days after the slam, Kubat said, "No effects. I feel perfectly fine. There's no reoccurring head trauma. It was a little awkward and scary going to the hospital for something that they thought may have broken my neck. I felt it was a little over exaggerated. I was mostly fine during the whole process."
Sipes converts
Sipes and Hogan traded escapes in the second and third periods and appeared headed toward the tiebreaker periods. But Sipes hit a single leg shot and converted with 5 seconds left in overtime.
"He wrestled smart," Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. "(Hogan) is a good wrestler, is a senior and controlled some of the ties. Luke dropped in on a nice single leg and finished it. That's what you have to do down here. He wrestled a cautious and calm match, but there's nothing wrong with that."
Sipes (34-1) will take on Nazareth's Dominic Wheatley (34-14) in the quarterfinals. Wheatley earned an 8-2 decision in the first round.
"They've wrestled before, so he knows the kid," Gilbert said. "We'll see how it goes tomorrow. Hopefully he does the same thing."
Hileman (32-6) opened with a 6-1 loss to Indiana's Nico Fanella. And the Mountain Lion senior, who didn't wrestle the past two years, dropped a 3-0 decision to Spring-Ford's Gus Smith, 3-0.
"He struggled this week," Gilbert said. "You get down here and sometimes you're hot and sometimes you're not. It's a shame to go out that way. I would have liked to have seen him win at least one down here, but that's the way it goes. He was a district champ and regional runner-up. I know he wanted to win a few here, but overall he did pretty well."