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Altoona Area High School senior wrestler Will Young is ranked in the top of his class academically, and he also possesses some brawn to go with his brains.
"He's a smart kid who is ranked fourth in his class, and he's a scrappy, physical wrestler who welcomes a challenge,'' Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said of the 145-pounder. "His hard work in the wrestling room has been a big factor in his success.''
Young joined Altoona teammates Luke Hileman (a senior 106-pounder) and Luke Sipes (a freshman 152-pounder) in Saturday's noon semifinal round of the Northwest 3A Regional Tournament, after all three posted quarterfinal-round victories in the opening night of competition Friday at the Altoona Area High School Fieldhouse.
Semifinal winners Saturday earn a berth in tonight's 6 p.m. regional championship finals, and also guarantee themselves of a spot in next weekend's PIAA state tournament at Hershey's Giant Center.
"All three looked very good,'' Gilbert said of his quarterfinal-round winners.
Young (16-16 this year) pinned Jai'Von Bottoms of Obama Academy in 3:05 in the opening round, then overcame a 2-0 third-period deficit with a reversal and two tilts for five near-fall points in a 7-6 victory over Austin Mitchell of DuBois, who had defeated Young during the regular season.
"That kid had beaten me in the dual meet, and I came into this tournament wanting to do as well as I could to get into the semis,'' said Young, who faces District 6 champion Jude Swisher of Bellefonte (35-1) in the semifnals. "Once I got the ball rolling tonight, I wanted to keep going.
"I'm very happy to be in the regional semifinals, and excited to see how far that I can go,'' Young added.
Sipes (31-1) and Hileman (31-3) were District 6 champions this year at 152 and 106, respectively. After drawing first-round byes, both continued rolling in Friday's quarterfinals, as Sipes made a first-period takedown stand up for a 3-1 decision over McDowell's Artis Simmons, and Hileman pinned General McLane's Teige Berger in 33 seconds.
Sipes draws Selinsgrove's Aiden Gaugler (38-5) in the semis, while Hileman faces Selinsgrove's Landyn Lukens (32-8).
Sipes played it close to the vest in grinding out the decision over Simmons, a District 10 runner-up.
"I would have liked to have scored more points, but he had a wide stance, and he was difficult to open up against,'' Sipes said. "I'm not satisfied, but I'm glad that I got the job done.''
Gilbert said that Sipes wrestled a very sound match.
"He wrestled a very smart match, he didn't get himself out of position, and he did what he had to do,'' Gilbert said.
Hileman came out like gangbusters against Berger, locking up a pinning combination 33 seconds into their quarterfinal bout.
"Luke Hileman went out there and took care of business,'' Gilbert said. "He definitely looked real tough. Luke has man strength at 106 pounds that his opponents are finding tough to handle this year.''
Hileman was a district runner-up three years ago as a freshman at 106, then took a break from wrestling in both of the past two seasons before coming back with a vengeance this year.
"I took some time off because I had been wrestling all year around, and I got tired,'' Hileman said. "I needed a break, and I needed to reset. But my senior year has been going as planned. I'd just like to place at states this year.''
Friday was a rough night for Hollidaysburg. The Golden Tigers didn't advance a wrestler to the semifinals, but they have six alive in this morning's consolation competition --- each still with hopes of earning a berth in the state tournament with a third-place finish in their weight classes.
Senior Aaron Sleeth, a District 6 champion for Hollidaysburg at 172 pounds, was major-decisioned, 11-3 by Clearfield's Mark McGonigal in the quarters Friday after drawing a first-round bye.
The Golden Tigers' other quarterfinalist, senior 215-pounder Niklaus Eppihimer, was pinned in 53 seconds by Clearfield's Hayden Kovalick, a District 4-9 champion.
Eppihimer had advanced to the quarters by pinning Marquese Howard of Perry in 2:22 in the preliminary round.
Both Eppihimer and Sleeth will compete in the second-round consolations Saturday. Four Hollidaysburg wrestlers who lost their preliminary-round matches Friday are still alive in Saturday's consolations.
They include: 285-pounder Rally Hoover, who dropped a 14-12 overtime decision to Brashear's Rowere Calloway; 138-pounder Mitchell Baronner, who was pinned in 3:25 by Bellefonte's Gage Long; 120-pounder Noah Horne, who was pinned by Cole Neil of St. Marys in 1:37, and 106-pounder Carson Krupka, who was pinned by Cathedral Prep's Keegan Oler in 5:27.
Krupka, Hoover and Horne will compete in the first-round consolations Saturday, while Baronner gets a bye into the second-round consolations.
Hollidaysburg coach Christian Harr said that the Golden Tigers are keeping a positive attitude heading into Saturday's wrestlebacks.
"We have some young freshmen and sophomores who are getting to experience this atmosphere for the first time, and our two seniors had tough draws in the quarters,'' Harr said. "We're certainly not down or disappointed.
(Saturday) is a new day, and our wrestlers are happy to be making a run at the state tournament.''
Altoona also had three wrestlers lose their preliminary-round matches and drop into Saturday's first-round consolations. They included: 113-pounder Nick Irwin, who was pinned by Clearfield's Ethan Davis in 2:25, 120-pounder Eli Wisor, who was pinned by Cathedral Prep's Cyrus Hurd in 1:21, and 172-pounder Eli Houser, who lost by 20-7 major decision to Clearfield's McGonigal.
Central Mountain leads the team scoring with 71 points entering Saturday's competition. Mifflin County (64) is second, followed by Clearfield (62), Williamsport (57), and State College (47.5).