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PHILIPSBURG -- It shouldn't have been too much of a shock to anybody familiar with 152 pounds that Altoona's Luke Sipes stood out from the rest on Saturday in the 20th annual Mountaineer Duals at Philipsburg-Osceola.
Sipes went 5-0, including wins over P-O's District 6 Class 2A champion and Southwest Regional eighth-placer Marcus Gable and Glendale regional seventh-placer George Campbell.
Four of the six tournament head coaches voted Sipes the Leroy E. Myers Outstanding Wrestler.
"I'm excited," Sipes said after accepting the award from Leroy E. Myers' grandchildren Sami Hardi and Nick Gurol. "I really wanted it last year. So I worked my tail off and I'm here now. I think my motor and my conditioning is up to just how it was last year. I was really clearing ties and wrestling well. I felt good today. I'm just getting better each week."
"He looked really tough," Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. "If he can continue to keep his offense on a roll, I think he'll just as good of a shot of winning it this year than anybody. I don't want to put that kind of hex on anybody. He just needs to get a little more offense, and you can see it coming each and every match. He's getting a little bit better and a little bit better and a little bit better."
Altoona finished third in the tournament with a 3-2 record, while Glendale was fifth with a 1-4 mark. Bellefonte won the team title with a 5-0 record, and P-O was second at 4-1. Punxsutawney was 0-5.
Altoona (4-8) beat Glendale, 42-27, West Branch, 41-33, and Punxsy, and lost to P-O, 34-24, and Bellefonte, 46-27.
"I'm real happy with our performance," Gilbert said.
In addition to Sipes, teammates Braiden Weaver and Caleb Fasick also went 5-0 for the Mountain Lions. In P-O's 34-24 win over Altoona in the final round, Weaver edged Caleb Hummel, 4-2, in a battle of freshmen stars. Earlier in the dual meet, Sipes and Gable both moved up to 160, with Sipes winning, 7-3.
P-O held a 25-24 lead going into the final two weights, but Nate Fleck's 6-1 win over Wyatt Young at 139 and pin by Ian Phillips at 145 closed it out.
Glendale (6-9) beat Punxsy, 41-33, and lost to Bellefonte, 43-30, Altoona, P-O, 45-24, and West Branch, 48-26. Zeke Dubler, Britton Spangle and Daniel Williams all went 5-0 for the Vikings.
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 34, ALTOONA 24
152: Dawson Snyder (POAH) over Hayden McMillon (AAH) (Fall 0:54) 160: Lucas Sipes (AAH) over Marcus Gable (POAH) (Dec 7-3) 172: Dylan Koptchak (POAH) over Jullian Fetter (AAH) (Fall 0:12) 189: Matthew Rowles (POAH) over Evan Boose (AAH) (Dec 7-5) 215: Michael Riccio (AAH) over Andrew Hensal (POAH) (SV-1 6-4) 285: William Himmelwright (AAH) over Trevor Cort (POAH) (Dec 7-1) 107: Braiden Weaver (AAH) over Caleb Hummel (POAH) (Dec 4-2)
114: Ace Foster (POAH) over Nick Irwin (AAH) (Fall 3:08) 121: Phillip Sarbo (AAH) over (POAH) (For.) 127: Ben Gustkey (POAH) over Logan Brandt (AAH) (MD 9-1) 133: Caleb Fasick (AAH) over Hunter Kephart (POAH) (Fall 3:23) 139: Nate Fleck (POAH) over Wyatt Young (AAH) (Dec 6-1) 145: Ian Phillips (POAH) over Eli Wisor (AAH) (Fall 1:23)
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 45, GLENDALE 24
133: Hunter Kephart (POAH) over Dylan Fyock (GLHS) (Dec 3-1) 139: Nate Fleck (POAH) over Dayton Johnson (GLHS) (Fall 5:39) 145: Ian Phillips (POAH) over Malachi Richards (GLHS) (Fall 1:22) 152: Marcus Gable (POAH) over George Campbell (GLHS) (Dec 6-1) 160: Zeke Dubler (GLHS) over Dylan Koptchak (POAH) (Fall 1:53) 172: Matthew Rowles (POAH) over Brady Vereshack (GLHS) (Fall 1:40) 189: Andrew Hensal (POAH) over Dravin Beatty (GLHS) (Fall 1:03)
215: Britton Spangle (GLHS) over Trevor Cort (POAH) (Fall 0:50) 285: Daniel Williams (GLHS) over (POAH) (For.) 107: Ace Foster (POAH) over (GLHS) (For.) 114: Caleb Hummel (POAH) over Ethan Gilbey (GLHS) (MD 18-4) 121: Nate Storm (GLHS) over (POAH) (For.) 127: Ben Gustkey (POAH) over Ryder Krise (GLHS) (Fall 3:52) (POAH Singlet -1.0)