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MORRISDALE -- Altoona sophomore Luke Sipes has wrestled a lot over his two-year career at the high school, as well as in junior high, elementary and the offseason.
Sipes couldn't remember winning the way he did in the 152-pound finals of the Ultimate Warrior Tournament on Saturday at West Branch High School.
Not many other wrestlers have either.
Tied 1-1 with Mifflin County's Parker Kearns in overtime, Sipes pinned Kearns with 1 second left without control from the neutral, or standing, position. Tangled up in a flurry, Kearns shoulders were on the mat after what looked like a leg cradle by Sipes.
It was Sipes' second Ultimate Warrior title.
"I expected a close match, and I'm ready for that overtime," Sipes said, "but, man, that was crazy."
"I'm sure he'd have to have hit something similar to that in practice," Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. "You don't have to have the takedown in that situation. Bottom line, Kearns wrestled a good match, but Luke found a way."
Altoona's Braiden Weaver also captured the 107-pound title, beating Hickory's Brody Bishop, 1-0, in a more conventional manner.
Tyrone's Logan Rumberger (121) and Braden Ewing (285) lost in the finals. Rumberger, a sixth seed, dropped an 8-1 decision to Mifflin County's Hunter Johnson. Ewing lost a heartbreaker to Port Allegany's unbeaten Carson Neely in overtime, 3-1.
Three other Golden Eagles placed in the top five. Kyle Scott (172) finished fourth, while Korry Walls (107), back from a broken hand, and Andrew Weaver (160) placed fifth.
Tyrone finished in sixth place in the 42-team tournament with 112 points, while Altoona (65.5) was 17th. Central Mountain won the team title with 174 points, while Mifflin County (152.5) was second.
Sipes (32-3) went 5-0 over two days with two technical falls, a pin and a forfeit to earn a rematch with Kearns (27-4). Sipes beat Kearns, 2-0, in last year's Ultimate Warrior finals and 9-1 in the District 6 finals.
After a scoreless first period, Kearns escaped 35 seconds into the second period. Sipes escaped 11 seconds into the third. The wrestlers spent much of the bout on their feet.
And then, within the flurry, Sipes saw a chance to put Kearns in danger.
"He tried to pass my leg, and I just put all of my weight down on my leg and locked my hands," Sipes said. "I looked at the clock and I knew I couldn't score a takedown. I saw his shoulders were almost flat, so I leaned back and Coach Gilbert yelled 'pin,' and it was a pin."
"Each time, this kid finds a way," Gilbert said. "He's that kind of guy. We'll build upon that as something we'll need to improve on. They came up with a game plan. We'll have to look at that at district time, and what he did and how he did it, and rectify that situation."
Weaver (29-4) rode Bishop (23-7) tough the entire second period of a scoreless bout. The Mountain Lion freshman escaped 49 seconds into the third, but Bishop didn't give up without a fight. Bishop was in on a takedown in the final seconds, but Weaver held him off to preserve the win.
"I got a little nervous," Weaver said. "I just kept circling, circling and circling and hoped I didn't give it up."
"That could be the Northwest Region final this year," Gilbert said. "Weaver came out and got it done. You're going to have to win those tough matches to place at the state tournament, and I know that's his goal this year."
Rumberger went 3-1, including a 6-5 win over Hickory's third-seeded Dylan O'Brien in the quarterfinals and a 7-5 win over United's second-seeded Gideon Bracken in the semifinals.
Johnson, the top seed, notched two takedowns, including before the final buzzer, a reversal and two nearfall points. Rumberger avoided the shutout with 35 seconds remaining and pushed the action late.
"I upset two kids that were seeded higher than me. I thought I wrestled really well in the tournament," Rumberger said. "Overall, I was just really happy with my performance. I definitely didn't want to get pinned. I knew he wanted Outstanding Wrestler. He was talking to me about it beforehand."
Bentworth's Chris Vargo (127) was named the OW.
The top-seeded Ewing posted a 4-1 record with two pins, a decision and a forfeit win. Ewing (24-6) tied the third-seeded Neely (22-0) with an escape 19 seconds into the third. In overtime, Ewing came very close to getting a takedown, but Neely defended.
It looked like they would go to the tiebreaker periods, but Neely took Ewing down with 2 seconds remaining to win.
"I think that was the most aggressive I've been all year," Ewing said. "Maybe not that last match because we were both aggressive. When I was watching tape of him, he was exactly like me. It's hard wrestling a mirror image of yourself. This time, he got it.
"He caught me on my heels. I didn't think he was going to go for anything in the last 10 seconds. He had a nice single that was tough to defend."
KEY, TEAM STANDINGS
1. CM--Central Mountain 174; 2. MC--Mifflin County 152.5; 3. CY--Central York 134.5; 4. U--United 123.5; 5. R--Reynolds 122.5; 6. T--Tyrone 112; 7. B--Bentworth 107.5; 8. C--Canton 102; 9. BEA--Bald Eagle Area 92.5; 10. H--Hickory 90; 11. BR--Brockway 83.5; 12. SOC--Southern Columbia 82.5; 13. PT--Peters Township 78; 14. PAL--Port Allegany 76; 15. MW--Midd-West 74; 16. TOW--Towanda 72; 17. A--Altoona 65.5; 18. W--Wyalusing 65; 19. M--Muncy 62; 20. J--Johnsonburg 59.5; 21. ARM--Armstrong and SC--Sullivan County 56.5; 23. MU--Mount Union 56; 24. PO--Philipsburg-Osceola and I--Indiana 50; 26. WB--West Branch 49; 27. MAC--Marion Center 46.5; 28. CL--Clarion 45; 29. PA--Pen Argyl 43.5; 30. RV--River Valley 41; 31. BRAD--Bradford 32; 32. CK--Claysburg-Kimmel 31; 33. WA--Wilson Area 29; 34. JU--Juniata 28; 35. JV--Juniata Valley 21; 36. HOL--Hollidaysburg 14; 37. MV--Moshannon Valley 13; 38. BA--Bellwood-Antis and WH--Westmont Hilltop 12; 40. R--Richland 11; 41. LL--Lake Lehman 9; 42. OV--Oswayo Valley 8.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
107--Weaver, A, dec. Bishop, H, 1-0; 114--Bainey, WB, dec. Wade, SC, 2-1; 121--Johnson, MC, dec. Rumberger, T, 8-1; 127--Vargo, B, pinned Bainey, BEA, 3:50; 133--Simcox, CM, dec. Johnson, M, 5-1; 139--Perry, CM, won by forfeit over Heckman, MW; 145--Walizer, CM, dec. Dillon, CY, 6-4 OT
152--Sipes, A, pinned Kearns, MC, 6:59 OT; 160--Scheaffer, MC, dec. Gentile, R, 5-3; 172--Wagner, R, dec. Myers, CY, 8-5; 189--Stewart, BR, dec. Daniels, B, 7-4; 215--Jacobs, ARM, pinned Davis, C, 4:39; 285--Neely, PAL, dec. Ewing, T, 3-1 OT.
George W. Bainey Outstanding Wrestler: Chris Vargo, Bentworth
CONSOLATIONS
AREA RESULTS
THIRD PLACE
172--Close, BEA, dec. Scott, T, 3-1
FIFTH PLACE
107--Walls, T, won by forfeit over Beatty, MU; 160--Weaver, T, dec. Murphy, SOC, 6-4