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By Todd Irwin
sports@altoonamirror.com
Altoona stars Braiden Weaver and Luke Sipes didn't just win their quarterfinal bouts in the Northwest Regional Class 3A Tournament on Friday night at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
They dominated those bouts with an impressive display of chain wrestling.
Moving fluidly from one move to another from the top position, Weaver and Sipes overwhelmed their opponents.
Weaver racked a pin of Cathedral Prep's Aiden Carter in 51 seconds at 107 pounds. Sipes, the returning regional champion, nearly won by technical fall in the first period at 152, but he had to settle for a 15-0 technical fall over Cathedral Prep's Bo Martucci 4 seconds into the second period.
"Those two guys will come right at you. They're like jackhammers," Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. "They just stay right on you, and they don't stop. They're constantly looking to score points. They're not just looking for the first shot. They're looking for the second, third, fourth move."
"Coach (Cole) Manley has been showing us a lot of stuff," Sipes said. "So shoutout to him. He's really helped us this year."
Altoona teammate Caleb Fasick nearly joined Sipes and Weaver in today's 12:30 p.m. semifinals, but an unbelievable and stunning turn of events prevented him from getting there.
Fasick, who suffered an injury near his eye last week's District 6 finals, was up 17-3 on DuBois' Samson Deeb when Deeb hip-tossed the Mountain Lion senior to his back and pinned him with 16 seconds left in the bout.
"I think we got a little overaggressive out there in Fasick's match, and it cost us," Gilbert said. "That happens in wrestling sometimes. You've got to give credit to the kid from DuBois for going for the throw.
"Fasick really couldn't do much in that position. I'm hoping he'll fight back tomorrow. It was stunning. He's a resilient young man, and he'll be ready to go tomorrow."
All seven Blair County wrestlers advanced to the second day, which starts at 10:30 a.m. with the second round of consolations. The tournament ends with consolation finals and championship finals at 5:15 p.m.
Altoona's Phillip Sarbo (121), Fasick and Michael Riccio (215) and Hollidaysburg's Carson Krupka (114) and Mitchell Baronner (160) are wrestling in that second round of consolations. They'll be attempting to wrestle back to finish third and qualify for the PIAA Championships in less than two weeks.
Weaver, ranked fifth in the state at 107 by PA Power Wrestling, immediately took Carter down and gave up an escape. Weaver quickly moved in for another takedown, tilted Carter, switched to a bar-arm and put his opponent away with that move.
Weaver (33-4) faces Meadville's Ben Fuller (23-6) in the semifinals. Fuller reached the semis with a 6-0 win.
"I feel pretty strong, pretty fast -- really fast, actually," Weaver said. "If I keep wrestling like this, I'll blow past this tournament."
Sipes scored a takedown, got three nearfall points, tilted Martucci for three more back points, tilted again for three back points and added three more nearfall point before time expired in the first period for a 14-0 lead. He escaped 4 seconds into the second period to get the technical fall.
"I did what I expected to do," Sipes said. "I went out there and dominated. That's what I'm here for."
The fourth-ranked Sipes (36-3) will wrestle Meadville's Brighton Anderson (29-7). On other side of the weight, Mifflin County's Parker Kearns faces McDowell's Artis Simmons.
"I'm excited," Sipes said. "I'm ready to go."
Sipes had just watched the stunning pin of Fasick (26-8), who nearly got a pin of his own right before Deeb tossed him. Fasick, who had a 15-2 win in his first bout, put him on his back on the edge of the mat with a 14-3 lead. Fasick got three nearfall points, but the referee initially looked like he had slapped the mat for a pin.
"We weren't really sure what happened in that situation," Gilbert said. "It looked like the official actually slapped the mat. We looked at the film a little closer, and he kind of rolled his hand up like he was going to slap it, but then he gave three back points."
And then came the throw that had the gym buzzing for awhile.
District 6 champ Krupka rolled to a pin in 5:00 in his preliminary bout, but he suffered a 6-2 loss to Cathedral Prep's Amir Johnson in the quarterfinals. The score was 2-2 in the third period when Johnson took Krupka down to his back for four points.
"He went out there (in the first bout) and wrestled kind of smart," Hollidaysburg coach Christian Harr said. "He didn't chase him around the mat. He got in good positions to put the guy on his back for the fall. He wrestled tough (against Johnson) and just has to refocus and move on."
Baronner shook off a 3-1 loss to Cathedral Prep's Jaden Crockett by pinning DuBois' Carter Vos in the quarterfinals.
"That was a big confidence booster for him," Harr said. "Getting a win at the regional tournament is a big deal. He was certainly fired up about it. He'll be ready to compete tomorrow."
After Sarbo was pinned by Meadville's Caleb Anderson in the prelims, he eked out a 1-0 win over Obama Academy's Isaac Werner in the quarters.
Riccio bounced back from getting pinned by Williamsport's Nariq Burks by headlocking Bradford's Mike Butler and pinning him in 2:55.
KEY, TEAM STANDINGS
1. CM--Central Mountain 78; 2. SC--State College 61; 3. HICK--Hickory 53.5; 4. SH--Shikellamy and W--Williamsport 53; 6. MC--Mifflin County 52.5; 7. MCD--McDowell 49.5; 8. CP--Cathedral Prep 49; 9. S--Selinsgrove 43; 10. M--Meadville and P--Punxsutawney 42; 12. D--DuBois 29; 13. A--Altoona 24.5; 14. CMVT--Columbia Montour Vo-Tech 18; 15. JS--Jersey Shore 17; 16. WEST--Westinghouse 12; 17. OA--Obama Academy 11; 18. TA--Taylor Allderdice 10; 19. HOLL--Hollidaysburg and BRAD--Bradford 7; 21. CAR--Carrick 5; 22. BR--Brashear 4; 23. J--Johnstown 3.
QUARTERFINALS
107--Weaver, A, pinned Carter, CP, :51; Fuller, M, dec. Noel, WEST, 6-0; Bauman, CM, dec. Co. Nasdeo, W, 9-4; Bishop, HICK, maj. dec. Sanderson, SC, 10-2; 114--Sallot, MCD, pinned Segraves, W, 2:45; Gould, P, pinned Billings, CMVT, 2:47; Johnsosn, CP, dec. Krupka, HOLL, 6-2; Reed, SH, pinned Boyle, HICK, :40; 121--Ca. Nassdeo, W, pinned O'Brien, HICK, :47; Anderson, M, dec. Winter, JS, 9-7; Oler, CP, tech. fall Martin, S, 16-1, 3:23; Johnson, MC, maj. dec. Rutan, P, 12-0; 127--H. Cunningham, SC, pinned Lukens, S, :21; Reardon, HICK, pinned Agie-Toks, TA, :45; Deeb, D, pinned Fasick, A, 5:44; Staab, CP, dec. Everly, MC, 5-0; 133--Simcox, CM, maj. dec. McGregor, SH, 13-1; Moyer, CMVT, pinned Davenport, BR, 1:07; Campbell, SC, dec. Blue, MCD, 9-4; Orr, D, dec. Aumiller, MC, 3-2; 139--Manville, SSC, pinned Thompson, M, :44; Byrd, CP, dec. Aughenbaugh, D, 3-2 TB; Perry, CM, pinned Bradbury, WEST, 2:59; Saylor, HICK, tech. fall Turner, S, 16-0, 3:44; 145--A. Cunningham, SC, pinned Keener, SH, 4:41; Weaver, W, pinned Kurelowech, MCD, 1:59; Walizer, CM, maj. dec. Elder, CAR, 17-5; Thompson, BRAD, dec. Cunningham, MC, 8-6
152--Sipes, A, tech. fall Martucci, CP, 15-0, 2:04; Anderson, M, dec. Wetzel, SH, 4-0; Pa. Kearns, MC, pinned Rowan, P, 2:38; Simmons, MCD, dec. Paradis, S, 7-2; 160--G. Serafini, CM, dec. Laktash, BRAD, 2-1; Duncan, OA, pinned Crockett, CP, :29; Wetzel, SH, dec. Saffer, MC, 3-2 UTB; Butterfield, MCD, dec. Miller, S, 12-5; 172--Weaver, CM, dec. Bauder, JS, 2-1; Aurand, MC, dec. Shetler, CP, 3-1 OT; Miller, P, pinned Bradbury, WEST, :57; Weaverling, SC, pinned Tidball, M, 1:03; 189--Packer, JS, pinned Mickey, MC, 1:47; Holland, HICK, pinned Martz, P, 3:12; Teats, S, dec. Wahila, TA, 10-4; R. Serafini, CM, pinned B. Rebuck, SH, 5:17; 215--M. Rebuck, SH, pinned Gioan, HICK, :36; Tarantella, CM, dec. Woodrow, M, 3-2; Peterson, MCD, pinned Sechrist, JS, 1:39; 285--Pavlechko, SC, pinned Delker, W, 1:29; Peters, S, dec. Spontarelli, SH, 9-3; Pe. Kearns, MC, dec. Gallagher, D, 4-3; Sroka, MCD, dec. Blackwell, CM, 5-2.