Success for Sipes, Weaver continues
3A regional wrestling
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When Altoona freshman Braiden Weaver won his championship finals bout at the Northwest Regional Tournament, the 107-pounder flexed toward the Altoona section of the Altoona Fieldhouse.
A little later on Saturday night, sophomore teammate Luke Sipes held up two fingers at the same section after he captured his second regional title.
It was a night of celebration for the talented Mountain Lions' duo.
Weaver won his first regional title with a 6-1 victory over Hickory's Brody Bishop. Sipes repeated at 152 pounds with a 3-2 decision over McDowell's Artis Simmons. His win was the 38th of his season, tying the program record for season wins -- set by D.J. Hollingshead in 2014-15.
"It feels great," Weaver said. "I knew there were going to be some hard kids in this bracket this time. I know there are going to be some hard kids at states too, so if I can't win this, how can I win states? That's what I've been saying in my head. I did what I said I was going to do and I blew past this tournament like a breeze."
"This one means a lot since I was out for so long," Sipes said. "I'm a two-time regional champ, two-time district champ."
"Both of our wrestlers looked good out there," Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. "We wrestled smart. We wrestled aggressive. We scored when the opportunity presented itself.
What made the night even more special was teammate Caleb Fasick bounced back to finish third at 127 after an unimaginable loss on Friday night.
Fasick earned the third-place medal by beating DuBois' Samson Deeb, 12-2. Deeb is the wrestler Fasick was leading, 17-3, on Friday night when Deeb hip-tossed the Mountain Lion senior and pinned him with 16 seconds left in the quarterfinal.
"It feels so good to get that redemption," said Fasick, sporting a shiner under his left eye from the District 6 finals. "It was a pretty big blunder yesterday. So, it was really nice to get that one back."
The three Mountain Lions qualified for the PIAA Championships on March 9-11 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
The four other Blair County wrestlers were unable to reach the medal round. Hollidaysburg sophomores Carson Krupka (114) and Mitchell Baronner (160) went 2-2, while Altoona freshman Phillip Sarbo (121) and senior Michael Riccio (215) went 1-2.
"They weren't excited about the outcome, obviously," Hollidaysburg coach Christian Harr said of Krupka and Baronner, "but the overall experience, and what they've gained as sophomores are tremendous. Both guys went out there and wrestled with a lot of heart. I truly believe they've gained the amount of confidence that they need to go into next season."
Weaver, who went 3-0 in the tournament to improve to 35-4, reached the finals with a 13-0 major decision over Meadville's eventual third-placer Ben Fuller.
Not many of Weaver's opponents lately have been able to hang with him except for Bishop. Weaver beat him, 1-0, in the Ultimate Warrior finals.
This time, Weaver struck with a takedown in the first period. He added another takedown out of a flurry with 43 seconds left in the second period, and rode tough the rest of the period.
"I wanted to stretch that gap out a little bit (from the last matchup)," Wagner said. "Last time, I didn't really work on snapping and taking my shots. This time, I did. I snapped, faked and got to my shots right away. I wanted to set the tone right off the whistle."
"He looked good on top once again," Gilbert said. "We're ending periods in the top position, which is really helping us."
Weaver rode Bishop until he gave up an escape with 27 seconds left in the bout. He nailed a third takedown with 9 seconds left, which led to his happy flex.
"I didn't even think about it," Weaver said. "My body was just telling me to do it."
Sipes (38-3), who went 3-0 and earned his second major decision, 10-1, against Meadville's Brighton Anderson in the semifinals, didn't get a rematch with Mifflin County's Parker Kearns. Simmons beat Kearns, 3-1, in the other semifinal. Kearns rebounded to finish third.
Sipes took Simmons down 30 seconds into the bout, and rode him the rest of the period. Sipes escaped 7 seconds into the second period, while Simmons escaped 23 seconds into third. Sipes was called for stalling for the second time before the buzzer, giving a point to Simmons, but Sipes won and held up the two fingers.
"I beat him 3-1 last year, so I knew he was going to be a tough opponent," Sipes said. "He has a really good double leg, so I was ready for that."
"He looked real good," Gilbert said. "He controlled the ties, especially in the opening period. He was able to score off of the guy's shot. The guy is a super athlete. We knew that coming in.
Fasick (30-8), a regional runner-up and Super Regional qualifier during the COVID-19 pandemic-affected 2020-2021 postseason, had to re-set himself after his stunning quarterfinal loss.
"I cut him going for the technical fall," Fasick said. "I didn't imagine me going to my back like that, but I have to give props to him. He hit a really nice move on me, capitalized on me being a little overaggressive and he got the win.
"It took me the whole night and into this morning (to get into it mentally). My weight was great last night, so that was a benefit. I just got to focus on resting up for this morning. Once I got on the mat this morning, I felt pretty good."
He responded by going 4-0 in the consolations on Saturday, winning 14-3, 7-2 and 7-3 to get to the consolation finals.
"I said yesterday he was resilient, and he showed that today," Gilbert said. "We're real proud of him coming back through. He was wrestled four bouts today, and it was a gauntlet."
In the rematch with Deeb, Fasick held a 3-0 lead in the second period, when he pancaked Deeb to his back for five points and an 8-0 lead. Fasick hit a throw at the edge of the mat for a takedown and a 10-0 lead in the third.
After giving up an escape with 1:24 left, Fasick made sure to not give Deeb any chance to hit another big throw. Fasick got another takedown with 12 seconds left, and the celebration began in the Altoona section.
"I maybe wrestled a little hesitant at first, but that wasn't happening again," Fasick said. "I was keeping it close to the belt."
Notes: Central Mountain was the team title by 5.5 points, over State College, 145.5-140. ... Altoona finished 12th in the standings with 64.5 points. ... State College had five champions, including Pierson Manville, who beat Central Mountain fellow state champ Dalton Perry again, 3-0, in the 139-pound final.
KEY, TEAM STANDINGS
1. CM--Central Mountain 145.5; 2. SC--State College 140; 3. SH--Shikellamy 125; 4. MC--Mifflin County 107.5; 5. S--Selinsgrove 102.5; 6. MCD--McDowell 101.5; 7. HICK--Hickory 96; 8. W--Williamsport 91; 9. CP--Cathedral Prep 79.5; 10. M--Meadville 76.5; 11. P--Punxsutawney 66; 12. A--Altoona 64.5; 13. D--DuBois 61; 14. JS--Jersey Shore 46; 15. WEST--Westinghouse 28; 16. OA--Obama Academy 25; 17. CMVT--Columbia Montour Vo-Tech 22; 18. B--Bradford 18; 19. C--Carrick and TA--Taylor Allderdice 12; 21. H--Hollidaysburg 9; 22. BR--Brashear 4; 23. J--Johnstown 3.
SEMIFINALS
107--Weaver, A, maj. dec. Fuller, M, 13-0; Bishop, HICK, tech. fall Baumann, CM, 15-0, 6:00; 114--Sallot, MCD, tech. fall Gould, P, 16-0, 3:19; Reed, SH, pinned Johnson, CP, 3:20; 121--Ca. Nasdeo, W, pinned Anderson, M, 1:30; Johnson, MC, dec. Oler, CP, 5-0; 127--H. Cunningham, SC, pinned Reardon, HICK, :25; Staab, CP, pinned Deeb, D, 5:03; 133--Simcox, CM, tech. fall Moyer, CMVT, 15-0, 3:46; Orr, D, dec. Campbell, SC, 8-1; 139--Manville, SC, pinned Byrd, CP, 1:41; Perry, CM, dec. Saylor, HICK, 3-1; 145--A. Cunningham, SC, dec. Weaver, W, 11-8; Walizer, CM, dec. Thompson, B, 3-2
152--Sipes, A, maj. dec. Anderson, M, 10-1; Simmons, MCD, dec. Pa. Kearns, MC, 3-1; 160--G. Serafini, CM, dec. Duncan, OA, 8-7; Butterfield, MCD, dec. Wetzel, SH, 5-2; 172--Aurand, MC, dec. Weaver, CM, 3-2; Weaverling, SC, pinned Miller, P, 3:02; 189--Packer, JS, maj. dec. Holland, HICK, 12-2; Teats, S, dec. R. Serafini, CM, 6-4; 215--Rebuck, SH, pinned Tarantella, CM, 3:00; Peterson, MCD, pinned Burks, W, 5:16; Pavlechko, SC, pinned Peters, S, 1:22; Pe. Kearns, MC, pinned Sroka, MCD, 7:40 TB.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
107--Weaver, A, dec. Bishop, HICK, 6-1; 114--Sallot, MCD, tech. fall Reed, SH, 17-1, 4:53; 121--Ca. Nasdeo, W, won by medical forfeit over Johnson, MC; 127--H. Cunningham, SC, maj. dec. Staab, CP, 11-3; 133--Simcox, CM, maj. dec. Orr, D, 15-3; 139--Manville, SC, dec. Perry, CM, 3-0; 145--A. Cunningham, SC, dec. Walizer, CM, 2-0
152--Sipes, A, dec. Simmons, MCD, 3-2; 160--Butterfield, MCD, dec. G. Serafini, CM, 7-5 OT; 172--Weaverling, SC, dec. Aurand, MC, 3-1; 189--Packer, JS, pinned Teats, S, :54; 215--M. Rebuck, SH, pinned Peterson, MCD, 1:59; 285--Pavlechko, SC, pinned Pe. Kearns, MC, 1:56.
THIRD PLACE
107--Fuller, M, dec. Noel, WEST, 5-0; 114--Gould, P, pinned Johnson, CP, 1:50; 121--Oler, CP, dec. Rutan, P, 5-3; 127--Fasick, A, maj. dec. Deeb, D, 12-2; 133--McGregor, SH, dec. Aumiller, MC, 2-1; 139--Saylor, HICK, maj. dec. Byrdm, CP, 10-1; 145--Weaver, W, dec. Thompson, B, 3-1
152--Pa. Kearns, MC, dec. Anderson, M, 9-8; 160--Wetzel, SH, pinned Duncan, OA, 3:14; 172--Bauder, JS, dec. Tidball, M, 6-0; 189--R. Serafini, CM, dec. B. Rebuck, SH, 1-0; 215--Woodrow, M, dec. Tarantella, CM, 4-3; 285--Gallagher, D, dec. Sroka, MCD, 5-2 TB.
FIFTH PLACE
107--Bauman, CM, dec. Co. Nasdeo, W, 3-2; 114--Boyle, HICK, won by medical forfeit over Green, OA; 121--O'Brien, HICK, dec. Anderson, M, 7-1; 127--Reardon, HICK, maj. dec. Lukens, S, 10-2; 133--Campbell, SC, dec. Moyer, CMVT, 8-6 OT; 139--Aughenbaugh, D, pinned Turner, S, 2:34; 145--Keener, SH, dec. Elser, C, 4-2 OT
152--Paradis, S, dec. Corter, CM, 5-1; 160--Laktash, B, dec. E. Miller, S, 5-1; 172--Weaver, CM, won by medical forfeit over Miller, P; 189--Holland, HICK, pinned Martz, P, 2:11; 215--S. Miller, S, pinned Burks, W, 2:43; 285--Delker, W, dec. Peters, S, 5-1.