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CRESSON -- Penn Cambria's Trent Hoover has been very successful in high school wrestling career, including being a two-time state qualifier, but he had never been voted the Outstanding Wrestler of any tournament.
On Saturday night in the Panther Holiday Classic at Mount Alloysius College, the Panther senior 152-pounder added that feat to his wrestling resume.
Hoover capped off his second Panther Holiday Classic title with two impressive wins that earned him the Most Outstanding Wrestler award.
The second-seeded Hoover beat Bedford's returning tournament champ Kross Cassidy, 6-3, in the semifinals before rallying to knock off Penns Valley's three-time tournament finalist and two-time state sixth-placer Ty Watson, 7-5, in overtime in the championship finals.
"It's a stepping stone," Penn Cambria coach Todd Niebauer said. "We just want to get things going in the right direction. He won a great weight class. With the top three, if we mix that bag up, it could be a different result any time. With three returning champs in the same weight class, that's a dog fight."
Hoover was given the plaque for the honor after the championship finals.
"It feels good. I think I wrestled well," Hoover said as he held the plaque. "I think I was deserving. I got it done in my own tournament, so it's pretty good."
Hoover, who had two technical falls and a pin in his first three bouts, fell behind Cassidy early but came back to win. Cassidy came back to finish third.
"I squeaked one out in the semis," Hoover said. "It was a tough match against a pretty tough kid. Just finding a way to win tough matches I think is going to elevate my wrestling to another level."
Hoover was the only wrestler from the Mirror coverage area to win a title. Huntingdon/Williamsburg's Andrew McMonagle finished second at 189. McMonagle was beaten by Daniel Boone's star Tucker Hogan, 13-4, in the finals.
In the finals, Watson broke a scoreless tie in the second period before taking Hoover down by going behind him for a 3-0 lead. Hoover hit a switch from the bottom position to get a reversal with 28 seconds left in the period. Watson escaped with 13 seconds left to take a 4-2 lead into the third period.
"We didn't get nervous," Niebauer said. "We were down in both matches after getting taken down. The Trent Hoover of two years ago might have let that bother him, but he didn't let it bother him at all. You're against a two-time state placewinner and Penn State commit and he kept his composure. I thought we wrestled super smart.
Hoover escaped quickly in the third and then just as quickly shot in on Watson and took him down for a 5-4 lead.
"It's just something that you work on in the room," Hoover said. "There's a lot of play wrestling, chain wrestling, wrestling through every position and constantly looking to score."
He rode Watson until the Ram escaped with 39 seconds left to tie the score. Neither could find an opening the rest of regulation and most of overtime until Hoover saw one and took Watson down with 11 seconds left in OT. Hoover pumped his fist and celebrated his win.
"I was stuck in the front-head(lock) a little bit, and I knew he was looking for a dump from there, so I had to be a little careful," Hoover said. "But I just whipped him through, came up with a leg, took my time and got the finish."
"Just getting wins like that shows me where I should be," Hoover said, "and I know where I am."
"Watson is a great kid. He has a great coach (Joel Brinker)," Niebauer sad. "I know we're going to see him again, and it's going to be a battle every time. I think they'll make each other better and get each other to the top of podium in Hershey."
McMonagle bulldozed his way to the finals with four pins, but he ran into a buzzsaw in Hogan, a returning Class 3A state champion who took him down six times to earn the major decision.
"It went all right," McMonagle said of his tournament. "I was in the finals. Not happy there. I just have to get back to work and get better. It's all part of the process. The goal is to be on top of the podium at states."
"He wrestled very well," Huntingdon coach Jon Mykut said. "The kid is just tough. He was in deep a couple times on some shots, but he just couldn't penetrate his hips. Andrew is one of those types of kids who want to wrestle the best kids to kind of gauge himself. I think he'll use that to drive him the rest of the year."
McMonagle tore his PCL, meniscus and LCL at the PIAA Championships in March. After surgery, he said he rehabbed the knee in two to fourth months.
"It feels great," McMonagle said. "I came back faster (from the rehab) than I was supposed to, and I got back on the mat as fast as possible."
Tyrone, which finished in 13th in the team standings with 98.5 points, had four of the area's 11 placewinners in the tournament in Kyle Scott (third, 172) and Braden Ewing (third, 285), Andrew Weaver (fourth, 189) and Logan Rumberger (eighth, 133).
"They wrestled well," Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. "We had a few setbacks losing some matches, but we did a lot of learning this weekend. We'll use that and get ready for next week."
Ewing and Glendale's Daniel Williams, both of whom reached the semifinals before losing, wrestled each other in the third-place bout. As usual, they went to a tiebreaker, and Ewing won, 2-1. Williams released Ewing at the beginning of his 30-second tiebreaker.
"Danny hit Ewing again, and it's the same old story," Glendale coach Brian Storm said. "Danny's working, and we learn from it every time. (Releasing Ewing) was all Danny, and I agreed with him."
Northern Bedford had three placers in Wyatt Clouse (fifth, 121), Eion Snider (seventh, 189) and Brock Beach (eighth, 285).
Cambria Heights' Hunter Jones (third, 114), Central Cambria's Burke Niebauer (eighth, 114) and Glendale's George Campbell (eighth, 172) also earned medals.
The coaches were impressed with the toughness of the tournament.
"Paul Myers and our boosters have done an amazing job," Todd Niebauer said. "Paul reaches out and gets better teams, and we're trying to make it better. We have a waiting list now. I can't thank Mount Aloysius enough for such a great venue."
"The kids down here wrestle physical," Wright said. "I know our guys are pretty beat up. The wrestling competition here is always tough. They always bring in good kids and kids who really want to wrestle and scrap."
KEY, TEAM STANDINGS
1. Conn--Connellsville 216; 2. PV--Penns Valley 136; 3. QV--Quaker Valley 128.5; 4. BS--Boiling Springs 120.5; 5. HUNT--Huntingdon 117.5; 6. SM--St. Marys 115.5; 7. C--Canton 114.5; 8. T--Trinity 113.5; 9. COR--Corry 111.5; 10. SOM--Somerset and THS--The Hill School 105; 12. SEL--Selinsgrove 100.5; 13. TY--Tyrone 98.5; 14. PO--Philipsburg-Osceola 98; 15. HH--Hatboro Horsham 97.5; 16. DB--Daniel Boone 96; 17. SV--Seneca Valley 95; 18. MCG--McGuffey 93.5; 19. I--Indiana 92.5; 20. MU--Mount Union 85.5; 21. MIFF--Mifflinburg 78; 22. PC--Penn Cambria 76.5; 23. SG--Spring Grove 74.5; 24. B--Bedford 72.5; 25. D--Dallastown 69; 26. A--Armstrong and FH--Forest Hills 66; 28. NB--Northern Bedford and E--Everett 62; 30. G--Glendale 59.5; 31. MC--Manheim Central 56; 32. TV--Twin Valley 49; 33. CH--Cambria Heights and BB--Berlin Brothersvalley 42; 35. HOLL--Hollidaysburg 38.5; 36. CENT--Central 35; 37. MV--Moshannon Valley 34.5; 38. CC--Central Cambra 33.5; 39. J--Johnsonburg 33; 40. WH--Westmont Hilltop 32; 41. CT--Conemaugh Township 31; 42. MC--Marion Center and N--Northwestern 25.5; 44. TUNK--Tunkhannock 25; 45. RID--Ridgway 22; 46. R--Richland 21; 47. CF--Colonial Forge 12; 48. NS--North Star 10; 49. CK--Claysburg-Kimmel 9; 50. BA--Bellwood-Antis 5.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
107--Morrison, HH, dec. Annderchak, QV, 5-0; 114--Hummel, PO, dec. Lynn, CONN, 7-4; 121--Fanella, I, maj. dec. Smith, SV, 13-5; 127--Beimel, SM, dec. Magnani, BS, 5-2; 133--Houser, DB, dec. K. Vielma, CONN, 2-1; 139--Reihner, T, dec. Kazalas, QV, 3-0; 145--Petrovich, CONN, dec. Gable, PO, 12-8
152--Hoover, PC, dec. Watson, PV, 7-5 OT; 160--L. Vielma, CONN, maj. dec. Ward, C, 10-0; 172--Wolfanger, SM, dec. Feeney, D, 2-1; 189--Hogan, DB, maj. dec. McMonagle, HUNT, 13-4; 215--Holmes, SOM, maj. dec. Ryan, MU, 10-0; 285--Hershey, SG, dec. Winchester, TV, 3-1 OT.
Most Outstanding Wrestler: Trent Hoover, Penn Cambria
CONSOLATIONS
AREA RESULTS
THIRD PLACE
114--Jones, CH, dec. Main, MCG, 5-2; 172--Scott, TY, dec. Amspacher, SG, 2-1; 189--Davis, C, pinned Weaver, TY, 3:42; 285--Ewing, TY, dec. Williams, G, 2-1 TB.
FIFTH PLACE
121--Darlington, PV, dec. Clouse, NB, 3-1
SEVENTH PLACE
114--Vermilya, C, maj. dec. Niebauer, CC, 10-0; 133--Junko, T, dec. Rumberger, TY, 8-7; 172--Neal, BS, pinned Campbell, G, 2:04; 189--Snider, NB, dec. Wolfe, SV, 6-1; 285--Hale, B, pinned Beach, NB, 3:41.