12-seed Eckenrode among semifinalists
District 6 Class 2A Wrestling Tournament
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Cambria Heights junior Marshall Eckenrode had a solid regular season, earning 20 wins and coming up one win shy of placing at the Panther Holiday Classic in December.
Eckenrode entered the District 6 Class 2A Tournament as the 12th seed at 160 pounds. He'll be leaving it by at least placing in the top six and qualifying for the Southwest Regional Tournament.
Eckenrode had a heck of a first day at the Altoona Fieldhouse. He knocked off Philipsburg-Osceola's fifth-seeded Colton Chapman, 7-6, in the second round and Penn Cambria's 13th-seeded Drew Mardula, 5-3, in the quarterfinals to reach today's semifinals.
"I think it's going really well so far," Eckenrode said. "I made it to the semifinals as a 12 seed, so that's always nice."
The semifinal berth isn't a surprise to Heights coach Adam Terza.
"Not at all," Terza said. "The Penn Cambria tournament, he made it all the way to the quarters. He's been one win away from placing in almost every tournament, except now. This is where it matters. I'm proud of him. We haven't been to regionals in awhile."
Eckenrode is one of 10 wrestlers from the Mirror coverage area who advanced to the semifinals. Officials pushed the start of Saturday's wrestling back by an hour to 10 a.m. because of the snow in the forecast. The semifinals for both Class 2A and 3A will be wrestled at approximately 11:30 a.m.
Tyrone, which has been beleaguered by injuries, advanced three in second-seeded Kyle Scott (172), third-seeded Andrew Weaver (189) and top-seeded Braden Ewing.
"Those guys wrestled really tough," Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. "They're excited and ready to go."
Penn Cambria second-seeded and two-time district champion Trent Hoover (152) and Nick Summerville (215) breezed to the semis.
Glendale's George Campbell (172) and second-seeded Daniel Williams (285) advanced, as did Central Cambria's Jake Wilson (139) and Huntingdon/Williamsburg's Andrew McMonagle (189).
Eckenrode found himself trailing Chapman, 6-1, about midway through the second period, but he started to rally then, getting an escape with 45 seconds left and a takedown with 21 seconds remaining in the period to make the score 6-4.
Eckenrode escaped quickly in the third, but he didn't get the winning takedown until there was 27 seconds remaining in the bout.
"That was a really close match," Eckenrode said. "7-6 is as close as it can get. I was happy to win that one."
Mardula reached the quarterfinals with a 4-3 win over Richland's fourth-seeded Grayson Mahla.
Eckenrode held a 2-1 lead on Mardula in the second period, but Mardula reversed with 2 seconds left to go up 3-2. Mardula, who's had a shoulder injury all season, released him to start the third, but Eckenrode took him down with 1:10 left and rode him out.
"We saw that the sweep was there the whole time," Eckenrode said. "I finally took it there in the third period and got the win."
"Marshall is the type of kid who keeps wrestling," Terza said. "He needed that takedown in the third period. The sweep was there."
"I thought he wrestled tough, but made some little mistakes," Penn Cambria coach Todd Niebauer said of Mardula. "He's battling through a significant injury, so I can't ever fault him. He just kind of played into that kid's strength a bit."
Eckenrode (22-8) will wrestle River Valley's top-seeded Kaden Barnhart (30-5) in the semifinals.
"There are no guarantees," Eckenrode said. "I just have to let loose and let it fly. Maybe something will happen."
Wilson reached the semifinals in an odd way -- with a forfeit win over Forest Hills' Isaiah Shilcosky.
Hoover, who had a pin in his first bout, rolled to a 16-1 technical fall in 2:14 in the quarterfinals to set up his big semifinal against Penns Valley's two-time District 6 champ Ty Watson. The winner will likely get Bishop McCort star freshman Melvin Miller in the finals. Miller beat Hoover in the finals of the Laurel Highlands Conference Tournament.
"I know what he wants," Niebauer said. "But it's a good match (in the semifinals). We'll see how that goes. It doesn't get any easier if you get through that. We just want to score points."
Summerville followed up a technical fall with a 10-2 major decision over Juniata's Kelton Bonnell. Summerville's used a shot and lift to the air and back down to the mat to go ahead in the first period. He took Bonnell down to his back in the third.
Summerville gets Mount Union's top-seeded Josh Ryan in the semifinals.
"It feels really good," Summerville said. "I'm working toward my goal of being a district champ. I'm one more step closer."
Campbell followed a pin with a grueling 3-1 win over Moshannon Valley's Rocco Reifer. He'll get a top seed in the semis in Bishop McCort's Owen McMullen.
Scott had to earn a hard-fought 6-4 decision over Huntingdon's seventh-seeded Luke Uplinger in the quarterfinals. He wrestles Forest Hills' Kory Marsalko in the other semifinal.
"It's all about getting that win," Wright said. "Sometimes you've got to win ugly. (Uplinger) is a tough wrestler. He was doing a very good job defensively, and sometimes it takes a little bit longer to figure out how to crack that."
Ewing and Williams are steamrolling toward an expected finals battle. Both had two first-period pins. Ewing wrestles Huntingdon's Landon Erdman, while Williams gets Forest Hills' Lucas Deloatch.
McMonagle bulldozed his way to two pins to earn a semifinal berth against Bishop McCort's C.J. Pansiero.
In the bottom bracket, Weaver rolled to a pin and a 13-0 major decision to reach the semifinals, where he'll get Bald Eagle Area's second-seeded Caleb Close.
Bishop McCort has 10 in the semifinals and leads the team race by 20 points over BEA, 122.5-102.5.
KEY, TEAM STANDINGS
1. BM--Bishop McCort 122.5; 2. BEA--Bald Eagle Area 102.5; 3. PV--Penns Valley 99.5; 4. PO--Philipsburg-Osceola and B--Bellefonte 79.5; 6. H--Huntingdon 77.5; 7. U--United 70; 8. G--Glendale 60.5; 9. FH--Forest Hills 59.5; 10. MU--Mount Union 54.5; 11. J--Juniata 52; 12. RV--River Valley 49.5; 13. PC--Penn Cambria 48; 14. C--Central 45; 15. T--Tyrone 44; 16. MC--Marion Center 42; 17. WH--Westmont Hilltop 38; 18. R--Richland 37; 19. CC--Central Cambria 35.5; 20. MV--Moshannon Valley 35; 21. CK--Claysburg-Kimmel 32; 22. JV--Juniata Valley 28; 23. CH--Cambria Heights 26; 24. WB--West Branch 25; 25. WS--West Shamokin 15; 26. SH--Southern Huntingdon 14; 27. BA--Bellwood-Antis 2.
QUARTERFINALS
107--Guenot, BEA, tech. fall Moss, FH, 18-1, 5:23; Dluhos, WH, maj. dec. Sholly, H, 10-0; W. Long, B, pinned Britt, BM, 2:47; Hummel, PO, dec. Myers, PV, 6-0; 114--Judice, BEA, dec. Jones, CH, 4-2; Kostick, R, maj. dec. Taubler, RV, 9-1; Tinsman, MC, dec. A. Gable, PO, 8-3; Carlile, PV, decc. Sombronski, U, 2-1; 121--Bainey, WB, pinned Bomberger, J, :17; Darlington, PV, pinned Beatty, MU, 3:23; Sledzianoswki, BM, pinned Foster, PO, 3:01; Garshnick, U, pinned Munyon, PC, 2:45; 127--Forrest, BM, tech. fall T. Watson, PV, 23-6, 1:39; Garcia, B, dec. Chilcote, MU, 5-1; Bracken, U, pinned Horn, C, 1:47; Fye, BEA, pinned Gibson, H, :52; 133--Shunk, PV, dec. Henning, U, 5-1; Lomison, BEA, maj. dec. Hess, MU, 12-0; Forcellini, FH, pinned Dick, JV, 1:19; Gibson, BM, tech. fall Gilbey, G, 23-5, 2:39; 139--M. Gable, PO, pinned Monty, U, 4:27; Wilson, CC, won by forfeit over Shilcosky, FH; Swisher, B, maj. dec. Smith, J, 8-0; Bassett, BM, tech. fall Atherton, MU, 18-3, 1:47; 145--Weaver, B, tech. fall Lindrose, R, 17-1, 3:36; Fleck, PO, dec. Gorzelsky, FH, 4-1; Butler, BM, dec. Reese, BEA, 6-1; Lisowski, PV, dec. Ray, WH, 8-4
152--Miller, BM, tech. fall Kurten, MV, 20-5, 3:08; McCully, U, dec. J. Long, B, 6-5; T. Watson, PV, pinned Peruso, H, 1:46; Hoover, PC, tech. fall Bennett, BEA, 16-1, 2:14; 160--Barnhart, RV, pinned Gallaher U, 4:55; Eckenrode, CH, dec. Mardula, PC, 5-3; Fetterolf, PV, dec. Clark, H, 10-6; Magro, BM, tech. fall McHail, B, 19-3, 3:56; 172--McMullen, BM, dec. Stephens, U, 10-4; Campbell, G, dec. Reifer, MV, 3-1; Marsalko, FH, dec. Dubbs, BEA, 8-1; Scott, T, dec. Uplinger, H, 6-4; 189--McMonagle, H, pinned Horning, PC, 2:35; Pensiero, BM, pinned Mummah, J, 2:32; Weaver, T, maj. dec. Rummel, RV, 13-0; Close, BEA, pinned McConville, U, 1:19; 215--Ryan, MU, pinned Audi, R, 2:42; Summerville, PC, maj. dec. Bonnell, J, 10-2; Lobb, MV, dec. Miller, H, 5-0; Butler, BM, dec. Gardner, BEA, 1-0; 285--Ewing, T, pinned Peiper, J, 1:44; Erdman, H, pinned Wano, RV, 2:42; Deloatch, FH, dec. McCoy, WH, 5-2; Williams, G, pinned Clark, BEA, 1:16.