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By Todd Irwin
sports@altoonamirror.com
Penn Cambria senior Trent Hoover has captured titles at the last two District 6 Class 2A Tournaments in relative ease, going 7-0 with five pins and two decisions, with both decisions coming in the championship finals.
Hoover is looking to become only the second Penn Cambria wrestler to win three District 6 titles, joining Evan Link, who won titles from 2009 to 2011.
Hoover's journey to a third district title doesn't appear to be as easy in this year's tournament, which begins Friday at the Altoona Fieldhouse.
Hoover (34-3) lost to Bishop McCort freshman star Melvin Miller, 5-2, in the 152-pound finals of the Laurel Highlands Conference Tournament. So, Hoover is seeded second behind Miller (41-2) at 152 entering the tournament.
Penns Valley's Ty Watson (27-3), a two-time district champ who Hoover rallied to beat in overtime, 7-5, in the Panther Holiday Classic finals, is the third seed. Watson lost to Miller, 11-9, in the LHAC semifinals.
"We've got to wrestle," Penn Cambria coach Todd Niebauer said, "and I love it. I think those guys are going to make each other better every week. We always tell him to have fun and score as many points as he can. I know when you get in the bigger matches it's kind of tough.
"I just hope he goes out, has fun and doesn't feel the pressure. Those three guys are very seasoned wrestlers, and I think it's going to be absolutely fun to watch over the next couple weeks. Competition pushes you, and I think those guys are going to push each other each week."
The District 6 Class 2A Tournament begins at 10 a.m. on Friday. The first day of the Class 2A tournament ends with the quarterfinals and third round of consolations.
The Class 2A and 3A wrestlers will share the Fieldhouse again this year on Saturday. Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. Saturday with 2A consolations and 3A quarterfinals. The semifinals of both classifications are set for 10:30 a.m.
The fifth-place bouts for both classifications and seventh-place bouts for Class 2A will be wrestled Saturday afternoon.
The championship finals and third-place bouts for both classes will all be wrestled in the final session, which starts after the 5:45 p.m. District 6 Hall of Fame ceremony and parade of champions.
The top six wrestlers in Class 2A advance to the Southwest Regional, set for March 1-2 at the Fieldhouse.
"I always look forward to it starting," Niebauer said. "I think you can see the excitement in the room and the excitement in the guys. It's everything you work for since the beginning of the year."
"I'm looking forward to it quite a bit," Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. "It's always the most exciting time of the year. You do all the work throughout the year just to showcase your skills starting this weekend."
While Hoover will be looking for his third title, Tyrone's Braden Ewing, Glendale's Daniel Williams and Huntingdon/Williamsburg's Andrew McMonagle are on a quest for their first titles.
The top-seeded Ewing (33-2), who finished second as a sophomore and third as a junior, could very well face archrival Williams (29-2) in the 285-pound finals.
The second-seeded Williams, a sophomore, is a returning tournament runner-up whose battles with Ewing usually wind up going to the tiebreaker. In their only meeting this season, Ewing won, 2-1, in the tiebreaker in the Panther Holiday Classic third-place bout.
"He's been wrestling well in practice," Wright said of Ewing. "I'm excited to see how he does. He's got some tough competition. I really think we're going to see some surprises out of him.
"Williams is the one that gives him the most trouble. Williams and Ewing are pretty far apart from everybody else I think in the district. I expect to see those two in the finals, and it's probably going to be another barnburner."
McMonagle (37-1) is the top seed at 189 after finishing third as a freshman and second last season. McMonagle lost to Glendale's Zeke Dubler in a grueling 4-3 tiebreaker in last year's 160-pound finals.
He enters the weekend seeded ahead of Bald Eagle Area's Caleb Close (33-2), a returning district and Southwest Regional champ who placed seventh at the PIAA Championships last year. McMonagle was voted the Outstanding Wrestler of the LHAC Tournament after he beat Close, 6-3, in the finals.
Tyrone's Andrew Weaver (35-6) is the third seed at 189.
"He has prepared for this all year-long," Huntingdon coach Jon Mykut said. "He goes to our practices, and then he'll run up to M2. I know he's really looking forward to it. He's the type of kid who just loves to compete.
"I think he needs to take one match at a time this weekend and in the postseason, and let it fly. I know that's what he's going to do. Obviously the Close kid is very, very good. That might be a matchup you see at districts, regionals and states."
Tyrone sophomore Kyle Scott (32-3), who finished third in last year's tournament, is seeded second at 172 behind Bishop McCort's Owen McMullen (34-8). McMullen beat Scott, 4-3, in the finals of the LHAC Tournament.
"I'm excited for him to get on top of the podium," Wright said. "He lost a really tough match to the kid from Bishop McCort during the Laurel Highlands. I'm expecting a rematch of those two. I've been on Scott to just open up and trust himself. Hopefully we can turn that around."