Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Hollidaysburg 133 pounder Jacob Brua pinned Altoona's Aiden Fox in 3:37.

The Altoona wrestling team was scoring so many points in five of its bouts against Hollidaysburg that it was hard for fans and scorekeepers to keep up on Wednesday night before a large crowd at the AAHS Fieldhouse.

Onlookers at the head table even found out a 2 couldn’t be displayed on the scoreboard once Altoona’s Luke Sipes reached 20 points in the first period of his 160-pound bout.

The now 12-5 Mountain Lions recorded four technical falls and Braiden Weaver scored 13 points before getting a fall, amassing 83 points combined in the five bouts, en route to a 44-21 win over the shorthanded Golden Tigers.

“We were going after points,” Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. “We’ve been focusing on trying to score more. I think we’ve struggled a little bit with that this year. We’re trying to create action and get ourselves in positions to get our opponents reacting to us and not reacting to them so much. I think we showed that when we wrestled.”

“I’ll be honest, I think this is the best crowd I’ve seen here in 15 years as a coach. It was pretty much a packed house. I’m really happy that Altoona is coming out and supporting these kids.”

Altoona senior Evan Boose set the tone from the start of the dual meet, racking up a 16-0 technical fall in 3:05 over Cayden Frye at 215. Boose scored 12 nearfall points off of the cradle.

“That’s something that he’s been working on a little bit,” Gilbert said. “We should be able to pin some guys out of that, but overall we were happy he was able to get the guy to his back and score a lot of points in that situation.”

After Altoona’s Hayden Speece recorded a 49-second fall at 285, Hollidaysburg sophomore Brayden Sidney (20-10) earned a 4-0 win over Dom Nardozza at 107.

Sidney slipped through some offense of Nardozza for a takedown with 7 seconds left in the first period, got a similar takedown in the second and used an effective ride the rest of the way.

“He wrestled Nardozza (at the Ultimate Warrior, a 5-0 win) and it was about the same result,” Hollidaysburg coach Christian Harr said. “He’s pretty crafty in those positions.”

“It was a very competitive bout,” Gilbert said. “We knew it was going to be. I think we just got ourselves in some bad situations. We’re hoping to turn the tide on that maybe come districts time.”

Altoona sophomore Taber Baker was credited with his first win via forfeit at 114.

Weaver (28-4), coming off of a tough loss by tiebreaker in the Ultimate Warrior, moved up to 121, built a 13-3 lead and got the pin in 3:25.

At 127, Altoona’s Gavin Ciampoli (17-5) continued his impressive freshman season with a 17-2 technical fall over Carson Krupka in 5:10. The Mountain Lions’ lead stretched to 28-3.

“Ciampoli looked pretty smooth against a district champion out there,” Gilbert said. “Krupka is no slouch. He’s a pretty tough wrestler. (Ciampoli) kind of put himself in good positions all night to score points. I was real happy with his performance.”

The Golden Tigers responded with force, getting pins from Jacob Brua in 3:37 at 133 and from Mason Schenk in 2:51 at 139.

“Jacob’s been really turning it on,” Harr said. “He’s been wrestling with some fire in his belly the last couple of weeks, and his results are showing. It was another win for him tonight too.

“God bless Mason because he usually gets the short end of the stick when it comes to matchups against good kids. So, it was nice that he got out there and got a win tonight. He certainly works his tail off to go out there and compete.”

But Altoona started building its lead at 145, where senior Wyatt Young rolled to a 15-0 technical fall over James Bialo in 3:59.

“Wyatt Young was physical in all positions,” Gilbert said. “He’s really getting better on top, and you could see his improvement and confidence growing in every match.”

After Altoona sophomore Damian Mellott picked up his first win on a forfeit at 152, Ultimate Warrior champ Sipes (27-5) moved up to 160 and racked up eight takedowns and six nearfall points in his 22-7 technical fall in 2:00 over Aiden Schenk.

The Tigers, though, closed on two high notes. Mitchell Baronner eked out a 1-0 win over sophomore Ty’Kear Davis at 172, making a second-period escape stand against Davis, who lost by the same score to Tyrone’s Ultimate Warrior champ Kyle Scott early in the tournament.

At 189, Tiger senior Tyson Bridenbaugh earned a 3-2 win over sophomore Julian Pringle. Bridenbaugh scored a takedown in the first, but two Pringle escapes tied the score. Bridenbaugh escaped in the third and avoided any danger to win.

Altoona will be wrestling in the District 6 Class 3A Duals on Saturday at Central Mountain. The third-seeded Mountain Lions face second-seeded Mifflin County (12-3) at 4 p.m. while top-seeded Central Mountain wrestles fourth-seeded State College in the other semifinal. The winners wrestle at 6 p.m.

215–Boose, A, tech. fall Frye, 16-0, 3:05; 285–Speece, A, pinned Lolas, :49; 107–Sidney, H, dec. Nardozza, 4-0; 114–Baker, A, won by forfeit; 121–Weaver, A, pinned L. Krupka, 3:25; 127–Ciampoli, A, tech. fall C. Krupka, 17-2, 5:10; 133–Brua, H, pinned Fox, 3:37

139–M. Schenk, H, pinned Geishauser, 2:51; 145–Young, A, tech. fall Bialo, 15-0, 3:59; 152–Mellott, A, won by forfeit; 160–Sipes, A, tech. fall A. Schenk, 22-7, 2:00; 172–Baronner, H, dec. Davis, 1-0; 189–Bridenbaugh, H, dec. Pringle, 3-2.

Records: Hollidaysburg (4-4), Altoona (12-5)

Exhibition winner by fall: Mayhle, H

Referee: Jim Weston