Trending
Altoona junior star Luke Sipes said he "kind of felt disrespected" when he was selected a second seed for the Ultimate Warrior in January despite having won the tournament twice.
Sipes, who won the Ultimate Warrior in a tiebreaker, will likely use his No. 2 seed for Saturday's District 6 Class 3A Tournament at the AAHS Fieldhouse as motivation.
Sipes (28-5) has won two District 6 Class 3A titles and two Northwest Regional Tournament titles and has earned two state tournament medals, including seventh last season.
The Princeton University commit, however, is seeded second behind Central Mountain's three-time finalist and two-time runner-up Griffin Walizer at 152 pounds. Walizer (31-7), a senior who is a Lock Haven University recruit, has placed twice at the regional and in Hershey, including fifth last year.
For the record, Walizer had 441.58 seed points, while Sipes had 425. Sipes is ranked third in the state at 152 by PA Power Wrestling, while Walizer is fourth.
"I think Luke is pretty motivated anyhow," Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. "Griffin Walizer placed a little higher than him last year, so he had a few more points. That's just how that system works."
While Sipes is a second seed, teammate and returning District 6 and Northwest Regional champ Braiden Weaver is the top seed at 114 after winning at 107 last season.
Hollidaysburg's Carson Krupka (16-10) is also a returning District 6 champion, winning at 114 last year, but he's seeded fourth at 127 in this year's tournament.
"Carson is more than capable of doing things that he needs to do to get to the regionals," Hollidaysburg coach Christian Harr said. "Hopefully he can pull off some upsets. Everything is based on seed points."
Altoona's third-seeded Phillip Sarbo (12-8) is a returning tournament runner-up.
As was the case last year, the Class 3A and 2A wrestlers are sharing the Fieldhouse. Saturday's action begins at 9 a.m. with the 2A consolations and 3A quarterfinals. The semifinals of both classifications are set for 10:30 a.m.
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.
"I think we're really looking forward to it," Gilbert said. "I think our kids are ready to go. I think they're excited, and I'm excited for them. They had a nice regular season. We're going to go out there and see what we can do against some of the best in the state."
"We always look forward to the postseason starting," Harr said. "That's what we train for all year. That's why we go through the schedule that we go through."
Sipes, who is unbeaten at home in his career, will have to pass a big test before he gets to a probably finals matchup against Walizer. After a bye in the quarterfinals, he'll wrestle Mifflin County arch-rival Parker Kearns in the semifinals. Sipes has beaten Kearns in the last two district finals.
"He knows it's going to be a tough bout," Gilbert said. "It's always close with him and Kearns. But you have to look at it as an opportunity also. If you win that weight class, you should be considered for the Outstanding Wrestler award, having three kids that would be ranked in the state of Pennsylvania."
Another eye-opening weight is 145, where Central Mountain's Luke Simcox is the No. 1 seed and State College former state champ and two-time state finalist Pierson Manville is the No. 2 seed. Both have won three District 6 titles.
Weaver (29-4), a sophomore who is ranked fifth in the state by PA Power Wrestling, is a heavy favorite to win at 114. Mifflin County's Paxton Shawver (23-10) is the second seed, while Hollidaysburg freshman Landon Krupka (18-11) is seeded third.
"Weaver has had a really good season so far," Gilbert said. "We're just kind of looking to peak him at the right time in the postseason. He knows that some of the opponents are going to be pretty tough. He knows he has to go out and earn it. He definitely has the ability and skills to do it."
Hollidaysburg has a couple No. 2 seeds in juniors Logan Krupka (13-14) at 121 and returning third-placer Mitchell Baronner (22-11) at 172. Krupka is seeded behind Central Mountain freshman Aiden Kunes (29-13). Mifflin County's Avery Aurand (27-7) is seeded ahead of Baronner.
"I think a lot of them, including those two, have the potential to get to the next level and see some success at districts," Harr said. "Hopefully we'll come away with district titles. That's why you train all year for this moment."
Hollidaysburg has third-seeded wrestlers in Landon Krupka (114), Tyson Bridenbaugh (189) and Wyatt Maines (285).
Altoona has three other wrestlers seeded third in Gavin Ciampoli (127), Wyatt Young (139) and Evan Boose (215).
"Our goal is pretty simple," Gilbert said. "We want to beat the guys we're supposed to, and want to see if we can pull an upset against somebody we're not supposed to beat. If we can pull that one upset and beat the guys we're supposed to beat, I think we'll get a lot of guys through."