Tyrone senior Ewing rises to the top at 285
Trending
Tyrone senior Braden Ewing has amassed 113 wins in his career, but he had been waiting and waiting to climb to the top of the medals stand of the District 6 Class 2A Tournament.
Ewing, who finished second at 285 pounds as a sophomore and third last season, finally made that climb on Saturday night at the Altoona Area High School Fieldhouse.
It didn't come easy, though, as Ewing had to survive another grueling tiebreaker win, 3-2, over Glendale arch-rival Daniel Williams in the 285-pound finals.
"I've been wrestling since I was in kindergarten, and it's always been my goal to be a state champ," Ewing said. "This is the first step toward that, to get the district championship. It's good to finally get over that hump."
"It feels really good. I've been there before and I just couldn't pull it off. Now I finally did it, so I'm right where I want to be for the postseason. I'm going to wrestle him like that every time. That's how it's going to go."
It was the second straight runner-up finish for Williams, a sophomore.
"Compared to last year, I made the same place," Williams said, "but I saw a lot of improvements in myself and just the overall way that I wrestle. It's always going to be close with me and him. It's always going to be a scrap between us. It's just going to make me better in the end knowing he's two years older than me and we're this close."
While Ewing was able to achieve part of his goal, teammate Kyle Scott (172), Penn Cambria's Trent Hoover (152) and Huntingdon/Williamsburg's Andrew McMonagle (189) had to settle for second place.
Hoover, a two-time District 6 champion, found a way to beat Penns Valley two-time district champion Ty Watson, 7-5, in overtime in the 152-pound semifinals.
But in a rematch of the Laurel Highlands Conference final, Hoover dropped a 3-2 decision to Bishop McCort freshman Melvin Miller.
"He was a little too tight," Penn Cambria coach Todd Niebauer said. "He's got to open up. He's my guy and we love him, but we've got to open up. We had two really good scoring opportunities we've got to finish. We've got to take him into deep water."
Scott dropped a 3-1 overtime decision to Bishop McCort's Owen McMullen in the finals in a rematch of the LHAC Tournament finals. McMonagle, a senior seeking his first title, suffered 5-2 loss to Bald Eagle Area's Caleb Close in a rematch of the LHAC finals. Close was voted the Outstanding Wrestler by the coaches.
Ten other wrestlers from the Mirror coverage area placed in the top six of their weights to qualify for the March 1-2 Southwest Regional Tournament at the Fieldhouse.
Penn Cambria's Andrew Mardula (third, 160), Nick Summerville (third, 215) and Layton Munyon (fifth, 121) qualified.
Two other Tyrone wrestlers advanced in Andrew Weaver (fourth, 189) and Remington Fleck (sixth, 139).
Cambria Heights has two regional qualifiers in Hunter Jones (fourth, 114) and Marshall Eckenrode (sixth, 160). Glendale's George Campbell (172) placed fifth and earned his 100th career win in his fifth-place bout.
Central's Thaide Mickel (133) and Central Cambria's Jake Wilson (fifth, 139) also advanced.
Central Cambria's Burke Niebauer (seventh, 114), Central's Kaden Horn (seventh, 127), Claysburg-Kimmel's Brodie Soler (eighth, 133) and Tyrone's Richard Rawlings (eighth, 215) were able to place but didn't qualify for regionals.
Both Ewing went 4-0 with two pins and a major decision, while Williams had three pins in making the finals.
Williams scored a reversal in the third period to go up 2-1, but Ewing quickly escaped to tie the score. As expected, they went to overtime and then to the tiebreaker. Ewing escaped in the first 30-second period.
And then just like at the Panther Holiday Classic, Williams left Ewing go to begin the next tiebreaker. He did force a stall warning with 3 seconds left, but Ewing held on to win.
"I think he knows he can't hold me down," Ewing said, "because every time he's been on top I've gotten out in the first 10, 15 seconds. He knows he's better off for him to let me go and try and get the takedown."
"He rode me out for 30 seconds and there's something with him I don't feel like I'm good enough on top to ride him out for the whole 30 seconds," Williams said. "To me, I feel it's better to give myself that 30 seconds to get a takedown than to let him get out with 5 seconds left."
Hoover (37-4) had to rally to beat Watson in overtime of the Panther Holiday Classic in December. He had to do it again in the semifinals.
The score was tied, 3-3, entering the third period, where Watson escaped with 1:24 remaining. The score remained 4-3 until Hoover scored a takedown with 14 seconds left. Watson (31-4) escaped before the buzzer to tie the score again and send the bout into overtime.
Before the bout went to the tiebreaker, Hoover nailed a takedown to win the first battle.
"That looked exactly like the Penn Cambria one," Niebauer said. "I told (Penns Valley coach) Joel Brinker I can watch those two wrestle all day."
Hoover's finals bout went scoreless in the first period, but Miller (49-3) escaped 10 seconds into the second period. Hoover tied the score with an escape 10 seconds into the third.
The score remained tied until Miller slipped behind Hoover for a takedown with a minute left. Hoover quickly escaped, but he couldn't find an opening for a takedown.
"That kid's a great athlete," Niebauer said of Miller. "Listen, we're not losing to a schmuck by no means, but I know what we can do. I've seen what we can do. We've got to open up in those matches. If we open up, it's a different match."
Miller was one of seven champions for McCort, tying the District 6 champions record for both classes. The Crimson Crushers amassed 283 points, breaking the Class 2A record of 275, set by Bald Eagle-Nittany in 1993, but coming up just short of breaking the overall points record of 286.5 by Bald Eagle Area in 1997.
Scott, who went 3-1, and McMullen were on their feet in overtime when Scott attempted an arm throw, but McMullen defended and got the winning takedown 15 seconds into OT.
"I think I wrestled well until the end," Scott said. "I made that stupid mistake in trying that little arm throw. It didn't pan out the way I wanted it to. It's been a rough couple of months after the Laurel Highlands because I was training to beat him."
McMonagle, who pinned his way to the finals, was looking to repeat his 6-3 win LHAC win that netted him the OW there. Instead, Close recorded a second-period escape and takedown and turned McMonagle for two points in the third.
"They made some adjustments," Huntingdon coach Jon Mykut said. "Andrew and Close train together and they've wrestled multiple times. When that happens, you kind of get a feel for each other and what each other does. Now, we have to learn from it and make small adjustments for the next time they hit."
KEY, TEAM STANDINGS
1. BM--Bishop McCort 283; 2. BEA--Bald Eagle Area 195.5; 3. PV--Penns Valley 170.5; 4. H--Huntingdon 159; 5. U--United 131; 6. B--Bellefonte 127.5; 7. PO--Philipsburg-Osceola 116.5; 8. PC--Penn Cambria 95; 9. FH--Forest Hills 90.5; 10. T--Tyrone 89; 11. MU--Mount Union 80.5; 12. RV--River Valley 78.5; 13. J--Juniata 76; 14. G--Glendale 75.5; 15. C--Central and WH--Westmont Hilltop 59; 17. MV--Moshannon Valley 56; 18. MC--Marion Center 53; 19. R--Richland 50; 20. WB--West Branch 43.5; 21. CC--Central Cambria 42.5; 22. CH--Cambria Heights 41; 23. CK--Claysburg-Kimmel 36; 24. JV--Juniata Valley 28; 25. WS--West Shamokin 15; 26. SH--Southern Huntingdon 14; 27. BA--Bellwood-Antis 2.
SEMIFINALS
107--Guenot, BEA, pinned Dluhos, WH, 5:46; Hummel, PO, dec. W. Long, B, 5:46; 114--Judice, BEA, pinned Kostick, R, 2:34; Tinsman, MC, dec. Carlisle, PV, 3-0; 121--Bainey, WB, tech. fall Darlington, PV, 16-0, 4:44; Sledzianowski, BM, dec. Garshnick, U, 4-3; 127--Forrest, B, tech. fall Garcia, B, 20-5, 2:07; Bracken, U, dec. Fye, BEA, 12-5; 133--Shunk, PV, dec. Lomison, BEA, 6-1; Gibson, BM, tech. fall Forcellini, FH, 22-7, 4:17; 139--M. Gable, PO, pinned Wilson, CC, 4:21; Bassett, BM, tech. fall Swisher, B, 20-5, 1:56; 145--Weaver, B, maj. dec. Fleck, PO, 15-2; Butler, BM, pinned Lisowski, PV, 5:19
152--Miller, BM, tech. fall McCully, U, 21-6, 2:56; Hoover, PC, dec. Ty Watson, PV, 7-5 OT; 160--Barnhart, RV, pinned Eckenrode, CH, 2:20; Magro, BM, pinned Fetterolf, PV, 2:45; 172--McMullen, BM, dec. Campbell, G, 9-4; Scott, T, pinned Marsalko, FH, 3:41; 189--McMonagle, H, pinned Pensiero, BM, 2:48; Close, BEA, pinned Weaver, T, 3:12; 215--Ryan, MU, dec. Summerville, PC, 3-1 OT; Butler, BM, dec. Lobb, MV, 2-0; 285--Ewing, T, maj. dec. Erdman, H, 12-3; Williams, G, pinned Deloatch, FH, 2:44.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
107--Guenot, BEA, dec. Hummel, PO, 4-1; 114--Judice, BEA, dec. Tinsman, MC, 6-2; 121--Bainey, WB, won by disqualification over Sledzianowski, BM, 2:00; 127--Forrest, BM, pinned Bracken, U, 1:27; 133--Gibson, BM maj. dec. Shunk, PV, 23-9; 139--Bassett, BM, tech. fall M. Gable, PO, 20-5, 4:12; 145--Ja. Butler, BM, maj. dec. Weaver, B, 13-4
152--Miller, BM, dec. Hoover, PC, 3-2; 160--Magro, BM, pinned Barnhart, RV, 1:36; 172--McMullen, BM, dec. Scott, T, 3-1 OT; 189--Close, BEA, dec. McMonagle, H, 5-2; 215--Ryan, MU, dec. Jo. Butler, BM, 3-0; 285--Ewing, T, dec. Williams, G, 3-2 TB.
Outstanding Wrestler: Caleb Close, Bald Eagle Area
THIRD PLACE
107--W. Long, B, pinned Dluhos, WH, 1:19; 114--Sombronski, U, dec. Jones, CH, 1-0; 121--Garshnick, U, dec. Darlington, PV, 4-1; 127--Fye, BEA, pinned Gibson, H, :21; 133--Forcellini, FH, dec. Lomison, BEA, 8-3; 139--Swisher, B, maj. dec. Mykut, H, 9-1; 145--Reese, BEA, pinned Lisowski, PV, 2:02
152--Ty Watson, PV, pinned McCully, U, 2:42; 160--Mardula, PC, dec. Clark, H, 5-2; 172--Marsalko, FH, pinned Uplinger, H, 3:00; 189--Pensiero, BM, dec. Weaver, T, 12-8; 215--Summerville, PC, pinned Lobb, MV, 3:44; 285--McCoy, WH, dec. Deloatch, FH, 3-1.
FIFTH PLACE
107--Sholly, H, dec. Myers, PV, 10-7; 114--Carlisle, PV, dec. Kostick, R, 8-5; 121--Munyon, PC, dec. Bomberger, J, 6-2; 127--Tr. Watson. PV, pinned Garcia, B, 2:58; 133--Mickel, C, dec. Henning, U, 5-1; 139--Wilson, CC, dec. Fleck, T, 11-9 OT; 145--Fleck, PO, pinned Lindrose, R, 4:00
152--Kurten, MV, won by injury default Bennett, BEA; 160--Fetterolf, PV, dec. Eckenrode, CH, 4-2 OT; 172--Campbell, G, dec. Stephens, U, 5-2; 189--Mummah, J, dec. Rimmey, PV, 8-6 OT; 215--Stuchal, RV, dec. Audi, R, 6-5; 285--Erdman, H, pinned Peiper, J, 3:49.
SEVENTH PLACE
107--Britt, BM, won by injury default over Moss, FH, 3:23; 114--Niebauer, CC, pinned A. Gable, PO, 2:16; 121--Foster, PO, won by injury default over Beatty, MU, :02; 127--Horn, C, dec. Chilcote, MU, 9-8; 133--Hess, MU, dec. Soler, CK, 4-2; 139--Rummel, PV, dec. Monty, U, 6-3; 145--Ray, WH, dec. Gorzelsky, FH, 3-0
152--J. Long, B, pinned Peruso, H, 2:11; 160--McHail, B, pinned Gallaher, U, 3:53; 172--Reifer, MV, dec. Dubbs, BEA, 2-1; 189--Rummel, RV, dec. Hockenberry, B, 5-2; 215--Miller, H, maj. dec. Rawlings, T, 10-2; 285--Inch, MU, dec. Wano, RV, 3-1.