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By Todd Irwin
sports@altoonamirror.com
While Andrew McMonagle led the state in pins with 37 this season, it was the Huntingdon wrestler and Williamsburg senior's battles with Bald Eagle Area's Caleb Close and Southern Columbia's Garrett Garcia that stand out.
McMonagle beat Close, 6-3, in the Laurel Highlands Conference Tournament finals and was named the tournament Outstanding Wrestler. Close then nipped him in a battle of the top two guys in the PA Power Wrestling rankings in the District 6 and Southwest Regional finals, 5-2 and 5-3.
But it was McMonagle standing atop the medals stand at the PIAA Class 2A Championships at 189 when he earned a wild 8-7 win over Garcia in the championship finals.
After claiming Huntingdon's fifth state title and becoming the first Williamsburg student to win gold, McMonagle has been named the Altoona Mirror's Wrestler of the Year for 2023-24 on the 41st annual Mirror All-Star Team.
McMonagle, who went 47-3 this season after seriously injuring his knee at last year's state tournament, was in contention for the award throughout the postseason with Altoona's 2022-23 Co-Wrestlers of the Year Luke Sipes and Braiden Weaver, Penn Cambria's Trent Hoover and Tyrone's Braden Ewing.
Altoona's Joel Gilbert has been named the Mirror Coach of the Year after sharing the honor with Tyrone's Quentin Wright last season. Gilbert led the Mountain Lions to a 12-6 mark and coached Sipes to a fourth-place finish at 152.
Tyrone has an area-high four wrestlers on the Mirror All-Star Team, while Altoona and Northern Bedford have three apiece. Hoover is on the first team for the fourth time.
As usual, there is a first, second and honorable mention team. At some weights there are multiple wrestlers because of the depth of the weight. In fact, there are two wrestlers at 133, 139, 152, 189 and 285 on the first team.
The factors for compiling the teams were postseason success, head-to-head competition, records and personal observations.
We're also recognizing the three girls who earned medals at the inaugural girls state tournament in Northern Bedford's Kaylee Ebersole and Raegan Snider and Bellwood-Antis' Juliette Cuevas.
107 pounds: Brayden Sidney, Hollidaysburg: The Golden Tiger sophomore went 26-12 with 11 pins in his first year at the high school level. He initially didn't qualify for the Northwest Regional after placing fourth in the District 6 Tournament.
But when he was added to the regional, he advanced to the semifinals before losing. Sidney placed fourth, just missing qualifying the PIAA Championships by dropping a 1-0 decision to Mifflin County's Andrew Alexander in the third-place bout.
114 pounds: Braiden Weaver, Altoona: Weaver was again a force as a sophomore, going 34-7 with 19 falls. He easily won his second District 6 3A title, finished second at the Northwest Regional, dropping a 4-2 decision to Hickory's Elijah Scriven, and went 1-2 at the state tournament. Weaver is 73-13 in his first two years.
121 pounds: Wyatt Clouse, Northern Bedford: The junior had a 38-10 record with 19 pins this season. Clouse won his first District 5 title in his second district final, beating Everett's Elijah Mills in overtime, 7-5. Clouse placed eighth at the Southwest Regional - two wins places shy of qualifying for Hershey.
127 pounds: Gavin Ciampoli, Altoona: Ciampoli had a heck of a freshman season, going 26-9 and catching fire in the postseason. A third seed in the district tournament, he won a district title with a 10-1 win in the finals. Ciampoli then won four straight consolation bouts at the Northwest Regional to finish third and qualify for Hershey, where he went 2-2 and made the blood round.
133 pounds: Jacob Brua, Hollidaysburg: Brua, a junior, had the best season in his three-year career, going 19-15 after combining for eight wins his first two years. He finished third at the District 6 3A Tournament
133 pounds: Thaide Mickel, Central: The Scarlet Dragon junior went 32-10 with 14 pins in his first full season. Mickel placed fifth at the District 6 2A Tournament to qualify for the Southwest Regional, where he went 1-2.
139 pounds: Jacob Wilson, Central Cambria: Wilson went 25-19 with 10 pins in his third year as a starter. The Red Devils junior placed fifth at the District 6 2A Tournament to qualify for the regional.
139 pounds: Remington Fleck, Tyrone: The Golden Eagles senior had the best season of his career, going 26-19 with 11 pins. Fleck placed sixth at the district tournament and finished eighth at the regional tournament - two places shy of qualifying for Hershey.
145 pounds: Zach Vereshack, Glendale: The Viking junior posted a 22-7 record with 15 falls. Vereshack went 3-2 at the District 6 2A Tournament.
152 pounds: Luke Sipes, Altoona: Sipes went 36-7 this season, with three losses coming in the King of the Mountain and Powerade. The Altoona junior was named the District 6 Outstanding Wrestler after beating Central Mountain's fourth-ranked Griffin Walizer, 3-1, for his third district title.
Sipes then beat Walizer again, 3-0, to win his third regional title. He won 14-0 and got a fall to reach the state semifinals, where he dropped a 1-0 decision to Bethlehem Catholic's returning state champ Kollin Rath. He bounced back to finish fourth - Sipes' third state medal. Sipes is 113-15 in his career.
152 pounds: Trent Hoover, Penn Cambria: Hoover, the Panther Holiday Classic Outstanding Wrestler, wrapped a remarkable career by going 43-7, tying Tyrone's Braden Ewing for the most area wins, with 16 pins.
A four-time District 6 finalist and two-time champ, Hoover finished second to Bishop McCort's eventual state champ Melvin Miller in the district and regional tournament, falling 3-2 and 3-1.
Hoover, a two-time regional champ, just missed the state semifinals with a last-second 4-3 loss to Grove City's Cody Hamilton. His seventh-place medal was his first state medal. Hoover, who has committed to wrestle for UPJ, finished his career with a 126-23 mark.
160 pounds: Marshall Eckenrode, Cambria Heights: The Highlanders junior was 24-13 with 14 pins this season. He drew the spotlight on the first day of the District 6 2A Tournament by making the semifinals as the No. 12 seed. Eckenrode ended up sixth to qualify for the regional, where he went 2-2.
172 pounds: Kyle Scott, Tyrone: Two-time first-teamer Scott went 41-9 with 17 pins as a sophomore. A champ at Ultimate Warrior and second at the LHAC Tournament, Scott placed second at the District 6 Tournament, dropping a 3-1 overtime decision to Bishop McCort rival Owen McMullen.
He placed fifth at the Southwest Regional to qualify for his second state tournament, where he earned his first medal by placing eighth. Scott is 75-20 in his first two years.
189 pounds: Andrew Weaver, Tyrone: Weaver went 39-10 with 19 falls in his senior season. He placed fourth at the district tournament to qualify for the regional for a third time and reached the 100-win plateau, finishing with a 103-43 career record. Weaver went 1-2 at the regional.
189 pounds: Eion Snider, Northern Bedford: Snider went 39-11 with 25 falls as a senior. He won his second District 5 title and qualified for Hershey for the first time by advancing to the semifinals en route to a sixth-place finish. Snider, who went 1-2 at the state tournament, had a career record of 107-38.
215 pounds: Rece Dibert, Northern Bedford: The Black Panthers senior went 27-11 with 19 pins in the best year of his career. Dibert was a District 5 runner-up and placed fifth at the Southwest Regional, making the medal round with an intense 9-8 tiebreaker win over Penn Cambria's Nick Summerville in the blood round. He then went 1-2 in Hershey.
285 pounds: Braden Ewing, Tyrone: Three-time first-teamer Ewing posted a 43-6 mark and led the Golden Eagles in pins with 21. The senior captured his first high school tournament title at the LHAC Tournament and his first District 6 2A title, edging Glendale rival Daniel Williams in another tiebreaker, 3-2.
An all-state first team offensive lineman, he reached the regional semifinals before placing third. Ewing's eighth-place finish at Hershey was his first medal in three state appearances. The Brown University wrestling commit went 119-37 with 57 falls in his career.
285 pounds: Daniel Williams, Glendale: Williams returns to the first team after going 37-7 with 23 falls. The sophomore dropped another epic tiebreaker loss to Ewing, choosing to release his rival both times at the start of the second tiebreaker.
He made the regional semifinals before settling for fifth place. Williams, who is 77-17 in his first two years, then went 1-2 in his second state tournament.
Girls All-Stars
100 pounds: Juliette Cuevas, Bellwood-Antis: After wrestling for Bellwood's boys team, the sophomore finished third at the District 5-6-9 Tournament and won a Central Regional title by avenging a loss to Moshannon Valley's Autumn Shoff, 10-6.
The attacking Cuevas (10-3 record) placed seventh at the state tournament. She recently won the girls 103-pound title at the Keystone State Championships.
106 pounds: Kaylee Ebersole, Northern Bedford: The sophomore went 23-11 with 19 pins for the Northern Bedford girls team. Ebersole won a District 5-6-9 title, a Central Regional title and placed sixth the state tournament.
155 pounds: Raegan Snider, Northern Bedford: A state runner-up in last year's MyHouse Girls State Championships, Snider went 26-4 with 22 falls and finished third in Hershey as a junior.
She pinned her way through the district and regional tournaments to win titles and made the semifinals of the state tournament before suffering an ultimate tiebreaker loss to North Allegheny's Leyna Rumpler.
Mirror wrestling stars
BOYS FIRST TEAM
Wgt. Name School Yr Record
WOY #Andrew McMonagle Huntingdon/Williamsburg Sr 47-3
107 Brayden Sidney Hollidaysburg So 26-12
114 *Braiden Weaver Altoona So 34-7
121 Wyatt Clouse Northern Bedford Jr 38-10
127 Gavin Ciampoli Altoona Fr 26-9
133 Jacob Brua Hollidaysburg Jr 19-15
133 Thaide Mickel Central Jr 32-10
139 Jacob Wilson Central Cambria Jr 25-19
139 Remington Fleck Tyrone Sr 26-19
145 Zach Vereshack Glendale Jr 22-7
152 #Luke Sipes Altoona Jr 36-7
152 @Trent Hoover Penn Cambria Sr 43-7
160 Marshall Eckenrode Cambria Heights Jr 24-13
172 *Kyle Scott Tyrone So 41-9
189 Andrew Weaver Tyrone Sr 39-10
189 Eion Snider Northern Bedford Sr 39-11
215 Rece Dibert Northern Bedford Sr 27-11
285 #Braden Ewing Tyrone Sr 43-6
285 *Daniel Williams Glendale So 37-7
Coach of the Year: Joel Gilbert, Altoona
*–Indicates second first team selection; #–Indicates third first team selection; @–Indicates fourth first team selection
SECOND TEAM
Wgt. Name School Yr Record
107 Dom Nardozza Altoona Fr 24-15
107 Aiden Replogle Northern Bedford Jr 32-10
114 Hunter Jones Cambria Heights Sr 24-11
114 Burke Niebauer Central Cambria Fr 29-14
121 Tanner Ammerman Glendale Fr 16-13
127 Logan Rumberger Tyrone Jr 17-6
127 Kaden Horn Central So 30-9
133 Lucas Dick Juniata Valley Jr 24-8
133 Ethan Gilbey Glendale So 18-12
133 Haidyn Dively Northern Bedford Jr 13-13
139 Wyatt Young Altoona Sr 17-14
139 Brodie Soler Claysburg-Kimmel Sr 18-15
145 Isaac Smith Central Sr 19-14
152 Ethan Claycomb Claysburg-Kimmel Sr 21-11
152 Aidan Pittman Northern Bedford Jr 27-11
160 Drew Mardula Penn Cambria Jr 24-19
172 George Campbell Glendale Sr 33-13
172 Mitchell Baronner Hollidaysburg Jr 27-15
189 Jesse Horning Penn Cambria Fr 18-16
189 David Schweitzer Central Cambria Sr 18-16
215 Nick Summerville Penn Cambria Sr 32-16
215 Richard Rawlings Tyrone Sr 25-13
285 Wyatt Maines Hollidaysburg Jr 11-12
285 Brock Beach Northern Bedford Sr 33-13
HONORABLE MENTION
Wgt. Name School Yr Record
107 Brooks Matthews Central Fr 27-12
114 Landon Krupka Hollidaysburg Fr 23-15
114 Carsen Mowery Central Fr 23-13
121 Layton Munyon Penn Cambria So 23-16
121 Logan Krupka Hollidaysburg Jr 14-16
127 Carson Krupka Hollidaysburg Jr 16-12
127 Parker Knisley Claysburg-Kimmel Jr 19-9
133 Phillip Sarbo Altoona So 12-8
145 Cohen Wallace Tyrone Sr 14-17
152 Cody Clapper Central Fr 24-14
160 Deklan Estep Central Cambria Sr 18-19
160 Zach Dick Juniata Valley Jr 21-9
172 Jeremy Hajzus Central Cambria So 24-14
172 Tyler Paris Northern Bedford Jr 9-6
215 Evan Boose Altoona Sr 15-12
215 Landon Knisley Claysburg-Kimmel Jr 13-10
285 Hayden Speece Altoona Sr 17-13
285 Tommy Kitchen Cambria Heights Jr 18-11
GIRLS TEAM
Wgt. Name School Yr Record
100 Juliette Cuevas Bellwood-Antis So 10-3
106 Kaylee Ebersole Northern Bedford So 23-11
155 Raegan Snider Northern Bedford Jr 26-4