Two close losses put Sipes in 4th
PIAA wrestling roundup
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HERSHEY -- Altoona's Luke Sipes won another close bout against Central Mountain's Griffin Walizer, 1-0, in the consolation semifinals of the PIAA Class 3A Championships on Saturday morning at the Giant Center.
But his hopes of finishing third at 152 pounds were dashed when he just missed getting a winning takedown in a 3-2 loss to Hempfield Area's Eli Carr in the third place bout.
Sipes fell into the consolations with a 1-0 loss to Bethlehem Catholic's now two-time state champ Kollin Rath.
Finishing in fourth place was his best performance in Hershey after placing fifth as a freshman and seventh as a sophomore.
"I thought I was really consistent," Sipes said after posing for photos. "I wrestled hard and was looking to score. I had fun for the most part, so I'm proud of it.
But the loss to Carr kind of stuck in Sipes' craw.
"I'm still really upset about that one," he said. "I wrestled good. I thought I pushed the pace. I was offensive in the match, but you're not always going to win those ones. I've got to score, and I can't give up the takedown with one second left."
"Fourth place is really good down here," Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. "He wanted to come back and get third after losing to Rath last night, 1-0".
Sipes was one of five boys from the Mirror coverage area to earn medals in the two classifications, including Huntingdon/Williamsburg Class 2A state champion Andrew McMonagle at 189.
Penn Cambria senior Trent Hoover earned his first state medal by finishing seventh at 152 in Class 2A. Tyrone sophomore Kyle Scott and senior Braden Ewing also took home their first medals by placing eighth at 172 and 285, respectively.
The three area girls who qualified for the first girls state tournament also placed. Northern Bedford's Raegan Snider placed third at 155, while teammate Kaylee Ebersole was sixth at 106. Bellwood-Antis' Juliette Cuevas placed seventh at 100.
Sipes, who finished 36-7, made a second-period escape and a third-period controlling ride stand in the 1-0 win over Walizer.
"Griffin is my friend and it was a close match," Sipes said. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to compete against him."
Sipes had a 1-0 lead for most of the second period until Carr took him down with a single-leg shot with a second left on the clock.
And then Sipes was in on a shot for the last 50 seconds of the bout and very close the last 20 seconds, but he couldn't get his one arm free to convert the takedown.
"It was questionable," Sipes said. "I'm not going to act like it was the ref's fault. I've been here before. I've got to finish that. I was in deep. So that's on me."
Sipes was already thinking about the offseason of preparation for his senior year.
"The goal remains the same. I'm still trying to win gold next year," he said. "I'm really hungry. I feel myself passing guys up and I can see how high my ceiling is. It just makes me want to work that much more, get back on the mat and keep having fun."
"It was close on that takedown," Gilbert said. "He just didn't get his arm back across. The kid had it stopped in there. You've got to be able to cut your arm across to get that takedown in that situation. The official is never going to give you a takedown until you cut your arm back across to the other side.
Hoover earns first medal
Hoover went 3-2 and finally placed in his third state tournament experience. His two losses were both by a point, including a last second 3-2 loss to Grove City's Cody Hamilton in the quarterfinals.
Hoover wound up his career by beating Penns Valley rival Ty Watson, 3-2. Afterward, though, he was limping from a gimpy knee.
"I banged up my knee last night," Hoover said. "I had to get it drained like an hour before my seventh-place match this morning."
His loss to Hamilton was a heartbreaker. He had a 2-1 lead, but Hamilton headlocked him for a takedown with a second left on the clock.
"I had a tough loss in the quarters," Hoover said. "It would have been real easy to pack it in and feel real sorry for myself, but that's not who I am. I did what I could, wrestled back and ended up seventh."
"Honestly, we wrestled that match perfect for 5 minutes and 58 seconds," Penn Cambria coach Todd Niebauer said. "That kid hit a great move. My wife has a saying: Things happen the way they're supposed to happen. Sometimes you get hit with a left hook you do not see coming, and how react shows what kind of man you are."
Hoover (43-7) credits Niebauer for making sure he bounced back after the loss.
"I'm so proud of him," Niebauer said. "He did two things this weekend. He came back from a real devastating loss, and he's injured right now. But he showed much how much he's grown. If you wrestle that weight class 10 times, there are probably 10 different results for sure.
"He's been the face of Penn Cambria wrestling the last four years. To go out with a medal is just great for him."
Scott and Ewing both ended with losses. Scott dropped a 3-1 overtime loss to Montgomery's Caden Finck, while Ewing lost to Towanda's Sawyer Robinson, 5-1. Ewing beat Robinson, 9-3, in the first round.
Ewing, who will continue his wrestling career at Brown University, went 2-3 in the tournament and finished 43-6. Scott (41-9) went 3-3 in the tournament.
"That's awesome," Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. "We came down here with two guys and we got two guys on the podium. I'm super proud of both Ewing and Kyle. They won matches they needed to win to get on the podium. Unfortunately, they weren't able to finish it off with wins, but that's just how things go."
Newcomer Cuevas excels
While a seventh-place finish is pretty good, what is so remarkable about Cuevas finishing seventh is she's only been wrestling for five months. Yep, this is the first year she's wrestled.
"I am really proud to be able to catch on to these things," she said, "because it can take people years just to get here. I feel honored to be here."
"She has an athletic background," Bellwood-Antis coach Nick Torsell said. "She grew up doing jiu jitsu. She has all the tools to be good. It just took a few months of polish. She still has so much room for development. As good as she is right now, I can think she can get a ton better. It's not out of the question she can be in the finals or win it next year."
Cuevas (10-3) went 3-2 in the tournament, including getting pinned by Bensalem's Payton Hinkle in 3:45 when Cuevas had a 9-4 lead in the quarterfinals. She bounced back to go 2-1, including a 6-1 victory over Hempfield's Hattie Back in the seventh-place bout.
"My family from California showed up here to watch me," she said, "and I didn't want to let them see me lose on my last day, so I really, really showed up. I have to put all (the losses) behind me. I can't go out to the mat dragging that around on my back because I lost one."
Cuevas will continue wrestling in the offseason.
"I'm looking forward to next season," she said. "I expect to place better next time."
Snider (26-4), who was pinned in the ultimate tiebreaker by North Allegheny's Leyna Rumpler in the semifinals, went 4-1 and finished with a 3-2 win over Northampton's Mylea Lambert. Ebersole (23-11) went 3-3 over three days.
"I didn't get where I wanted to be," Snider said. "I wanted to take home the state championship, but I had a tough loss in the semis. I came back and that's all that matters.
"I think Raegan and Kaylee both did extremely well this weekend," Northern Bedford coach Zach Clark said. "They both wrestled their hearts out, and I'm proud of them. I'm extremely proud how Raegan reacted after the loss."
Fouse named OW
Bishop McCort Catholic's Jordyn Fouse, who started her high school career at Northern Bedford, had a point to prove after paying attention to the girls state rankings throughout the 2023-24 season.
Fouse, who was ranked second to Kennett's Haylie Jaffe at 136 pounds, was losing 1-0 in the third period in the championship finals. That's when Fouse scored a reversal, put Jaffe on her back and got the fall in 5:27.
Later, Fouse was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the girls tournament.
"It feels pretty good," Fouse said as she held the OW trophy. "I worked really hard for this. I'm really proud of myself."
Chestnut Ridge freshman Violette Lasure finished off an undefeated season by capturing the 142-pound title with a pin of Downingtown West's Sienna Landrum in 3:37. Lasure pinned her way through the tournament.
Deputy second again
Chestnut Ridge sophomore Dominic Deputy was a runner-up for the second straight season at 107. Deputy suffered his first loss, 6-1, to Faith Christian Academy freshman Joey Bachman in the finals.
Bachman (38-0) and Deputy were scoreless in the first period until Bachman headlocked Deputy to his back for five points near the end of the period. Deputy (49-1) managed an escape in the third, but the hole was too deep to dig out of.