By Todd Irwin

sports@altoonamirror.com

A little more than seven months after verbally committing to wrestle for Princeton University, Altoona junior Luke Sipes has decommitted and will wrestle for the University of North Carolina.

Sipes, who committed to Princeton in October, decommitted two weeks ago. And then a week later, he gave his verbal commitment to wrestle for State College graduate Rob Koll at UNC.

Sipes, who placed fourth at the PIAA Championships at 152 in March for his third state tournament medal, cited lack of communication with Princeton for the reason he chose to decommit.

“I felt like the coaches and I haven’t really talked much since before states,” he said, “and I kind of felt like we didn’t have a great connection. I was open to listening to other schools, and Coach Koll reached out to me.

“It was frustrating (with Princeton) because I have friends committed to Penn State, and Penn State wrestling is the best. Their coaches still reach out to talk to them more than I was getting talked to. I felt like I didn’t have a great relationship with the coaches. And financially I’m in a better situation now too.”

Sipes, who trains at M2 Training Center, said he never did publically re-open up the recruiting process.

“The UNC assistant coach, Tony Ramos, came to M2 practice, and he saw me wrestling,” Sipes said. “Then he mentioned something to the head coach. Then the head coach mentioned something to (Central Mountain’s) Luke Simcox’s dad, and then his dad texted my dad (Luke).

“His dad texted my dad ‘Would Luke be interested in listening to UNC?’ My dad asked me, and I said, ‘Yeah, actually I would. I want to hear what they have to say.’ Then we went from there.”

Interestingly enough, Simcox has also recently decommitted from Penn to UNC.

Sipes visited North Carolina last Wednesday through Friday, and he committed to UNC on Friday.

“I had a great visit,” he said. “There are great people down there, great coaches, great place to go to school. It’s a good social environment, good academic environment. Coach Koll wants to win, and ultimately that’s what I want to do too. I think I’ll be in a good spot wrestling-wise.”

Koll, a 1984 state champ for State College, took over at UNC last season after coaching at Cornell University for 28 years.

“I think he definitely knows what Pennsylvania wrestling brings to the table and how good a lot of Pennsylvania wrestlers are. He chose that in his recruiting. He’s an awesome coach, very relatable guy.”

Understandably, Sipes said the call to Princeton head coach Joe Dubuque about his decommitment was a tough call.

“They’re all great people,” he said. “I wish nothing but the best for them. It’s kind of a personal decision. It’s nothing against them. They’re going to do their thing, but it just wasn’t for me.”

Sipes also drew interest from Oklahoma State, where Penn State great David Taylor has become head coach. Taylor was the owner and operator of M2 Training Center.

“I talked to Coach David before he left for Okie State,” Sipes said. “I told him I was actually having second thoughts on Princeton, and then two weeks later he messaged me to see if I had any interest in Okie State. But Oklahoma is a little bit too far for me. It was like a 17½-hour drive when I typed it in.”

For the record, Sipes said it’s a seven-hour drive to UNC. Sipes said he he’ll probably head to North Carolina next June, take some summer classes and then possibly compete for a starting spot.

Sipes, a three-time District 6 and Northwest Regional champ who went 36-7 as a junior and is 113-15 in three years, has excelled on the mat after Hershey.

He is coming off of winning a title earlier this month at 165 pounds at the USAW Portuese Northeast Regional in Atlantic City with a 10-0 win over New Jersey’s Austin Craft.

He beat the No. 8 and No. 11-ranked wrestlers in the country as the No. 5 seed in the freestyle tournament.

He’ll be wrestling in the USA Wrestling Junior National Championships in Fargo, ND, on July 12-20.

“I’m not cutting too much weight,” Sipes said. “I feel good. I’m getting ready for Fargo. I’ve just been training.”