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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
BEDFORD -- In sports and many other worthwhile endeavors, a sense of persistence and determination often yields the highest rewards.
Central Cambria senior Jacob Wilson is providing a case in point this season.
Wilson did not compete in organized wrestling until the seventh grade, and his indoctrination into varsity wrestling three years ago as a high school freshman was, by his own admission, a rough one.
But Wilson has kept his nose to the grindstone, and it has paid off for him in his senior season this year. Wilson sports a 29-5 record this year, and he reached the 145-pound championship finals in the rugged Bedford Thomas Automotive Classic Saturday evening, before dropping a 15-3 major decision there to Line Mountain freshman phenom Nolan Savage and placing second.
It was the second straight Saturday that Wilson had reached the championship finals of a big tournament. He won the 145-pound title at the Mercer High School VFW Tournament on Jan. 18.
Although he couldn't pull off another championship victory at Bedford, Wilson was able to put things into perspective.
"I got to the finals here, and that's a big thing for me,'' Wilson said. "Three years ago as a freshman, I went 0-2 here. I wasn't very good then. But I've been all-in in wrestling over the past year, and it's good to see the results of that finally showing.''
The third-seeded Wilson racked up three victories in the Thomas Automotive Classic, winning two of the matches by fall and major decision, but ran into a proverbial brick wall in the championship match in the top-seeded Savage (28-7), who had won all of his three matches leading up to the championship bout by technical fall.
Savage scored a pair of single-leg takedowns in the first period, then countered Wilson shots to score two more takedowns in the second period and another in the third period. With takedowns being worth three points on the high school and college levels for the first time this season, Savage wound up scoring all 15 of his points in the championship round via five takedowns.
"This was the first time that I had ever faced him, but he was really good at countering what I did,'' Wilson said of Savage. "It was really tough for me to get stuff going against him.''
Central Cambria coach Matt Niebauer lauded Wilson for an all-around excellent showing in the tournament.
"Jacob kind of ran into a buzzsaw in the championship match, but I don't think that match took anything away from the tournament that he had here,'' Niebauer said. "I think that he has made tremendous strides.''
"Last year, Jacob began really committing himself to wrestling,'' Niebauer added. "He didn't start wrestling until he was in the seventh grade, and when he moved up to the varsity as a freshman, he took his lumps. But now as a senior, he's been putting it all together.''
Other area medalists
Along with Wilson's second-place effort, nine other wrestlers from the Mirror core coverage area earned medals in the tournament by placing eighth or better.
Central boasted four medalists, with sophomore Carsen Mowery finishing fourth at 114, junior Kaden Horne finishing sixth at 139, freshman Bryer Mickel placing seventh at 127, and sophomore Cody Clapper finishing eighth at 160.
"We have a solid young team, and we have some kids who were capable of doing well here,'' Central coach Dave Marko said. "Carsen (Mowery) was our highest place finisher, and he had a very good tournament. Bryer Mickel placed seventh in this tournament as a freshman.
"Overall, I'm happy with the effort of our entire team all this weekend,'' Marko said.
Central Cambria also boasted four medalists. Along with Wilson's runner-up finish at 145, Burke Niebauer -- Coach Niebauer's son -- placed third at 127, junior Jeremy Hajzus placed fourth at 189, and senior Blaine O'Farrell earned an eighth-place medal at 215.
"I really am happy with how everybody did for us here,'' Matt Niebauer said.
Northern Bedford had two medalists, with senior Aiden Replogle finishing third at 114 and senior Wyatt Clouse placing fifth at 121.
"Both Aiden and Wyatt wrestled real well,'' Northern Bedford coach Brian Dutchcot said. "It was good to see both of them, as seniors, placing here at the Thomas Tournament.''
Notable
Burrell won the team title with 183 points, nosing out defending team champion Chestnut Ridge (182.5 points) by the most narrow of margins and ending Ridge's consecutive string of Thomas team titles at 10 ... Tussey Mountain standout Dakota Santamaria won the 107-pound title, besting Ridge freshman Garrett Weyandt, 7-3 in the championship match. Santamaria (31-1) this season, was the top seed at the weight class, and rattled off three straight wins by technical fall to reach the finals .... Ridge's Easton Mull (114 pounds) and Dominic Deputy (127) also won individual titles. Mull, a senior and top seed, pinned his way through his four matches, finishing with a championship win by fall in 3:35 over previously-unbeaten Newport senior Roman Polcha, while Deputy, a junior and top seed, topped Burrell's Cameron Baker, 6-4 in the championship finals ... Clearfield senior Brady Collins captured his 150th career victory in the 172-pound championship match, defeating previously unbeaten Jackson Angelo of Frazier, 7-2.
KEY, TEAM SCORING: 1, BUR--Burell, 183; 2, CR--Chestnut Ridge, 182.5; 3, CLF--Clearfield, 172; 4, GR--Greenville, 158.5; 5, HUN--Huntingdon, 144; 6, LM--Line Mountain, 134; 7, NG--Northern Garrett, 117.5; 8, SOM--Somerset, 112.5; 9, NEW--Newport, 109; 10, FR--Frazier, 94.5; 11, NS--North Schuylkill, 92.5; 12, TV--Tri-Valley, 85.5; 13, BC--Beth-Center, 84.5; 14, CEN--Central, 81.5; 15, MIL--Milton, 78; 16, CC--Central Cambria, 73; 17, BB--Berlin-Brothersvalley, 72; 18, EV--Everett, 70.5; 19, BED--Bedford, 65.5; 20--FAL--Falconer, 62.5. 21, TM--Tussey Mountain, 59.5; 22--NB--Northern Bedford 57.5; 23, WG--West Greene, 55; 24, NEB--Northeast Bradford, 50.5; 25, MEY--Meyersdale, 495.5; 26, CT--Conemaugh Township, 47; 27, CK--Claysburg-Kimmel, 43.5; 28, NS--North Star, 29.5; 29, SH--Southern Huntingdon, 24.5; 30, SAY--Sayre, 9.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
107--Santamaria, TM, dec. Weyandt, CR, 7-3. 114--Mull, CR, pinned Polcha, NEW, 3:35. 121--Thomas, BUR, maj. dec. Newman, FAL, 11-3. 127--Deputy, CR, dec. Baker, BUR, 6-4. 133--Wright, BC, dec. Opel, NG, 10-3. 139--Bertucci, BUR, dec. Mataria, GR, 2-1. 145--Savage, LM, maj. dec. Wilson, CC, 15-3.
152--Erdely, FR, tech. fall Rhyal, GR, 15-0, 3:53. 160--Celaschi, FR, dec. Gentile, GR, 4-0. 172--Collins, CLF, dec. Angelo, FR, 7-2. 189--Peak, BC, dec. Johnson, LM, 4-3. 215--Haggans, SOM, dec. Boylan, BUR, 3-1. 285--Holmes, SOM, dec. Whyte, WG, 7-0.
THIRD-PLACE MATCHES
(Listing area and regional results)
107--Sholly, HUN, pinned Wolfgang, TV, 4:55. 114--Replogle, NB, pinned Mowery, CEN, 2:21. 121--Collins, WG, maj. dec. Beitzel, NG, 9-0. 127--Niebauer, CC, dec. Chamberlain, CLF, 7-1. 133--Gibson, HUN, dec. Willey, CR, 4-2. 145--Hanlon, TV, tech. fall Ickes, CR, 15-0, 1:22.
172--Lacinski, BUR, dec. Masood, TM, 5-1. 189--Imler, CR, tech. fall Hajzus, CC, 19-2, 3:47. 215--Erdman, HUN, won by def. over Calvin, GR, 1:56. 285--Brambley, EV, dec. Bailor, CLF, 5-2.
FIFTH-PLACE MATCHES
(Listing area and regional results)
114--B. Aveni, CLF, maj. dec. Kauffman, CR, 11-2. 121--Clouse, NB, dec. Smith, BB, 4-3. 139--Kile, NS, pinned Horn, CEN, 1:30. 285--Reimold, GR, dec. Metz, HUN, 5-0.
SEVENTH-PLACE MATCHES
127--Mickel, CEN, dec. Lundmark, FAL, 9-3. 133--Stewart, BUR, pinned Kozielec, BED, 2:14. 139--Taylor, HUN, maj. dec. Yoder, NG, 9-0. 160--Benner, NEW, dec. Clapper, CEN, 6-0. 172--Durst, BB, dec. Clark, HUN, 12-7. 189--Peruso, HUN, dec. Grove, EV, 4-1. 215--Kimmel, BB, maj. dec. O'Farrell, CC, 21-8.