01/28/25 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski /

By Todd Irwin

sports@altoonamirror.com

Three Altoona wrestlers who made a run to the PIAA Class 3A Championships last season are the top seeds at their respective weights for Saturday’s District 6 Class 3A Tournament at the Altoona Fieldhouse.

Altoona’s Braiden Weaver (121), Gavin Ciampoli (139) and three-time District 6 champion Luke Sipes (160) were all named top seeds at the District 6 Class 2A and 3A zoom seeding on Tuesday night.

Weaver, a junior, will be vying for his third District 6 title, while Ciampoli, a sophomore, is aiming to repeat as champion.

The District 6 Class 2A Tournament begins at 10 a.m. on Friday.

The Class 2A and 3A wrestlers will share the Fieldhouse again this year on Saturday. Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. Saturday with 2A consolations and 3A quarterfinals. The semifinals of both classifications are set for 10:30 a.m.

The fifth-place bouts for both classifications and seventh-place bouts for Class 2A will be wrestled Saturday afternoon.

The championship finals and third-place bouts for both classes will all be wrestled in the final session, which starts after the 5:45 p.m. District 6 Hall of Fame ceremony and parade of champions.

The top three at every weight class in Class 3A will wrestle in the newly formed Western Regional at Canon-McMillan High School on Feb. 28 and March 1 in Canonsburg instead of the Northwest Regional at the Fieldhouse.

There are second seeds in Altoona’s Dominic Nardozza (107) and Phillip Sarbo (133) and Hollidaysburg’s Landon Krupka (121), Mitchell Baronner (172).

The third seeds are Hollidaysburg’s Connor Sidney (107), Brayden Sidney (114) and Scott Payne (285), as well as Altoona’s Deklan Barr (127) and Michael Colyer (215).

Tyrone’s Kyle Scott, a returning District 6 Class 2A runner-up, is seeded second at 189 in the Class 2A field, as is Penn Cambria’s Andrew Mardula at 152. Mardula is a returning third-place finisher.

There are third seeds in Central Cambria’s Jake Wilson (32-5) at 145 and Cambria Heights’ Marshall Eckenrode (285) at 160. Both were Southwest Regional qualifiers last season.

The fourth seeds are Claysburg-Kimmel’s Nathan Cox (22-10) at 107, Central Cambria’s Burke Niebauer (32-7) at 127, Penn Cambria’s Isaac Filak (28-9) at 145, Juniata Valley’s Zack Dick (23-8) at 160 and Tyrone’s Kyler Suhoney (18-15) at 172. Niebauer finished seventh in last year’s tournament.

Central’s Carson Mowery (114) and Cody Clapper (160), Glendale’s Ethan Gilbey (139) and Zach Vereshack (152), Central Cambria’s Jeremy Hajzus (189) and Cambria Heights’ Tommy Kitchen (285) are seeded fifth. Penn Cambria’s Layton Munyon (121) and Central’s Kaden Horn (139) are sixth.

The top six wrestlers in Class 2A advance to the Southwest Regional, set for March 1-2 at the Fieldhouse.