Sipes

Altoona senior 160-pounder Luke Sipes is set to make history at the regional tournament — even if it’s not the regional that he he’s reigned over in his first three years at the high school level.

Sipes won the now defunct Northwest Regional Tournament three times, but the PIAA Board of Control approved the elimination of that tournament and replaced it with the West Regional Tournament.

The top three wrestlers at their weight classes from District 6, top two from District 8 and the top three from the combined District 9-10 have now joined the top seven from District 7, or WPIAL as it known as also, to fill up rugged brackets.

Instead of wrestling in the Altoona Fieldhouse, they’ll be wrestling at Canon-McMillan High School — more than two hours southwest of Altoona.

If Sipes wins a fourth title, he’ll match Matt Sarbo as the only Altoona wrestlers to win four regional gold medals. He’s tied with Cole Manley with three regional titles.

“It would have definitely been more special to win at Altoona in front of my hometown and school,” Sipes said. “It’s going to be cool, but I’m not too focused on trying to win my fourth title.

“I’ve been more focused on my performance and basing my results on how I wrestled rather than if I won or lost. It’s important, but it’s just another stepping stone that I’m going to hit.”

Sipes (35-4) is ranked second by PA Power Wrestling at 160 and is the top seed for the tournament. He’s two wins away for 150 for his career. The second seed is Connellsville’s fifth-ranked District 7 champ Lonzy Vielma (37-8).

“I’m super excited,” Sipes said. “This is my second to last tournament of my high school career, so I want to leave it all on the mat. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“If Luke Sipes gets his offense going, he’s as good as anybody,” Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. “As long as he’s out there trying to score points, I know he’ll be okay. Luke has put his name up there with some of the best and greatest that Altoona has ever had.”

The tourney begins at 5 p.m. on with the preliminary round. The quarterfinals and the first round of consolations will follow.

It resumes at 9 a.m. Saturday with the second round of consolations. The semifinals and the consolation quarterfinals are set for 10:30 a.m. The third and fifth-place bouts, as well as the championship finals are scheduled for 3 p.m.

The top five wrestlers at every weight qualify for the state tournament, which begins next Thursday at Hershey’s Giant Center.

The Mountain Lions enter the tournament riding a wave of momentum from winning the District 6 Class 3A Tournament for the first time since 1981.

They had five champions in Sipes, Braiden Weaver (121), District 6 Outstanding Wrestler Deklan Barr (127), Gavin Ciampoli (139) and Michael Colyer (215). Runner-up Dominic Nardozza (107) and third-placers Reese Hite (145) and Tykear Davis (189) round out the Altoona eight-man contingent.

“It’s going to be new. It’s going to be different,” Gilbert said. “It’s going to be exciting. We’ve always known the WPIAL as one of the best, if not the best, district in Pennsylvania. It’s bound to be a tough task, but I think our kids are looking forward to taking on that challenge.

“We go down there for the Powerade, so our kids are familiar with the area and what the expectation and the layout are. I think that kind of helps us a little bit. We just have to go down there and wrestle. I think we’ve prepared them well for this task this year, and hopefully they perform.”

Hollidaysburg has a five-man contingent of District 6 runner-up Landon Krupka (121) and third-placers Connor Sidney (107), Brayden Sidney (114), returning state qualifier Mitchell Baronner (172) and Rocco Cacciotti (215)

“Hey, we got some good draws,” Hollidaysburg coach Christian Harr said. “We’ve got matches that we can win. I looked at the matchups (on Tuesday)

Weaver (34-6), coming off of his third district title, is not only the top seed at 121, but he’s also ranked No. 1 in the state by PA Power Wrestling. He won a regional title as a freshman and was a runner-up last season. Greater Latrobe’s fourth-ranked Leo Joseph (33-4) is the second seed.

“Braiden has been putting forth a great season,” Gilbert said. “He’s beaten some really great kids, and I think he’s peaking at the right time. We’re looking forward to seeing what he can do out there against the tough competition.”

Ciampoli (29-9), who won his second title, finished third in the Northwest Regional last season to qualify for Hershey. He’s seeded second to Connellsville’s District 7 champion Kai Vielma (41-4).

“Hopefully he goes out and gets his offense going also,” Gilbert said, “and is looking to score a lot of points.”

Nardozza finished fifth in the Northwest Regional and Davis was a qualifier last season. Gilbert was asked what his advice would be for the third-seeded Barr (29-9) and fourth-seeded Colyer (23-13), both of whom are regional newcomers.

“I tell them just go out and do what you do best,” Gilbert said. “A lot of those guys have certain positions they’re really good at. You focus on what you want to do. You can dictate the match to kind of go your way if you just wrestle your match and not let your opponent dictate what’s going to happen.”

Baronner, who qualified for Hershey last season by placing third, will likely get Thomas Jefferson’s second-seeded and second-ranked Bode Marlow (44-2) in the quarterfinals.

“He possesses the tools to go out there and get things done,” Harr said. “He just needs to be confident and go out there and compete.”

Brayden Sidney made it to the regional semifinals last season after being added to the tournament. He finished fourth – one place shy of qualifying for the state tournament. Krupka placed sixth in the regional tournament.