Photo for the Mirror by Tim Weight Tyrone’s Kyle Scott works against Bald Eagle Area’s Caleb Close in the 189-pound final on Saturday.

By now, after they’ve wrestled three times this season, Tyrone’s Kyle Scott and Bald Eagle Area’s Caleb Close very likely know each other so well they should expect what move is coming next.

The problem, though, it’s hard to stop whatever move Close, ranked second by PA Power Wrestling, is going to make.

They met up in the 189-pound finals of the District 6 Class 2A Tournament on Saturday night at the Altoona Fieldhouse. For a third time, Close left the mat a winner, 9-1. It was the second year in a row Scott was a runner-up.

Close (37-1) had beaten Scott, 6-1, in the Laurel Highlands Conference Tournament finals and 8-1 in the Ultimate Warrior finals. Scott is now 36-3 with all of his losses coming to Close.

“He’s a good opponent, obviously,” Scott said after his LHAC loss. “I’ve had some troubles with him in the past. I don’t know. He’s really big, and I’m a little undersized. I’m not a true 189-pounder. That does play a factor, but I think I wrestled well.”

Scott, who had a pin, technical fall and a 4-2 win over Bishop McCort’s C.J. Pensiero in the semifinals, was the only wrestler from the Mirror coverage area to reach the championship finals.

A total of 14 area wrestlers placed in the top six at their weight classes to advance to the Southwest Regional on Feb. 28 and March 1 at the Fieldhouse.

Central Cambria also had three in Jake Wilson (third, 145), Burke Niebauer (fifth, 127) and Jeremy Hajzus (sixth, 189).

“That’s the goal, right?” Central Cambria coach Matt Niebauer said. “When you go down there, that’s the main thing to check off — advance to the next round. Could we have done a couple things better? For sure we could have, but the most important thing is making sure you’ve got a chance to wrestle at the next round.”

Wilson was a semifinalist, but he dropped a 7-3 decision to United’s eventual runner-up Josef Garshnick in that round. He responded with two pins in the consolations.

“I think he did well,” Niebauer said. “I think we were competitive in the semis with Garshnick, who’s obviously a really tough wrestler.”

Central has three regional qualifiers in Carsen Mowery (third, 114), Ty Matthews (fifth, 107) and Kaden Horn (sixth, 139). Cody Clapper (eighth, 160) was a non-qualifying placewinner.

“You always want more. You always want higher places,” Central coach Dave Marko said. “But overall the name of the game is just to advance and then reset. Now we’ve got two weeks to not just get from point A to point B, but also to improve and advance.”

Semifinalist Mowery lost in the semifinals to Penns Valley’s eventual runner-up Max Dinges, but he had a pin in the consolation semifinals before getting pinned by Philipsburg-Osceola’s two-time state qualifier Caleb Hummel in the third-place bout.

“He had a nice tournament,” Marko said. “He won the matches we figured he could win. And then he was up against it in a couple of matches. He battled the entire time. That’s what we’re looking for out of him.”

Penn Cambria pushed through Isaac Filak (fourth, 145) and Andrew Mardula (fourth, 152). Layton Munyon (121) was seventh.

“I looked at it at the beginning and I thought we could get one. I thought we could get four,” Penn Cambria coach Todd Niebauer said. “Obviously I wanted to get closer to four, but we’re just so beat up. I’m not making excuses. I’m happy for the two guys that got there.

“They’re two of the hardest working guys on the team, so they definitely deserve it for sure.”

Mardula was the story of the first day after making the semifinals, but he was beaten by Mount Union’s eventual runner-up Rowan McClain-Hartman, 11-2, in the semis. He bounced back with a pin in the consolations before getting pinned in the third-place bout.

“He’s just got to find his offense again,” Niebauer said. “He’s a little beat up. We’ll spend the next couple weeks getting to our offense, healing and getting (physical) therapy. Hopefully he gets back to where he was about a month ago.”

Tyrone had one other qualifier in sixth-placer Kyler Suhoney (172). Logan Rumberger (127) just missed qualifying with a seventh-place finish.

Cambria Heights had a qualifier in two-time placewinner Marshall Eckenrode (third, 160). Teammate Tommy Kitchen (285) was eighth.

Claysburg-Kimmel’s Landon Knisley (sixth, 215) was able to qualify. Ayden Soler (127) and Brodie Soler (145) finished eighth.

Glendale’s Ethan Gilbey (139) took fifth to advance to the regional, while teammates Hayden Kohn (114) and Zach Vereshack (152) placed eighth.

Juniata Valley’s Zack Dick (sixth, 160) also qualified.

Regionally, Huntingdon had two champs in Grady Clark (172) and Landon Erdman (215) and a runner-up in Gaige Sholly (107).

Bishop McCort dominated the tournament again with seven champions, nine finalists, 12 regional qualifiers and shattered the overall points record for both classes with 320 points. Penns Valley finished second with 177.5 points.

The 1997 Bald Eagle Area team had held the record with 286.5 points.

Brenneman, Bussard inducted

Hollidaysburg’s 1999 state runner-up Charlie Brenneman was inducted into the District 6 Hall of Fame before the finals.

Randy Bussard, who was the 1988-89 Mirror Coach of the Year at Central and has assisted there for many years, was also inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Simington, Myers win awards

Altoona junior high coach Meade Simington was voted the District 6 Class 3A Junior High Coach of the Year.

Penn Cambria graduate, tournament director and referee Paul Myers was voted the District 6 Man of the Year by the coaches.

KEY, TEAM STANDINGS

1. BM–Bishop McCort 320; 2. PV–Penns Valley 177.5; 3. BEA–Bald Eagle Area 145.5; 4. H–Huntingdon 138.5; 5. U–United 111; 6. PO–Philipsburg-Osceola 96; 7. MU–Mount Union 93; 8. RV–River Valley 90; 9. WH–Westmont Hilltop 89; 10. FH–Forest Hills 85; 11. MV–Moshannon Valley 81; 12. R–Richland 80; 13. MC–Marion Center 79; 14. PC–Penn Cambria 69.5; 15. C–Central 61; 16. CC–Central Cambria 56.5; 17. J–Juniata 53.5; 18. T–Tyrone 50.5; 19. CK–Claysburg-Kimmel 45; 20. G–Glendale 42.5; 21. JV–Juniata Valley 30; 22. CH–Cambria Heights 29; 23. SH–Southern Huntingdon 23; 24. WB–West Branch 22.5; 25. WS–West Shamokin 18; 26. BA–Bellwood-Antis 15.

SEMIFINALS

107–K. Bassett, BM, tech fall Maul, FH, 21-2, 1:54; Sholly, H, pinned E. Lisowski, PV, 5:29; 114–Dinges, PV, tech fall Mowery, C, 18-3, 3:29; E. Herring, BM, dec. Hummel, PO, 4-1; 121–Guenot, BEA, tech fall Silfies, BM, 18-2, 4:29; Myers, PV, pinned Dluhos, WH, 4:37; 127–Carlile, PV, dec. Gable, PO, 17-12; Tinsman, MC, pinned Carfley, BM, 3:56; 133–Forrest, BM, tech fall Foster, PO, 21-6, 1:46; Judice, BEA, maj. dec. Kostick, R, 8-0; 139–Bracken, U, tech fall Guenot, PO, 20-2, 2:14; S. Herring, BM, tech fall Lomison, BEA, 19-4, 4:56; 145–B. Bassett, BM, pinned Filak, PC, :18; Garshnick, U, dec. Wilson, CC, 7-3

152–Magro, BM, tech fall Smith, J, 22-4, 3:01; McClain-Hartman, MU, maj. dec. Mardula, PC, 11-2; 160–Miller, BM, tech fall Dick, JV, 17-2, 2:35; B. Lisowski, PV, maj. dec. Eckenrode, CH, 18-4; 172–Clark, H, pinned Suhoney, T, 1:01; O’Farrill, BM, dec. Reifer, MV, 11-4; 189–Close, BEA, pinned Hajzus, CC, 1:38; Scott, T, dec. Pensiero, BM, 4-2; 215–Ryan, MU, pinned Stuchal, RV, 3:09; Erdman, H, dec. Lobb, MV, 5-3; 285–McCoy, WH, tech fall Bonnell, J, 19-3, 5:05; Rodriguez, BM, dec. Audi, R, 8-3.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

107–K. Bassett, BM, tech fall Sholly, H, 22-4, 1:24; 114–E. Herring, BM, dec. Dinges, PV, 4-3 UTB; 121–Guenot, BEA, tech fall Myers, PV, 17-1, 4:08; 127–Carlile, PV, pinned Tinsman, MC, 1:30; 133–Forrest, BM, tech fall Judice, BEA, 23-4, 1:31; 139–S. Herring, BM, maj. dec. Bracken, U, 11-2; 145–B. Bassett, BM, tech fall Garshnick, U, 19-4, 1:15

152–Magro, BM, tech fall McClain-Hartman, MU, 19-4, 2:00; 160–Miller, BM, tech fall B. Lisowski, PV, 24-8, 3:18; 172–Clark, H, dec. O’Farrill, BM, 8-5; 189–Close, BEA, maj. dec. Scott, T, 9-1; 215–Erdman, H, maj. dec. Ryan, MU, 15-5; 285–McCoy, WH, dec. Rodriguez, BM, 2-1 TB.

Outstanding Wrestler: Tanner Guenot, Bald Eagle Area

THIRD PLACE

107–E. Lisowski, PV, pined Maul, FH, :36; 114–Hummel, PO, pinned Mowery, C, 1:47; 121–Silfies, BM, maj. dec. Dluhos, WH, 9-1; 127–Carfley, BM, maj. dec. Gable, PO, 16-2; 133–Kostick, R, dec. Foster, PO, 4-1 OT; 139–Lomison, BEA, dec. Guenot, PO, 4-0; 145–Wilson, CC, pinned Filak, PC, 4:37

152–Smith, J, pinned Mardula, PC, 2:25; 160–Eckenrode, CH, pinned Pisarcik, U, 1:40; 172–Reifer, MV, tech fall Flickinger, RV, 19-1, 4:39; 189–Pensiero, BM, tech fall Peruso, H, 16-1, 1:35; 215–Lobb, MV, won by injury default over Stuchal, RV, 4:29; 285–Audi, R, dec. Bonnell, J, 7-0.

FIFTH PLACE

107–Matthews, C, dec. Anthony, RV, 9-2; 114–Purcell, BEA, pinned DiPaola, FH, :35; 121–Mihalko, MV, pinned Moss, FH, 3:50; 127–Niebauer, CC, tech fall Taubler, RV, 21-4, 3:00; 133–Gibson, H, dec. Watson, PV, 7-4; 139–Gilbey, G, dec. Horn, C, 6-3; 145–Phillips, MC, dec. Fetterolf, PV, 13-9

152–Surovec, BEA, dec. Monty, U, 6-2; 160–Atherton, MU, dec. Dick, JV, 8-1; 172–Stephens, U, pinned Suhoney, T, :29; 189–Mahla, R, pinned Hajzus, CC, 5:43; 215-Yatsky, FH, pinned Knisley, CK, 3:00; 285–Wano, RV, won by forfeit over Metz, H.

SEVENTH PLACE

107–Zahurak, WH, maj. dec. Keith, MV, 10-0; 114–Cook, MV, dec. Kohn, G, 4-3; 121–Munyon, PC, won by forfeit over Beatty, MU; 127–Rumberger, T, pinned Soler, CK, 2:42; 133–Rowles, J, dec. Haggerty, MC, 10-7; 139–Rummel, PV, maj. dec. Taylor, H, 8-0; 145–Hess, MU, pinned Soler, CK, 2:21

152–Rodgers, FH, won by forfeit over Vereshack, G; 160–Noon, FH, dec. Clapper, C, 7-2; 172–Chapman, PO, pinned Leaito, WH, 2:53; 189–Basa, MC, won by forfeit over McConville, U; 215–Hess, PV, dec. Buffone, WS, 4-1; 285–Knox, MC, dec. Kitchen, CH, 5-2.