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Tiger wrestlers pick up easy win on senior night

High school wrestling

By John Hartsock 4 min read

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- The Hollidaysburg Area High School wrestling team celebrated its senior night in fine fashion Tuesday night, and nobody enjoyed a more exciting outing than Tigers' 152-pound senior Caden Frye.

Frye trailed, 22-16, in the third period of his wide-open donnybrook of a bout against Tyrone senior Miles Weber before Frye came up with a reversal and a headlock for a fall with 16 seconds left in the bout, propelling the Golden Tigers to a 46-24 dual meet victory.

"I just tried to go out and win -- that was my plan,'' said Frye, who was sidelined for the vast majority of his junior season a year ago after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee early in the season. "It feels good to win like this, it definitely gives me confidence. Coming off that injury last year, every win helps.''

Hollidaysburg's two other senior wrestlers who were honored in a ceremony before the match, Brayden Sidney and Skylee Parks, also both won their matches Tuesday. Sidney logged a 37-second fall at 121 pounds in the varsity match, and Parks picked up a fall in an exhibition match.

"I thought that we wrestled real well and brought some intensity as a team tonight,'' said Hollidaysburg coach Christian Harr, whose Golden Tigers squared their dual meet record at 4-4. "The energy was there, and we came back in a couple of matches and continued to fight and battle.''

The Frye match was the strongest case in point.

"There was a lot of back and forth in that match, and I'm real happy that Caden pulled that out,'' Harr said. "It was probably his biggest win this season.''

Sophomore Connor Sidney (18-10 this season) got the Tigers off to a good start with an 8-0 major decision over Tanner Walk at 107 pounds, and junior Landon Krupka (24-5) pinned Jonah Wicker in 1:38 at 114 pounds. Brayden Sidney (15- 6) followed by pinning Brooklyn Veloz at 121, and in an all-girls bout, Carina Parks staked Hollidaysburg to a 22-0 lead in the match by pinning Riley Harpster in 35 seconds at 127 pounds.

"Krupka and the two Sidneys have been the most consistent guys on the team this year,'' Harr said. "They just go out and perform.''

Caleb Detrick (139 pounds), Tyler Rodgers (160) and Scott Payne (285) all won by fall for Hollidaysburg. Detrick pinned Colton Frye with three seconds left in the third period of their match, while Rodgers accomplished his fall in 69 seconds over William Hoffman and Payne pinned John Eaken in 51 seconds in the final bout of the night.

Tyrone dropped to 2-13 in dual meets but Eagles coach Quentin Wright, the former Penn State two-time NCAA champion, saw plenty of bright spots.

Senior Kyle Scott, a Pitt commit and two-time returning state Class 2A state medalist who has a great chance to close his high school career by winning a PIAA state title this March, raised his season record to 28-0 with a 44-second pin over Keegan Hewitt in the 189-pound match. Scott now has 145 career wins and needs 15 more to surpass A.J. Schopp's school record 159 victories.

Lanky Tyrone junior Kyler Suhoney made a second-period takedown stand up for a hard-fought 3-2 win over Rocco Cacciotti at 215 pounds.

"Kyle Scott is a solid wrestler, and he did tonight what he always does for us, and I'm super proud of Kyler Suhoney for gutting out that decision,'' Wright said.

Tyrone got impressive performances from sophomore Rhys Rawlings, who racked up a 21-3 technical fall in 4:41 over Trenton Oswald at 145, and sophomore Mason VanAllman, who reeled off eight straight second-period points in an 11-2 major decision over Blake Kennedy at 172.

Both Hollidaysburg and Tyrone will participate in the big West Branch Ultimate Warrior Tournament Friday and Saturday. It's an event that will include nearly 50 teams and provide a good measuring stick for the upcoming postseason.

"We showed a bit more fight getting off our backs tonight, and we wrestled some gritty matches,'' Wright said. "That's what we want to do with the postseason ahead.''

Meet notes: Junior Jesse Parks took a forfeit win at 133 for Tyrone ... Along with the three senior Hollidaysburg wrestlers, another senior, Taylor Weimer, was recognized for her contributions as the Hollidaysburg team's manager.

107--C. Sidney, H, maj. dec. Walk, 8-0. 114--Krupka, H, pinned Wicker, 1:38. 121--B. Sidney, H, pinned Veloz, :37. 127--C. Parks, H, pinned Harpster, :35. 133--Parks, T, won by forfeit. 139--Detrick, H, pinned Frye, 3:57.

145--Rawlings, T, tech. fall Oswald, 21-4, 4:41. 152--Frye, H, pinned Weber, 3:44. 160--Rodgers, H, pinned Hoffman, 1:09. 172--VanAllman, T, maj. dec. Kennedy, 11-2. 189--Scott, T, pinned Hewitt, :44. 215--Suhoney, T, dec. Cacciotti, 3-2. 285--Payne, H, pinned Eaken, :51.

Records: Tyrone (2-13), Hollidaysburg (4-4).

Officials: Tyler Morder, Michael Pride.

Exhibition match: Skylee Parks, H, won by fall.

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