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EBENSBURG -- Despite having a high school resume that includes two state tournament medals, Tyrone's Kyle Scott had never won a title at the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference Tournament.
Scott had finished second in the first two LHAC tournaments, but the senior was finally able to check a tournament title off of his list of wrestling to-dos on Saturday at Central Cambria High School.
Scott (17-0), who's ranked second at 189 in Class 2A by PA Power Wrestling, dominated the field at 189 pounds, reeling off two first-period falls and two technical falls, including a 16-0 shutout in 5:12 of Chestnut Ridge's Jayden Imler in the championship bout.
"It's crazy. I've never won this tournament and I'm one of the best in the state," Scott said. "It shows you how tough this tournament usually is. Stuff was flowing well and my attacks were getting there.
"I had a good feeling I was going to win it. I'm looking for the main goal, which is to win the state title. I'm enjoying my last year, but I'm looking at that main goal every day."
"Finally after three long years," Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. "He came in on a mission, and he's been wrestling well all year."
Scott was the only champion from the Mirror's core coverage area. Central's Blair Miller finished second at 285, dropping an 8-1 decision to Bishop McCort's Caleb Rodriguez in the finals.
Central and Hollidaysburg had six medalists apiece among the top eight at their weight classes.
Central's Ty Matthews (107), Hollidaysburg's Landon Krupka (114) and Tyrone's Mason VanAllman (172) finished third.
Central, which finished in seventh place in the team standings with 98.5 points, had other placewinners in Carsen Mowery (fourth, 121), Joel Morris (fifth, 127), Bryer Mickel (eighth, 133) and Kaden Horn (eighth, 145).
"We had a couple guys battling some sickness," Central coach Dave Marko said. "It could have affected what their placement was. But I always try to tell these guys everything until districts is just a stepping stone."
Hollidaysburg, which was ninth with 97 points, had other medalists in Connor Sidney (fourth, 107), Blake Kennedy (fifth, 172), Keegan Hewitt (fifth, 189), Scott Payne (fifth, 285) and Tyler Rodgers (eighth, 160).
"We had some good performances," Hollidaysburg coach Christian Harr said. "We had some improvements and some areas where we need to work on. We had a little bit of the flu bug, missing two of our starters."
Central Cambria's Burke Niebauer (139) and Penn Cambria's Nate Mack (160) placed fourth. Central Cambria's Jeremy Hajzus (eighth, 189) and Penn Cambria's Jesse Horning (seventh, 215) earned medals.
Bellwood-Antis had two medalists in Nolan Hewitt (fifth, 107) and Mason Nagle (eighth, 152). Tyrone's Tanner Walk placed sixth at 107.
Scott waited patiently as the championship finals and third-place bouts took place on the two mats. He nailed a takedown of Imler in the first period and rode him out to get to the second period.
Scott quickly reversed Imler to his back for six points and a 9-0 lead in the first 16 seconds of the second period. After Scott rode the rest of the second, he hit a standing nearside cradle in the third period to put Imler on his back again. Imler avoided the fall, but Scott earned his ninth technical fall of the season.
"That nearside cradle has been there," Scott said. "We work on that a lot. I hit that more than once (in the tournament). I love it."
Miller reached the finals with respective 46-second pins and an 8-0 major decision over Bald Eagle Area's Gage Gardner in the semifinals. He stayed close in the first two periods with Rodriguez, who finished third at the PIAA Championships last season, giving up only a reversal in the second period.
But the second-ranked Rodriguez picked up two takedowns in the third period - the second one coming with only 7 seconds left in the bout.
"I did pretty good," Miller said. "I could get better. Maybe I could Caleb in districts. That's my goal. This is one of my better tournaments. It was the first time I've ever wrestled him. I learned not to get underneath him. He's a big boy."
"Blair got to tangle with a guy who is a returning state placewinner, and now he knows what a state placewinner is like," Marko said. "Now what do we need to do to go from point A to point B. I thought Blair had a really good tournament."
Matthews lost his semifinal against Huntingdon's eventual runner-up Gaige Sholly, 7-5, but he bounced back with decisions over Hewitt, 5-2, in the consolation semifinals and a 3-0 decision over Hollidaysburg's Connor Sidney in the third place bout.
"Ty beat Sholly with a barn burner at the Panther Classic," Marko said. "Today, if he steps over the ankle and instead of trying to put the leg in we'd have a different result. That's three times he's beaten Sidney this year. From everything I understand, he had never beaten Sidney before this year."
Krupka dropped into the consolations with a 13-3 loss to Chestnut Ridge's Carter Ickes in the semifinals. He responded with a pin and a 20-3 technical fall.
"Landon was doing Landon things," Harr said. "He was going out there and scoring points. He grew a little bit this weekend. He's always fun to watch."
VanAllman, a sophomore, went 4-1 in the tournament, including two falls in the consolations.
Deputy OW again
Chestnut Ridge 127-pounder Dominic Deputy won his third tournament title and earned his second straight LHAC Outstanding Wrestler award.
A returning state champion, Deputy avenged a 2-1 tiebreaker loss to Penns Valley's Max Dinges in the Powerade semifinals with a dominating 13-3 major decision of Dinges, who placed third at the state tournament last season.
With less than 20 seconds left in the first period, Dinges attempted a throw, but Deputy took him down to his back for a five-point move.
Deputy added an escape and takedown in the second for a 9-0 lead. Dinges took him down in the third, but Deputy escaped and added a takedown to get the major decision.
"I feel like I wrestled great that match," Deputy said, "especially after losing to him on Tuesday at Powerade. I normally don't get mad. It takes a lot for me to (get mad), but that's something I'm trying to change to get in the dominant mindset."
"When people wrestle him that's what happens," Ridge coach Josh Deputy said. "He's one of the best in the country for a reason. I was very proud of how he rebounded and took care of business."
Ridge had two other champs in Kooper Deputy (107) and Trenden Willey (139), as well as runners-up in Ickes (114), Garrett Weyandt (121) and Imler. Coach Deputy voted for Willey to get OW.
"My boys never get my vote. They know that," he said laughing. "Trenden puts in so much work behind the scenes."
The Lions finished second in the team standings with 208.5 points. Bishop McCort won the team title with 254 points, six champions and two runners-up. McCort was without two-time state champ Jax Forrest, who has opted to graduate early and train with Oklahoma State.
Huntingdon, which tied Clearfield for fourth with 159 points, had nine medalists, including champion Grady Clark (172).
KEY, TEAM STANDINGS
1. BM--Bishop McCort 254; 2. CR--Chestnut Ridge 208.5; 3. B--Bellefonte 160.5; 4. HUN--Huntingdon and CL--Clearfield 159; 6. PO--Philipsburg-Osceola 111.5; 7. C--Central 98.5; 8. PV--Penns Valley 97.5; 9. HOL--Hollidaysburg 97; 10. T--Tyrone 92.5; 11. BED--Bedford 92; 12. WH--Westmont Hilltop 81; 13. R--Richland 69; 14. BEA--Bald Eagle Area 66.5; 15. FH--Forest Hills 49.5; 166. BA--Bellwood-Antis and CC--Central Cambria 34.5; 18. PC--Penn Cambria 30.5; 19. J--Johnstown 27; 20. S--Somerset 7.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
107--K. Deputy, CR, pinned Sholly, HUN, 1:08; 114--Rowles, CL, tech fall Ickes, CR, 16-1, 5:55; 121--K. Bassett, BM, tech fall Weyandt, CR, 23-5, 4:40; 127--D. Deputy, CR, maj. dec. Dinges, PV, 13-3; 133--Carlile, PV, pinned Kostick, R, 2:32; 139--Willey, CR, pinned McMullen, BM, 5:27; 145--Butler, BM, tech fall Diehl, CL, 23-8, 5:00
152--B. Bassett, BM tech fall Swisher, B, 19-4, 2:14; 160--Miller, BM, tech fall Ryan, CL, 22-7, 3:33; 172--Clark, HUN, dec. Gunby, BM, 9-8; 189--Scott, T, teech fall Imler, CR, 16-0, 5:12; 215--Gordon, BM, pinned Hockenberry, B, :48; 285--Rodriguez, BM, dec. Miller, C, 8-1.
Outstanding Wrestler: Dominic Deputy, Chestnut Ridge
AREA RESULTS
THIRD PLACE
107--Matthews, C, dec. C. Sidney, HOL, 3-0; 114--Krupka, HOL, tech fall Dipaola, FH, 20-3, 4:28; 121--Hummel, PO, tech fall Mowery, C, 16-1, 4:43; 139--W. Long, B, tech fall Niebauer, CC, 15-0, 2:18; 160--McKim, HUN, pinned Mack, PC, 2:26; 172--VanAllman, T, pinned Casey, CR, 2:10.
FIFTH PLACE
107--Hewitt, BA, dec. Walk, T, 12-7; 127--J. Morris, C, pinned Boone, BED, 2:20; 172--Kennedy, HOL, pinned Leaito, WH, 3:45; 189--Hewitt, HOL, dec. Peruso, HUN, 4-1.
SEVENTH PLACE
133--Gibson, HUN, pinned Mickel, C, 1:54; 145--Bernash, CR, pinned Horn, C, 3:33; 152--Barton, BED, pinned Nagle, BA, 2:16; 160--Lucas, B, pinned Rodgers, HOL, 4:29; 189--Spontak, BM, won by injury default over Hajzus, CC; 215--Horning, PC, pinned Elchin, S, 4:32.