Mirror photo by Todd Irwin Tyrone’s Kyle Scott holds his plaque after winning the 189-pound title Saturday.

CRESSON — The 189-pound championship finals bout of the Panther Holiday Classic between Tyrone’s Kyle Scott and Derry Area’s Brady Brown was the last bout of the tournament.

Scott and Brown split two battles last season, including a Scott 2-1 tiebreaker win in the Southwest Regional semifinals. So, Saturday night’s finale at Mount Aloysius College figured to be another close battle.

That’s exactly what it was. Scott made a third period escape and some tough defense late in the bout stand in a 1-0 win over Brown to repeat as tournament champion.

“Yeah, he’s tough, man,” said Scott, a returning state fourth-placer. “I saw a couple weak points in his last match before I wrestled him, and I kind of just capitalized on them. I know where I’m at. I know where he’s not.

“People probably think we’re rivals, but I really like him. We spend a lot of time together in the offseason. I don’t know why he hates me during the season, but we went to the Olympic Training Center together. I have a lot of respect for him.”

Scott was the only boy from the Mirror coverage area to win a title in the 55-team tournament. Hollidaysburg’s Landon Krupka (107) and Glendale’s Daniel Williams (285) finished third, while Glendale’s Ethan Gilbey (145) placed fourth.

Central Cambria’s Burke Niebauer (139) and Jeremy Hajzus (189) placed fifth, as did Central’s Ty Matthews (107). Hollidaysburg’s Connor Sidney (107) and Penn Cambria’s Jesse Horning (215) finished seventh.

The top-seeded Scott (8-0) went 4-0 over two days, including 23-4 and 18-1 technical falls and a 6-1 decision over Hajzus in the semifinals.

“I didn’t really like the way I wrestled,” Scott said of his tournament performance. “I wasn’t offensive. I know I had the tech falls, but they came in slow and they were sloppy. I’d like to work on my attacks a little more. I’d like to get one or two takedowns maybe the next time I see (Brown).”

After a scoreless first period, Scott rode Brown the entire second period, including a deep bar-arm to close out the period.

“He wrestled smart,” Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. “He did fantastic on top. I always knew he was great on top. It’s extremely hard to hold down a good wrestler like that.”

Nine seconds into the third, Scott hit a granby roll out of Brown’s ride for an escape.

“We drill a lot on bottom,” Scott said, “and I know my timing. I practice that granby on the guys at M2. It’s just instinct for me. I felt it and I went for it.”

There was no drama until the wrestlers got into a scramble in the final 20 seconds of the bout. Brown tried desperately to come out of the scramble with a takedown, but Scott defended and held his position to secure the win.

“I feel pretty comfortable (in scrambles),” he said. “It’s nothing new to me.”

“I wrestle him in practice,” Wright said, “and I know how he scrambles. I wasn’t worried one bit. I just wanted the time to end so he didn’t get hurt.”

Scott clapped his hands when he got to his feet and slapped Wright’s hand when he returned to his corner of the mat.

One interesting and funny sidenote of Scott’s win was Penns Valley won the team title by 3.5 points over Derry Area, 201.5-198, as a result of his victory. Afterward, the Rams asked Scott to pose with them for the team photo. Scott agreed to, so that will be an interesting memory for all in the future.

“That’s fine,” Scott said smiling. “We’re not in the team race, so it doesn’t matter to me.

“I get to help a D6 school out and get these WPIAL kids out of here,” Scott joked.

Williams rebounds

The third-seeded Williams was wrestling in his second tournament since sitting out last season with two injured knees. He opened the tournament with three pins before suffering a 1-0 loss to Selinsgrove’s Jack Peters in the semifinals.

Williams responded with two one-point wins in the consolations, including a 4-3 decision over East Stroudsburg South’s Josiah Rodriguez in the third-place bout.

“I feel like there are pieces missing,” Williams said, “but when it was all put together I think I came out of here pretty well. I learned some new things and hopefully I can use them later in the year. I just feel like when it all comes down to it, whether I’m tired or not, I’m one of the best wrestlers.”

“It’s awesome having him back and watching him get better and better,” Glendale coach Brian Storm said. “He’s getting his footing back, and it’s good to see.”

Krupka opened the tournament with two major decisions before suffering a 5-4 loss to Derry Area’s Patrick Bulger in the quarterfinals. Krupka finished off a 4-0 run through the consolations by avenging the loss to Bulger, 4-2.

“Tell you what, he put some things together this weekend,” Hollidaysburg coach Christian Harr said. “His offense was awesome. He was responding well to adverse positions and just scoring points. Every match he was wrestling he was taking 20-30 shots. He came back and beat a kid who beat him, so that’s a big confidence booster for him.”

Regionally, Tussey Mountain’s Dakota Santamaria (121) and Huntingdon’s Doug McKim (160) won titles. Santamaria beat Philipsburg-Osceola’s Caleb Hummel, 6-1, in the finals. P-O’s Averi Gable (145) finished second.

Cuevas, Clouse win titles

Eight girls from the Mirror coverage area reached the finals in the girls division, but only Bellwood-Antis’ Juliette Cuevas (106) and Northern Bedford freshman Rachel Clouse (112) claimed titles.

Cuevas pinned Huntingdon’s Emily Waters in the finals, while Clouse earned a 14-12 win over teammate Kaylee Ebersole, a two-time state qualifier who placed sixth two years ago.

Penn Cambria had three runners-up in Laura Farabaugh (130), Bethany Watt (136) and Autumn Yeoman (190). Northern Bedford had two more second-placers in Yasmin Miller (118) and Ryann Welsh (142).

BOYS TOP 25 TEAM STANDINGS

1. Penns Valley 201.5; 2. Derry Area 198; 3. Athens 195; 4. Trinity 169; 5. Mifflinburg 161.5; 6. East Stroudsburg South 158; 7. Northern York 157; 8. Spring Grove 148; 9. Huntingdon 128.5; 10. Boiling Springs 122; 11. Northern York 119; 12. Vandalia (ILL) 115; 13. Northern Bedford 109; 14. McGuffey 108; 15. Corry 106.5; 16. Bentworth 98; 17. Glendale 97.5; 18. Philipsburg-Osceola 96.5; 19. Armstrong 93.5; 20. Seneca Valley 92; 21. Selinsgrove 90; 22. River Valley 89; 23. Hollidaysburg 80; 24. Indiana 77.5; 25. Richland 72.5.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

215–Tucker, Mifflinburg, dec. Erdman, Huntingdon, 4-1; 285–Rearick, Armstrong, maj. dec. Peters, Selinsgrove, 12-3; 107–Murillo, Trinity, dec. Kiner, Boiling Springs, 2-1; 114–Pandey, Trinity, dec. E. Lisowski, Penns Valley, 9-3; 121–Santamaria, Tussey Mountain, dec. Hummel, Philipsburg-Osceola, 6-1; 127–Dinges, Penns Valley, dec. Manyette, Trinity, 4-0; 133–Detar, Trinity, dec. Wagner, Mifflinburg, 1-0;

139–Straub, Mifflinburg, pinned Barr, McGuffey, 5:27; 145–McNeal, Derry Area, dec. Gable, Philipsburg-Osceola, 6-1; 152–Longenberger, Boiling Springs, tech fall Hinton, Vandalia, 15-0, 3:01; 160–McKim, Huntingdon, dec. Danna, Quaker Valley, 9-5; 172–Horwat, Derry Area, maj. dec. Ivcic, Bentworth, 11-2; 189–Scott, Tyrone, dec. Brown, Derry Area, 1-0;

Most Outstanding Wrestler: Mason Horwat, Derry Area

CONSOLATIONS (AREA RESULTS)

THIRD PLACE: 114–Krupka, Hollidaysburg, dec. Bulger, Derry Area, 4-2; 145–Baum, Spring Grove, maj. dec. Gilbey, Glendale, 13-5; 285–Williams, Glendale, dec. Rodriguez, East Stroudsburg South, 4-3.

FIFTH PLACE: 107–Matthews, Central, won by forfeit over Keesecker, Derry Area; 139–Niebauer, Central Cambria, won by forfeit over Bishop, Hickory; 189–Hajzus, Central Cambria, won by forfeit over Smith, Penns Valley.

SEVENTH PLACE: 107–C. Sidney, Hollidaysburg, maj. dec. Vermilya, Canton, 11-2; 215–Horning, Penn Cambria, maj. dec. Nickerson, Corry, 8-0.

GIRLS

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

100–Jimenez, East Stroudsburg South, tech fall Morales, ESS, 18-2; 106–Cuevas, Bellwood-Antis, pinned Waters, Huntingdon; 112–Clouse, Northern Bedford, dec. Ebersole, Northern Bedford 14-12; 118–Cappa, ESS, pinned Miller, Northern Bedford; 124–Clink, Athens, pinned Dubinski, ESS; 130–Pieretti, ESS, pinned Farabaugh, Penn Cambria; 136–Rathbun, Athens, pinned B. Watt, Penn Cambria

142–Paul, Athens, pinned Welsh, Northern Bedford; 148–Wickerberg, ESS, pinned Volcy, ESS; 155–Paxton, North Star, pinned Rosh, Athens; 170–Wagner, Athens, won by forfeit over Bierly, Huntingdon; 190–Payne, Athens, pinned Yeoman, Penn Cambria; 235–Nason, Athens, pinned Cummings, Athens.

THIRD PLACE AREA RESULTS

124–J. Learn, ESS, pinned Dixon, Northern Bedford; 130–Dennis, Northern Bedford, pinned Davidson, Philipsburg-Osceola; 148–C. Watt, Penn Cambria, pinned Kostyk, North Star; 235–Glessner, Philpsburg-Osceola, pinned Beach, Northern Bedford.