Altoona — which finished third in the team race at the rugged King of the Mountain tournament at Central Mountain High School in mid-December — hiked its dual meet record to 8-0 Wednesday night by piling up a big lead en route to a 38-25 win over DuBois at the AAHS Fieldhouse.

“I thought that we wrestled well overall tonight,” veteran Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. “It’s important for us to stay healthy, but we’ve been rolling along.”

That was an apt description of how Altoona comported itself in most of Wednesday’s dual meet, as the Mountain Lions won eight of the 10 bouts while building a 38-7 lead.

After freshman Dominic Picciotti took a forfeit win for Altoona at 107 to open the match, junior Dominic Nardozza logged a 54-second fall over Kinley Knisely at 114 to give the Mountain Lions a 12-0 lead.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Altoona 139 pounder Brandt Hite major decisioned DuBois' Antonio Giambanco 10-1.

Two straight DuBois victories at 121 and 127 left Altoona with a 12-7 lead, but the Mountain Lions roared from that point on, reeling off six straight victories, including two by technical fall and one by true fall.

Penn State commit Braiden Weaver, a senior and two-time PIAA Class 3A state medalist with a 14-3 record this year, scored a surgical 15-0 technical fall in 1:50 over Simeon Tirico at 133 to ignite the Altoona run.

Freshman Brandt Hite posted a solid 10-1 major decision over Antonio Giambianco at 139, and junior Reese Hite (8-4 this season) pinned Brady Glass in 1:47 at 145 pounds. Senior Philip Sarbo improved his season record to 12-5 by prevailing in a late third-period flurry for a 7-5 decision over DuBois senior standout Samson Deeb at 152, giving Altoona a win that Gilbert deemed as pivotal.

“Weaver picked up a technical fall, and both Hite boys and Sarbo looked pretty good tonight,” Gilbert said. “Deeb finished fourth in the regional tournament three years ago as a freshman, so that was a big win for Sarbo.”

Junior Gavin Ciampoli, another returning state medalist for Altoona, improved his season mark to 12-4 with a 19-3, 3:02 technical fall over Seth Wilmoth at 160 pounds, and senior Tykear Davis controlled his bout with Brogan Hoare at 172, rapping out an 8-1 decision.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Altoona 114 pounder Dominic Nardozza pinned DuBois' Kinley Knisley.

“Ciampoli is always getting after it, and he keeps scoring points,” Gilbert said of the Altoona standout, who racked up five three-point takedowns and a four-point near-fall. “And Tykear Davis got back on track tonight with a good win for us.”

DuBois coach Jacob Krupa, whose team dropped to 4-8 in dual meets, was impressed with Altoona’s talent.

“They’re good,” Krupa said of the Mountain Lions. “I’ve known Joel for years, and his teams are always well-coached and they work hard. Altoona is a team that never stops moving out there, and their wrestlers are always looking for bonus points.

“I thought that both teams wrestled hard tonight, but Altoona just had a little bit more in their back pockets,” Krupa said.

DuBois won five bouts, including the feature matchup of the night at 127 pounds, where sophomore Mateo Gallegos — a Class 3A state runner-up last season at 114 — outlasted Altoona sophomore standout Deklan Barr, a returning state qualifier, by logging an escape in the second 30-second tiebreaker session to carve out a 3-2 victory.

Gallegos has a 17-1 record this year and Barr is now 11-3.

“We lost some tight matches to some of their better ones,” Gilbert said. “I know that Deklan would have liked to have had that one. Gallegos is a returning state runner-up who never gets out of position.”

Meet notes: DuBois got falls from returning state medalist Kendall Hoare at 215, Easton Harris at 189 and Nate Clark at 285, as well as a major decision from Luca Morelli at 121 … Altoona is back in action this Friday and Saturday at the Mid-Winter Mayhem tournament at Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Kovalchick Convention Complex. Fifty-eight schools will participate.

107–Picciotti, A, won by forfeit. 114–Nardozza, A, pinned Knisely, :54. 121–Morelli, D, maj. dec. Chirdon, 10-1. 127–Gallegos, D, dec. Barr, 3-2 OT TB2. 133–Weaver, A, tech. fall Tirico, 15-0, 1:50. 139–B. Hite, A, maj. dec. Giambianco, 10-1.

145–R. Hite, A, pinned Glass, 1:47. 152–Sarbo, A, dec. Deeb, 7-5. 160–Ciampoli, A, tech. fall Williams, 19-3, 3:02. 172–Davis, A, dec. B. Hoare, 8-1. 189–Harris, D, pinned Weamer, 1:58. 215–K. Hoare, D, pinned Colyer, 2:18. 285–Clark, D, pinned Thompkins, 3:12.

Records: DuBois (4-8); Altoona (8-0).

Official: Nick Shope.

JV: Altoona, 15-6. Bryson Montgomery and Brayden Wible won by fall, Anthony Riccio won by decision for Altoona.