MILL HALL — The third-seeded Altoona wrestling team advanced to the finals of the District 6 Duals on Saturday at Central Mountain, but the Mountain Lions suffered a 34-33 heartbreaking loss to fourth-seeded State College.

The Mountain Lions rolled to a 42-18 win over second-seeded Bellefonte in the semifinals. It was the second District 6 Duals match win in program history, with the first coming last year against Mifflin County.

The surging Little Lions knocked off top-seeded and previously unbeaten Central Mountain, 35-31, in the other semifinal.

It was the second year in a row Altoona finished second, losing to Central Mountain in last year’s Duals. The Mountain Lions are now 13-3, while the Little Lions improved to 16-4.

“Ideally, when you look back at it and compare it to the last 20 years, it’s still one of the better opportunities we’ve ever had,” Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. “I think there are a lot of mixed emotions — knowing we had already beaten State College once and losing to them this time.

“It’s nice to have our program getting better and getting into that area where we’re able to compete on that level. We’re happy with where we’re at, but we’ve got to improve a little bit more. Each year, we’re looking to take the next step.”

The Little Lions, who avenged a 32-27 loss to Altoona in the Bison Duals, won the pre-match flip and both team shifted their lineups up. They won pivotal bouts at 152 and 285, allowing them to forfeit to Altoona stars Deklan Barr (127) and Braiden Weaver (133), as well as Brandt Hit (139) to close out the meet.

At 152, State College’s Nico Diaz moved up and earned a 5-0 decision over Brayden Wible. At 285, Altoona’s Khamden Thompkins was losing 5-4 to Quillan Phillips when Phillips got the fall in 3:05. Thompkins and Phillips had split their first two bouts this season.

That gave State College a 25-9 lead going into the last six weights.

“I think those are the two big matches that kind of cost us a little bit,” Gilbert said. “152 and 285 took us out of an opportunity to win that match. That was the difference between that match and the previous one. We were hoping to get those two and it didn’t work out. That’s just the way it goes.

“The coin flip kind of hurt us a little bit, but that’s part of the game.”

Dominic Picciotti had Altoona’s only fall at 107, but State College’ Noah Young earned a 3-0 win over Dominic Nardozza at 114 and Luke Young won by fall at 121.

Altoona’s Gavin Ciampoli (172) rolled to a 16-0 technical fall in 2:18, while Reese Hite opened with a 14-6 major decision over Mason Sanderson at 145.

The Mountain Lions will close out the regular season on Tuesday at Huntingdon, which finished third in the District 6 Class 2A Duals. And then they’ll attempt to repeat what they did last year — finishing second at the Duals before winning the team title of the District 6 individual tournament.

“We’d love to,” Gilbert said, “but we’ve got to see what type of team shows up. Each year is a new team with different objectives and different mindsets. I think we’ve really got to get our mindset reset and prepare for the individual tournament and look to win championships again.”

State College (16-4) will wrestle at District 4 champion Selinsgrove on Tuesday night in the first round of the PIAA Duals. The winner moves on with seven others to this weekend’s PIAA Duals at 1st Summit Arena at the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown.

STATE COLLEGE 34, ALTOONA 33

145–R. Hite, A, maj. dec. M. Sanderson, 14-6; 152–Diaz, SC, dec. Wible, 5-0; 160–Whitbred, SC, tech fall Sarbo, 18-2, 6:00; 172–Ciampoli, A, tech fall Reviglio, 16-0, 2:18; 189–T. Sanderson, SC, tech fall Davis, 19-2, 4:16; 215–Williams, SC, pinned Darpino, 2:50

285–Phillips, SC, pinned Thompkins, 3:05; 107–Picciotti, A, pinned Fletcher, 1:00; 114–N. Young, SC, dec. D. Nardozza, 3-0; 121–L. Young, SC, pinned Swonger, :42; 127–Barr, A, won by forfeit; 133–Weaver, A, won by forfeit; 139–B. Hite, A, won by forfeit.

Records: State College (16-4), Altoona (13-3)

District 6 Class 2A boys

SPRING MILLS — Bishop McCort won its third straight District 6 Class 2A Duals title with a 55-13 win over top-seeded host Penns Valley on Saturday night.

The Crimson Crushers reached the finals with a 57-9 win over Huntingdon. The Rams advanced to the championship with a 35-26 win over Philipsburg-Osceola.

Huntingdon beat P-O, 38-27, in the third-place match, but Penns Valley beat the Bearcats, 36-30, in the true second match.

Bishop McCort will host a first round PIAA Duals bout on Tuesday against the winner of District 10 runner-up General McLane and District 7 third-placer McGuffey, The McLane-McGuffey match will be at McCort on Tuesday.

Penns Valley will wrestle at District 7 champion Derry Area on Tuesday. The winner likely gets returning champion Faith Christian Academy in the quarterfinals. All first-round winners will be a part of an eight-team PIAA Duals field this upcoming weekend in Johnstown.

District 5 Class 2A boys

NEW PARIS — Chestnut Ridge won its 14th straight District 5 Duals title with a 48-25 win over Meyersdale on Saturday at home.

The top-seeded Lions, who reached the finals with a 70-3 rout of Everett in the semifinals, were winning by five points, 30-25, going into the final 3 weights against Meyersdale. But Kooper Deputy (107) and Garrett Weyandt (121) won by fall and Carter Ickes (114) won by forfeit to close it out.

Ridge’s Dominic Deputy (127), Austin Bernash (133), Trenden Willey (139), Christian Feight (152) and Jayden Imler (189) had falls.

Northern Bedford lost to Bedford, 51-24, in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning.

The Black Panthers, who has to forfeit four weights, got falls from Eli Dutchcot (114), Kace Clapper (139) and Nolin Snider (215).

BEDFORD 51, NORTHERN BEDFORD 24

114–Dutchcot, NB, pinned Emerick, 3:03; 121–Ednie, B, won by forfeit; 127–Brambley, B, won by forfeit; 133–Boone, B, pinned Foor, 2:55; 139–Clapper, NB, pinned Oldham, 1:22; 145–Kozielec, B, won by forfeit; 152–Barton, B, pinned Cottle, 4:37

160–Shaffer, B, won by forfeit; 172–Hale, B, pinned Free, 3:00; 189–Ingraham, B, pinned Suter, 1:04; 215–Snider, NB, pinned Way, :31; 285–Gardner, B, dec. Dibert, 6-3; 107–Baker, NB, won by forfeit.

Records: Northern Bedford (8-10), Bedford (16-5)

District 5-6-9 girls

BEDFORD — Northern Bedford went 1-2 in the first District 5-6-9 Duals on Saturday at Bedford Area High School to finish in fourth place.

Northern Bedford beat State College, 36-18, in the consolation semifinals after losing to eventual champion Curwensville, 42-30, in the quarterfinals. Huntingdon beat the Lady Panthers, 30-27, in the third place match.

Central Cambria lost to Curwensville, 48-12, in the semifinals, Huntingdon in the consolation semifinals and State College in the fifth-place match.

Curwensville beat Bedford, 42-30, in the championship match.