Hite

HUNTINGDON — In a battle of two of the top wrestling teams in District 6, Altoona threw some haymaker punches against Huntingdon in the first three bouts to set the tone for the dual meet.

Altoona’s Reese Hite and Gavin Ciampoli came through with falls at 145 and 160 pounds, respectively, and Phillip Sarbo rang up a technical fall at 152.

The Mountain Lions parlayed their great start, a determination to not give up bonus points in the upperweights and aggressive wrestling from 107 to 139 into a 43-17 win on Tuesday night in Huntingdon.

“I thought we wrestled pretty tough,” Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. “Those three guys are hammers. It’s kind of a murderer’s row out there when you hit those three guys. Overall, I thought our guys really wrestled well, including our upperweights. We’ll take that any day of the week.”

“Up and down their lineup they have hammers,” Altoona coach Jon Mykut said. “They have kids who have put the time in. That’s clearly evident. They started in a good spot. They got on a little run. I also thought up top they did a good job minimizing bonus points.”

Both teams were coming off of competing in the District 6 Duals on Saturday. Altoona (15-3) finished second in Class 3A, losing to State College, 34-33, while Huntingdon (19-6) finished third in Class 2A.

Hite bolted out to an 8-0 lead on Rylen Morningstar before taking the Bearcat down to his back and getting the fall in 2:52.

“We’re trying to promote being aggressive out there,” Gilbert said. “We’re just happy he went out and put the pedal down and went after it a little bit.”

Sarbo rolled to a 21-5 technical fall in 5:17, amassing seven takedowns of Luke Mykut.

“Phillip Sarbo was on it the whole match,” Gilbert said. “He was looking to score points.”

With Huntingdon freshman star Doug McKim out of the lineup, returning state placewinner Ciampoli stormed to a pin in 15 seconds.

“Gavin Ciampoli went out there and does what he does a lot of times,” Gilbert said, “and puts guys in trouble right away.”

Altoona’s Tykear Davis trailed Grady Clark, 1-0, entering the third period, where Clark scored four nearfall points in a 5-0 win at 172.

At 189, Huntingdon’s Dom Peruso earned his 100th career win, but it wasn’t easy against Caleb Darpino. The Mountain Lion wrestled aggressively early and trailed by two points, 3-1, after being penalized a point for a slam call in the third period. Peruso got a takedown and won, 6-2, before posing for a photo for his milestone win.

“He gave Peruso all he could handle out there,” Gilbert said. “He wrestled a hard match.”

After Bearcat 215-pounderr Landon Erdman won by technical fall, teammate Noah Metz and Altoona’s Khamden Thompkins found themselves in a battle at 285. Metz was up 3-2 when he got takedown with a second left to win, 6-2, trimming Altoona’s lead to three, 17-14.

“We knew what they had coming,” Mykut said.

But Altoona’s Dominic Picciotti responded with a fall in 42 seconds before Huntingdon’s Gaige Sholly earned a 7-2 decision over Dominic Nardozza at 114.

The Mountain Lions ran the table from there – starting with Liam Chirdon’s fall in 1:03 at 121.

“Liam Chirdon has been out of the lineup the past few weeks,” Gilbert said. “He hurt his knee, so tonight was his first night back. It was nice to see him get his offense going and scoring some points.”

Returning state qualifier Deklan Barr followed with a fall in 48 seconds at 127. Penn State commit Braiden Weaver amassed a 19-1 technical fall in 4:35 at 133.

Brandt Hite closed it out with an 8-1 win over Christian Taylor at 139.

Both teams will now prepare for the postseason. Did help Altoona and Huntingdon bumping heads before the postseason?

“I don’t know,” Mykut said laughing. “Sometimes banging too many heads is too much.”

“Huntingdon is one of the best programs in District 6,” Gilbert said, “and has been for the past 20 years. When you come in here and you get a win against them, I think that’s a testament to our team this year and what kind of resilience and toughness we have inside and out.”

145–R. Hite, A, pinned Morningstar, 2:52; 152–Sarbo, A, tech fall Mykut, 21-5, 5:17; 160–Ciampoli, A, pinned Schneider, :15; 172–Clark, H, dec. Davis, 5-0; 189–Peruso, H, dec. Darpino, 6-2; 215–Erdman, H, tech fall Pringle, 15-0, 4:44; 285–Metz, H, dec. Thompkins, 6-2

107–Picciott, A, pinned Brown, :42; 114–Sholly, H, dec. D. Nardozza, 7-2; 121–Chirdon, A, pinned Sheffield, 1:03; 127–Barr, A, pinned Weaver, :48; 133–Weaver, A, tech fall Gibson, 19-1, 4:35; 139–B. Hite, A. dec. Taylor, 8-1.

Records: Altoona (15-3), Huntingdon (19-6)

Exhibition winners: Hall, H; Montgomery, A; Kincherlow, A; Patterson, H; Sitch, H; Weamer, A; Payne, H; Norris, H; Ulicne, H

Referee: Jim Weston