“I think I planned it in my room last night,” a laughing Weaver said of the celebration

Four years of domination in the tournament — 8-0 with seven pins and a technical fall — and Weaver is a four-time District 6 champion. He’s the fifth Mountain Lion to win four titles at the Altoona Fieldhouse.

The 32-5 Weaver was later voted the District 6 Class 3A Outstanding Wrestler. It was the third straight year an Altoona wrestler was named OW, joining Deklan Barr last year and Luke Sipes the year before.

“It feels awesome,” Weaver said. “I finally got it. It’s a big accomplishment for me.”

Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers Altoona's Dominic Picciotti scores points in the 107 final against Hollidaysburg's Connor Sidney.

Weaver was posing for a photograph afterward when he discovered he was holding the District 5-6-9 girls OW trophy. The District 6 boys shared the Fieldhouse with the District 5-6-9 girls field. He ran back toward the medals stand and picked up the right trophy.

“They tried to give me the girls one, and I was ‘What?'” Weaver said laughing. “This one is nice. I like it. (It’s going) right next to my bed.”

Weaver was one of four Altoona champions, which was the most in the tournament. Junior 160-pounder Gavin Ciampoli earned his third district title, while sophomore Barr captured his second at 127. Freshman Dominic Picciotti earned his first title with a 3-0 win over Hollidaysburg’s Connor Sidney at 107 pounds.

Hollidaysburg’s Scott Payne became the fifth Blair County champion when he won by injury default over Central Mountain’s Hayes Henry in only 25 seconds in the finals at 285.

In addition to Connor Sidney, the Golden Tigers had two other runners-up in Landon Krupka at 114 and Brayden Sidney at 121. Hollidaysburg qualified five to the regional tournament, including third-placer Keegan Hewitt (189).

Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers Altoona's Gavin Ciampoli wrestles Dalton McDermott (Central Mountain) in the 160-pound final. Ciampoli won the match by fall.

“There were some highs and lows,” Hollidaysburg coach Christian Harr said. “There are some things to work on. They should definitely be happy with their performance over the weekend, but we’ve got to build for next week.”

Altoona coach Joel Gilbert was voted the 3A Coach of the Year for the second year in a row and third time in his career. He was also named the District 6 Man of the Year by the district coaches. The Altoona coaching staff was voted the Class 3A Staff of the Year.

“I tell you what, Coach of the Year is pretty awesome,” Gilbert said. “We had a great season. Honestly, it takes a village. All these guys put a lot of time and effort into this program and sometimes as a coach you reap the rewards. I’m just thankful for what they’ve done and what the kids have done.”

It’s the second year in a row that Altoona collected a lot of trophies and plaques. The only thing missing this time was the team champion trophy. The Mountain Lions finished in second place by five points, 180-175, behind Central Mountain.

The Mountain Lions’ shot at winning the title was hampered by a broken rib by returning district runner-up Dominic Nardozza at 114. Nardozza won by technical fall in the quarterfinals and then had to forfeit his remaining bouts.

“Obviously we had some bad stuff happen when Nardozza got hurt and had to drop out,” Weaver said, “but as a team we all wrestled hard. Definitely there’s a lot more improvement that needs to be done, but I think we’ll be ready for regionals coming up and then the state tournament. I think we’ll do amazing at regionals and states.”

“Under the circumstances performed as good as I could have asked for,” Gilbert said. “You may look at it and say we didn’t win the team title, but we also had a crucial injury earlier in the day. It’s unfortunate what happened to Dom Nardozza. I’m not saying what he would have done, but Dom has been a consistent point getter for us in this tournament for years.

“Overall, I couldn’t ask for a much better performance than what we had today.”

Altoona was able to qualify seven wrestlers to Friday and Saturday’s Western Regional at Canon-McMillan by placing third. They had three third-placers in Reese Hite (145), Phillip Sarbo (152) and Mike Colyer (215).

Three other Mountain Lions placed fourth in Brandt Hite (139), Ty’Kear Davis (172) and Khamden Thompkins (285).

After Weaver won by fall in 48 seconds in the semifinals, he took a 6-1 lead over Central Mountain’s Patrick Tarantella into the second period. That’s when he bar-armed Tarantella to his back. Referee Paul Myers slapped the mat and raised Weaver’s hand.

“It feels amazing,” Weaver said. “It’s been a big goal of mine since I was a freshman. I saw all the great wrestlers accomplish it, so I wanted to be a part of it. I got it done. I’m proud of the way I wrestled today.”

“Weaver just took it to him from the beginning to the end,” Gilbert said. “He put the pedal down and really went after it. When Braiden Weaver wrestles like that, he’s almost unstoppable.”

Was he nervous before the finals?

“Oh yeah,” the Penn State commit said. “Every match I have nerves, but it just depends how you treat it. You can treat it in either a positive way or a negative way. But I think it’s just the mind getting the body ready to go to work. I think I use that as motivation to tell myself I’m ready to roll.”

Ciampoli (30-6), who won titles at 127 and 139 his first two years, will likely join the list of Altoona four-timers next season. The top seed won by fall in 44 seconds in the semifinals and held a 12-3 lead over Central Mountain’s Dalton McDermott thanks to four takedowns when he got the fall in 3:01.

“It’s always great to win,” Ciampoli said. “It’s what you work for. I’ve got bigger things ahead in the postseason.”

“He’s one of the best wrestlers Altoona has ever had,” Gilbert said. “He’s done nothing but get better and get bigger. These guys are fun to watch.”

The top-seeded Barr, who reached the finals with a pin in 1:28, found himself in a scoreless tie with State College’s returning district champ Kael Davis for most of the title tilt. Barr rode Davis the entire second period, setting the stage for a dramatic third period.

Davis (24-8) rode Barr (29-5) for most of the third until Barr scored a reversal with 19 seconds remaining. Barr clamped down on Davis from there and won, 2-0.

“Bottom is my specialty,” Barr said. “I use that to win a lot of the close matches. I just knew if I was able to get out or get the reversal it was going to be the end of the match. I just kept pushing, almost got it two times and the third time I finally got it. It felt pretty good.”

“Deklan Barr is just a tough, tough individual,” Gilbert said. “I’m excited to see what he does next week and in the state tournament.”

Picciotti (29-9) reached the finals with a pin in 3:20 in the semifinals, while Sidney advanced with a 5-0 win over Bellefonte’s Colin Harter. Picciotti and Sidney were scoreless until Picciotti reversed with 1:11 left in the second period.

He received a stalling point with 6 seconds left in the period and then rode Sidney the entire third. Sidney nearly escaped late in the bout, but Picciotti held on to him and the shutout.

“Picciotti wrestled a conservative first period,” Gilbert said, “and he grinded on top. We talk about all the time you’ll have to ride tougher opponents to win. One thing he did was road and never gave up an escape. That’s how you win tough matches.”

“They have some history,” Harr said. “Kudos to Picciotti for going out there and competing hard and getting a tight victory. Connor keeps a lot of things close. It just didn’t work out in his favor.”

The second-seeded Payne (21-12) went 3-0, recording a pin in 17 seconds and earning a 4-1 overtime win over Thompkins with a takedown with 6 seconds left in OT in the semifinals.

And then Payne was getting his hand raised as Henry lied on the mat in pain with an elbow injury.

“It wasn’t what I was expecting,” Payne said, “but it happens. It’s wrestling. I tried to throw a hip toss and he posted. His elbow popped out.

“It’s probably the best I’ve wrestled in a long time. I’m pretty sure (of a win without the injury). I’ve been training a lot lately.”

“It’s not very often you see that,” Harr said. “I’m not really sure how it happened, but it’s not the way you want it to happen by any means in a competition. He wrestled a good tournament.”

Returning runner-up Krupka (31-9) went 2-1, posting a fall and a 13-3 major decision to get to the finals. But he was beaten by Mifflin County’s now two-time district champion Andrew Alexander, 12-0, in the finals.

After earning a 10-1 major decision in the semifinals, senior Brayden Sidney (21-9) lost to State College’s Luke Young, 11-2, in the finals.

Baranik inducted into Hall

Altoona graduate and former Hollidaysburg coach Joe Baranik was inducted into the District 6 Hall of Fame before the finals.

Baranik coached state champion Eric Frick in 1998 and two-time state runner-up Charlie Brenneman in 1997 and 1998.

KEY, TEAM STANDINGS

1. CM–Central Mountain 180; 2. A–Altoona 175; 3. B–Bellefonte 168; 4. SC–State College 148; 5. MC–Mifflin County 106.5; 6. H–Hollidaysburg 96.5; 7. J–Johnstown 12.

SEMIFINALS

107–Piccioti, A, pinned Fletcher, C, 3:20; C. Sidney, H, dec. Harter, B, 5-0; 114–Alexander, MC, won by forfeit over D. Nardozza, A; Krupka, H, maj. dec. N. Young, SC, 13-3; 121–L. Young, SC, tech fall Glace, B, 17-2, 2:14; B. Sidney, H, maj. dec. Bauman, CM, 10-1; 127–Barr, A, pinned Fisher, MC, 1:28; Davis, SC, dec. Heverly, CM, 6-2 TB; 133–Weaver, A, pinned Jo. Whitbred, SC, :48; P. Tarantella, CM, dec. Felmlee, MC, 5-4; 139–W. Long, B, pinned B. Hite, A, 1:02; Donley, CM, dec. Knable, MC, 2-1; 145–Kunes, CM, pinned Diaz, SC, 2:25; Gall, B, pinned R. Hite, A, 12-3

152–Ja. Whitbred, SC, tech fall Garman, CM, 20-2, 2:17; Swisher, B, dec. Sarbo, A, 4-0; 160–Ciampoli, A, pinned Albert, MC, :44; McDermott, CM, dec. Park, B, 8-1; 172–T. Sanderson, SC, tech fall Aurand, MC, 21-5, 3:26; McHail, B, dec. Serafini, CM, 7-5; 189–J. Long, B, pinned Hewitt, H, 4:23; Williams, SC, dec. Christine, MC, 8-2; 215–Hockenberry, B, pinned Tisinger, J, 2:56; Caris, CM, pinned Colyer, A, 1:10; 285–Henry, CM, pinned Phillips, SC, 5:15; Payne, H, dec. Thompkins, A, 4-1 OT.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

107–PIcciotti, A, dec. C. Sidney, H, 3-0; 114–Alexander, MC, maj. dec. Krupka, H, 12-0; 121–L. Young, SC, maj. dec. B. Sidney, H, 11-2; 127–Barr, A, dec. Davis, SC, 2-0; 133–Weaver, A, pinned Tarantella, CM, 2:37; 139–W. Long, B, dec. Donley, CM, 7-0; 145–Kunes, CM, pinned Gall, B, 3:29

152–Ja. Whitbred, SC, maj. dec. Swisher, B, 13-2; 160–Ciampoli, A, pinned McDermott, CM, 3:01; 172–T. Sanderson, SC, maj. dec. McHail, B, 15-2; 189–J. Long, B, dec. Williams, SC, 6-5; 215–Hockenberry, B, pinned Caris, CM, 4:46; 285–Payne, H, won by injury default over Henry, CM, :25.

Outstanding Wrestler: Braiden Weaver, Altoona

THIRD PLACE

107–Harter, B, pinned Nace, CM, 3:42; 114–N. Young, C, pinned A. Tarantella, CM, 1:50; 121–Bauman, CM, pinned Glace, B, :42; 127–Heverly, CM, pinned Fisher, MC, 1:19; 133–Felmlee, MC, maj. dec. Jo. Whitbred, SC, 9-0; 139–Knable, MC, dec. B. Hite, A, 8-1; 145–R. Hite, A, tech fall Diaz, SC, 17-2, 4:55

152–Sarbo, A, maj. dec. Garman, CM, 13-3; 160–Park, B, pinned Albert, MC, 1:45; 172–Aurand, MC, dec. Davis, A, 4-0; 189–Hewitt, H, dec. Christine, MC, 7-3; 215–Colyer, A, pinned Tisinger, J, 1:55; 285–Phillips, SC, dec. Thompkins, A, 10-4.