The third-seeded Miller reeled off falls of 43 seconds in his first bout and 49 seconds in the quarterfinals to advance to Saturday’s 285-pound semifinals.

The dominant wrestling by Miller moved him into a matchup in the semifinals against Glendale’s two time-finalist Daniel Williams, the second seed who had pins in 17 seconds and 3:04 to get to the semifinals.

“I wrestled all right,” Miller said. “I could have more improvement. I’m just looking forward to tomorrow against Williams in the semifinals. It will be a tough match. My goal (in the quarterfinal) was to get off the mat quick so I could conserve my energy for Williams.”

The only time Miller (31-7) and Williams (40-1) wrestled this season resulted in a Williams 2-1 tiebreaker win in the Claysburg-Kimmel Duals.

Photo for the Mirror by Chuck Meyers Burke Niebauer of Central Cambria goes for an escape against Ayden Soler of Claysburg-Kimmel. Niebauer won the 139-pound quarterfinal 13-4.

“Just score,” Miller said when he was asked what he needed to do in the semifinal. “I need at least a takedown to help increase my odds. Now my goal is to try and keep him in bounds and watch for the throws.”

“That was a big one whenever we wrestled them in the dual,” Central coach Dave Marko said. “We’re excited about it. Williams is a top-notch competitor, but so is Blair.”

Miller and Williams were two of the nine wrestlers from the Mirror coverage area to advance to the semifinals and qualify for the Southwest Regional Tournament, including Tyrone’s two-time finalist Kyle Scott at 189.

Saturday’s wrestling is to begin at 9 a.m. with consolation bouts. The semifinals are slated for 10:30 a.m. The championship finals, as well as the third, fifth and seventh place bouts, are to follow after the 4:30 p.m. District 6 Hall of Fame ceremony and parade of champions.

Central has four of those advancers, with top-seeded Ty Matthews (107), Carsen Mowery (121) and Joel Morris (127) joining Miller in the semifinals. The Scarlet Dragons are tied with Bald Eagle Area for fourth in the team standings with 82.5 points.

“I’m happy for the guys that got (into the semifinals),” Marko said. “The ones that are probably going to keep me awake tonight are a couple of close losses where I thought we were the better wrestler, and we just didn’t perform up to it.”

Bishop McCort, of course, leads the team standings with 143 points and 11 semifinalists, while Penns Valley (104.5) and Huntingdon (96) are second and third, respectively. Both the Bearcats and Rams have six in the semifinals.

Central Cambria’s top-seeded Burke Niebauer (139), Penn Cambria’s Nate Mack (160) and Tyrone’s Mason VanAllman (160) are also in the semifinals.

There won’t be an all-area finals matchup at 107 as Bellwood-Antis’ second-seeded Nolan Hewitt injury defaulted to Bishop McCort’s Ethan Cotchen in 5:08 in the quarterfinals. Hewitt was winning, 7-4, when he appeared to have a leg issue.

The third-seeded VanAllman wrestled all season at 172, but he dropped to 160 for the postseason. He had a 47-second fall in his first bout and a 10-2 win over Bellwood-Antis’ Chase Focht. VanAllman scored all of his points in the second period, notching eight nearfall points and a reversal.

“I’m feeling a lot better,” VanAllman said. “These kids aren’t as strong as the 172s are. I wasn’t a super big 172. About a week or two ago Kyle Scott mentioned he wanted teammates at regionals, so I cut down.”

“He’s doing well,” Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. “I think he’s still adjusting to 160, just believing in himself being a little smaller. He’s definitely confident in his wrestling right now.”

VanAllman will face Huntingdon freshman second-seeded star Doug McKim, who had two pins, in the semifinals.

“He’s real tough,” VanAllman said. “I think it will be a good match.”

In the top bracket at 160, the fourth-seeded Mack reeled off a pin in 1:15 and a 17-1 technical fall in 4:18 in the quarterfinals. But Mack will face off against McCort two-time state champ Melvin Miller in the semifinals.

The top-seeded Scott (37-0) was again scoring a machine in racking up technical falls in his first two bouts, winning 15-0 in 54 seconds and 19-4 in 1:11. He’ll face Huntingdon’s Dom Peruso in the semifinals after Peruso beat Central Cambria’s Jeremy Hajzus in the quarterfinals.

“It went pretty good,” Scott said. “I was just having fun out there. I scored a lot of points. I’m excited. I’m trying to win my first district title. That’s always pretty cool.”

Niebauer opened with a 15-0 technical fall in 1:16 before earning a 13-4 major decision over Claysburg-Kimmel’s Ayden Soler. Niebauer will wrestle Marion Center’s Tyler Phillips in the semifinals.

The top-seeded Matthews recorded pins in 1:02 and 1:20 to reach the semifinals, where he’ll face Philipsburg-Osceola’s fourth-seeded Hayden Koptchak, who earned a 7-3 decision over Tyrone’s Tanner Walk in the quarterfinals.

Mowery, who is seeded fourth, had falls in 48 seconds and 3:00. He’ll get Penns Valley’s top-seeded Max Dinges in the semifinals.

“Carsen looks good,” Marko said. “He wrestled that kid earlier this year and the match was not completely dissimilar to the way the first one was. Once he slowed things down a little bit and tightened things up, he was able to finish the job.”

After Morris won by fall in 1:06 in his first bout, he found himself in a scrap with Claysburg-Kimmel’s Ryan Quarello. Morris had an 8-7 lead after the first period, reversed in the second, put Quarello on his back and pinned him in 2:16.

The third-seeded Morris will face Westmont Hilltop’s second-seeded Owen Dluhos next.

NOTES: Huntingdon’s Landon Erdman got the 100th fall of his career with a pin of Penn Cambria’s Jesse Horning in the quarterfinals. … Penns Valley’s Brayden Lisowski earned his 100th in a 9-7 victory over Mount Union’s Rowan McClain-Hartman.

KEY, TEAM STANDINGS

1. BM–Bishop McCort 143; 2. PV–Penns Valley 104.5; 3. H–Huntingdon 96; 4. C–Central and BEA–Bald Eagle Area 82.5; 6. PO–Philipsburg-Osceola and WH–Westmont Hilltop 72.5; 8. WB–West Branch 65; 9. G–Glendale 57; 10. RV–River Valley 48; 11. FH–Forest Hills and J–Juniata 47; 13. MC–Marion Center 46.5; 14. SH–Southern Huntingdon 46; 15. MV–Moshannon Valley 45; 16. T–Tyrone 43.5; 17. U–United 40.5; 18. PC–Penn Cambria 39.5; 19. R–Richland 34.5; 20. CH–Cambria Heights and CC–Central Cambria 33.5; 22. MU–Mount Union 32.5; 23. WS–West Shamokin 30.5; 24. JV–Juniata Valley 25.5; 25. BA–Bellwood-Antis 21; 26. CK–Claysburg-Kimmel 17; 27. TCA–Tyrone Christian Academy 9.5.

QUARTERFINALS

107–Matthews, C, pinned Plusquellec, MV, 1:20; Koptchak, PO, dec. Walk, T, 7-3; Anthony, RV, tech fall Panebianco, WB, 22-6, 5:59; Cotchen, BM, won by injury default over Hewitt, BA, 5:08; 114–Sholly, H, pinned Keith, MV, 1:10; Dipaola, FH, dec. Dugan, PO, 4-2; E. Lisowski, PV, pinned Cox, CK, :54; Edwards, WB, pinned Guyer, BA, 2:39; 121–Dinges, PV, tech fall Munyon, PC, 20-3, 3:19; Mowery, C, pinned Maul, FH, 3:00; Hummel, PO, tech fall Beatty, MU, 19-3, 3:54; K. Bassett, BM tech fall Snyder, G, 17-2, 1:11; 127–Myers, PV, maj. dec. Long, PO, 14-0; Moss, FH, dec. Britt, BM, 9-5; J. Morris, C, pinned Quarello, CK, 2:16; Dluhos, WH, dec. Weaver, H, 18-12; 133–Guenot, BEA, tech fall Foster, PO, 17-2, 5:10; Kostick, R, maj. dec. Tinsman, MC, 14-5; Carfley, BM, maj. dec. Strittmatter, CC, 10-1; Carlile, PV, pinned Evans, TCA, 4:25; 139–Niebauer, CC, maj. dec. Soler, CK, 13-4; Phillips, MC, dec. Guenot, PO, 9-8; Watson, PV, maj. dec. Mihalko, MV, 8-0; McMullen, BM, tech fall Taylor, H, 15-0, 4:24; 145–B. Bassett, BM, tech fall Fahnestock, J, 17-2, :50; Gable, PO, tech fall Gilbey, H, 17-2, 1:37; Garshnick, U, pinned Horn, C, :37; Judice, BEA, pinned Skipper, SHH, 1:47

152–Lomison, BEA, pinned Kaufman, G, 2:28; Mykut, HH, pinned Fetterolf, PV, 3:03; Butler, BM, tech fall Cromwell, SH, 21-6, 2:15; Smith, J, tech fall Hess, MU, 15-0, 4:00; 160–Miller, BM, tech fall Leiato, WH, 18-2, 3:11; Mack, PC, tech fall Sample, WB, 17-1, 4:18; VanAllman, T, maj. dec. Focht, BA, 10-2; McKim, H, tech fall Riffer, U, 18-1, 3:56; 172–Gunby, BM, pinned Flickinger, RV, 2:40; B. Lisowski, PV, dec. McClain-Hartman, MU, 9-7; Reifer, MV, pinned Overly, U, 2:30; Clark, H, pinned Watson, SH, 1:42; 189–Scott, T, tech fall Rimmey, PV, 19-4, 1:11; Peruso, H, dec. Hajzus, CC, 5-1; Mahla, R, tech fall Krause, MV, 23-6, 5:13; Pensiero, BM, dec. Chapman, PO, 4-1; 215–Erdman, H, pinned Horning, PC, :28; Ryan, MU, pinned Ward, WH, 2:56; McConville, U, pinned Martin, PV, 5:01; Gordon, BM, pinned Suhoney, T, 5:56; 285–Rodriguez, BM, pinned Metz, H, 2:23; Gardner, BEA, dec. Bonnell, J, 4-1; Miller, C, pinned McCoy, WH, :49; Williams, G, pinned Wano, RV, 3:04.