Photo for the Mirror by Terry McCaulley Tyrone Area senior Kyle Scott wins his first regional title with a 7-0 victory over Derry Area’s Brady Brown on Saturday night at the Altoona Fieldhouse.

Two of the goals for Tyrone standout Kyle Scott were to not only win his first Southwest Regional Class 2A Tournament title but also to widen the gap with Derry Area’s Brady Brown.

Scott (43-0) accomplished both of those goals on Saturday night at the Altoona Fieldhouse.

Scott, who had finished second in the regional as a freshman and as a junior, knocked a regional title off his to-do list by opening up his offense more than in previous tussles with Brown and earning a 7-0 victory in the 189-pound finals.

“It feels good,” Scott said. “I wanted to score more points, unlike I did last time. I got two takedowns, which I’m really proud of, but I know there are more openings. When I see him next time, I’m going to attack on him.”

“It was fantastic,” Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said as he ate a Hershey’s Bar. “I was excited about how he wrestled.

“We’ve been working all year on extending that lead, especially on good guys, making sure that we can create the movement that will allow us to get the points. This is probably the first big match against one of the top kids in the country, where he was able to go out there, open him and get to his legs.”

The win in the finals was his 160th of his career, tying 2010 state champion A.J. Schopp atop the school and Blair County career wins list. He’ll get to break the record on Thursday at the PIAA Championships in Hershey’s Giant Center.

“At the state tournament, he’s going to break the record and hopefully have it for a long time,” Wright said.

Scott was one of five wrestlers from the Mirror’s core coverage area to qualify for the state tournament, matching last year’s total in the brutal regional.

Central’s District 6 107-pound champion Ty Matthews, a semifinalist, placed fourth, while his teammate Blair Miller took sixth at 285.

Matthews lost to Derry Area’s Mason Keesecker, 16-3, in the semifinals, but he came back with a technical fall in the consolation semifinals before dropping a 4-1 decision to Central Valley’s Angelo Boni in the third-place bout.

“I think I wrestled all right I guess,” Matthews said. “I could have wrestled better in my third-place match, but stuff happens.”

“I think (Matthews) had a good day, especially in the consy semis,” Central coach Dave Marko said. “He looked good on top in that last match, but we just weren’t able to get our offense going.”

Miller had two straight pins and an 8-2 decision on Saturday before Glendale’s Daniel Williams pinned him. He was pinned again in the fifth-place bout.

“He wrestled tough,” Marko. “He did what he needed to do to advance. Same thing as Ty, regardless of what he does here, everything is brand new next week.”

Williams, who lost to West Green’s eventual champ Colin Whyte, 12-0, in the semifinals, finished fourth at 285 to become a qualifier as a senior. Scott will have teammate Mason VanAllman at Hershey as VanAllman placed seventh by pinning Penn Cambria’s Nate Mack in 4:08 at 160.

“I’m excited to have two state qualifiers,” Wright said. “I tell them it doesn’t matter what place you take. Just being in the state tournament bracket gives you a chance to win it. VanAllman wrestled great.”

Only the top seven at every weight qualified for the state tournament. Mack, Claysburg-Kimmel’s Ayden Soler (139) and Northern Bedford’s Nolin Snider (215) placed eighth, but didn’t qualify.

Last year, Scott beat Brown, 4-2, in the Ultimate Warrior semifinals and by tiebreaker, 2-1, in the regional semifinals.

They appeared headed to a scoreless first period on Saturday, but Scott found an opening and took Brown down with 7 seconds left in the first period. Tyrone fans and his family erupted in the stands.

“It felt good to get it in the first period, not the second,” Scott said. “Then it puts pressure on him and it puts less pressure on me.”

Scott escaped in the first 3 seconds of the second period to make the score 4-0. The rest of the period Scott spent trying to get in good position against the short and stocky Brown, who missed the Ultimate Warrior this year with an injury.

“He’s top 20 in the country, but his pressure is always forward,” Scott said. “That’s very easy to corral and get around.”

Brown chose neutral for the third period instead of bottom.

Scott kept the pressure on and stayed alert for any big moves. As the clock hit the 20 second mark, Scott tried an uncommon move for him, hitting an ankle pick, or what he called a dresser dump, for a takedown with 14 seconds left.

He nearly put Brown on his back, but Brown stayed off his back and avoided a major decision.

“We’ve been working on that,” Scott said. “It usually goes into a cradle, but I missed the cradle. I really wanted those back points. I tried my hardest and I felt like I got what I deserve.”

“He must have been thinking about me when he hit something as crazy like that,” Wright joked. “We worked on it once or twice, but he saw an opening and he went for it. That’s the type of thing where we want him to just go for it.”

Scott had a 36-second technical fall, a pin in 47 seconds and a pin in 1:17 in the semifinals to get to the finals. The win in the semifinals moved him past Schopp’s workout partner Ronnie Garbinsky on the career win list.

Scott can now look forward to wrestling in the Giant Center for the last time. He’s the second seed at 189, while Faith Christian Academy’s three-time state champion Adam Waters (29-2) is the top seed. Brown is in Waters’ bracket, so Scott will likely not wrestle him again.

“I have Adam Waters next week,” Scott said. “He teched (Brown), so I’ve got to improve somehow in the next five or six days.”

Deputy brothers, Erdman win

Outside of the Mirror coverage area, there were three champions in Chestnut Ridge’s Kooper Deputy (107) and Dominic Deputy (127) and Huntingdon’s Landon Erdman (215).

Returning state champion Dominic Deputy (127) put last year’s regional finals loss in the rearview by claiming his third title with a 4-2 win over Burrell’s Cameron Baker.

“The goal was to score more points,” Dominic said, “but at the end of the day it’s postseason. You just do what it takes to come out on top. I’m just grateful to come out on top.”

His little brother Kooper (107) won his first title in dominating fashion. Kooper pinned his way through the tournament, notching four falls in 2:18 or quicker. He pinned Keesecker in 1:15 in the finals.

“I’ve never coached anyone who works harder than him,” said Ridge coach Josh Deputy, who has seven state qualifiers. “He’s a gift. He really is a gift, and he broke the PIAA season pin record today. He’s stepped into this role as a freshman and all the accolades he came in with and hit his varsity career head-on.”

Erdman had three pins and a 16-0 technical fall over Bishop McCort’s Marquez Gordon.

Ridge’s Carter Ickes wasn’t able to follow in his teammates’ footsteps, losing 1-0 to Derry Area’s Patrick Bulger in the finals.

KEY, TEAM STANDINGS

TEAM KEY

A–Avonworth; BEA–Bald Eagle Area; BCC–Beaver County Christian; BED–Bedford; BENT–Bentworth; BB–Berlin Brothersvalley; BC–Beth-Center; BM–McCort; BURG–Burgettstown; BURR–Burrell; C–Central; CC-Central Cambria; CV–Central Valley; CHART–Chartiers Houston; CR–Chestnut Ridge; CK–Claysburg-Kimmel; CT–Conemaugh Township; DA–Derry Area; EF–Elizabeth Forward; EC–Elwood City; E–Everett; FC–Fort Cherry; FH–Forest Hills; FRA–Frazier; FA–Freedom Area; G–Glendale; GS–Greensburg Salem; HIGH–Highlands; HOPE–Hopewell; H–Huntingdon; JM–Jefferson-Morgan; J–Juniata; KO–Keystone Oaks; L–Laurel; LV–Ligonier Valley; MC–Marion Center; MCG–McGuffey; M–Meyersdale; MV–Moshannon Valley; MP–Mount Pleasant; MU–Mount Union; NB–Northern Bedford; NC–North Catholic; NS–North Star; PC–Penn Cambria; PV–Penns Valley; PO–Philipsburg-Osceola; QV–Quaker Valley; RV–River Valley; S–Somerset; SOUTH–Southmoreland; SP–South Park; TM–Tussey Mountain; T–Tyrone; U–United; V–Valley; W–Washington; WB–West Branch; WG–West Greene; WH–Westmont Hilltop

TOP 20 TEAM STANDINGS

1. Bishop McCort 259.5; 2. Derry Area 151; 3. Chestnut Ridge 144.5; 4. Penns Valley 120.5; 5. Burrell 84.5; 6. Bald Eagle Area 74; 7. Huntingdon and Bentworth 55; 9. Elizabeth Forward 48.5; 10. Bethlehem Center 46.5; 11. McGufffey 46; 12. Tyrone 44.5; 13. Philipsburg-Osceola, Laurel and Quaker Valley 43; 16. Jefferson-Morgan 38.5; 17. Central and Berliin Brothersvalley 35.5; 19. United 35; 20. Meyersdale 32.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

107–K. Deputy, CR, pinned Keesecker, DA, 1:15; 114–Bulger, DA, dec. Ickes, CR, 1-0; 121–K. Bassett, BM, dec. Dinges, PV, 2-0; 127–D. Deputy, CR, dec. Baker, BURR, 4-2; 133–Guenot, BEA, dec. Carfley, BM, 4-2; 139–McClure, BENT, pinned Watson, PV, 1:41; 145–B. Bassett, BM, tech fall Judice, BEA, 21-6, 2:43

152–Erdely, FRA, dec. Boyer, EF, 2-1 TB; 160–Miller, BM, tech fall Olson, DA, 21-5, 3:39; 172–Gunby, BM, dec. Horwat, 4-1 OT; 189–Scott, T, dec. Brown, 7-0; 215–Erdman, H, tech fall Gordon, BM, 16-0, 4:45; 285–Whyte, WG, dec. Rodriguez, BM, 1-0.

AREA RESULTS

THIRD PLACE

107–Boni, CV, dec. Matthews, C, 4-1; 285–Wilson, L, dec. Williams, G, 4-2.

FIFTH PLACE

285–Shannon, SOUTH, pinned Miller, C, 4:38.

SEVENTH PLACE

139–McNeal, DA, dec. Soler, CK, 7-3; 160–VanAllman, T, pinned Mack, PC, 4:08; 215–Grove, E, pinned Snider, NB, 4:08.