Carson: King of the Mountain results day 1

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: December 15, 2023

By BRIAN CARSON

MILL HALL – The area contingent pushed 17 wrestlers into the quarterfinals on day one of the King of the Mountain tournament on Friday.

Mifflin County led the way with six, followed by Bald Eagle Area with five, and State College and Bellefonte advancing three each.

The Huskies, second in the team standing with 63 points, had Andrew Alexander (107), Blake Aumiller (127), Parker Kearns (152), Deakon Schaeffer (160), Avery Aurand (172), and Truitt Davis (285) advancing through the winner’s bracket.

Tanner Guenot (107), Caden Judice (121), Lucas Fye (127), Caleb Close (189), and Eric Clark made it to the quarters for BEA.

Meanwhile, the Little Lions secured three into the quarterfinals: James Whitebred (139), Asher Cunningham (160), and Nicholas Pavlechko (285). However, conspicuous by his absence was Pierson Manville, the top-ranked wrestler in the state at 145 pounds.

Matching State College’s tally of three was the Red Raiders. Wyatt Long (107), Ezra Swisher (139), and Noah Weaver (145) came through after a day of intense battles on the mat.

The host, Central Mountain, led the pack on day one with a score of 75 points. Following close was Mifflin County with a total of 63 points. The Eagles are fourth, tallying 59 points, while State College secured the nineteenth spot with 38 points. Bellefonte is 26th with a score of 26.5 points.

Mifflin County

Alexander set the tone for the Huskies at 107. In the first round, the freshman won by fall over Luke Gray from General McLane in 50 seconds. He maintained his momentum in the second round, where he secured a 9-2 decision over Luis Moya of Parkland.

Aumiller commenced his journey with a victory by fall against Justis Newman from Greater Latrobe in 2:15. He didn’t stop there; in the second round, Aumiller earned a major decision over AJ Snatchko from West Allegheny, dominating with a score of 14-1. KOM is the first appearance of the season for the Husky senior, who had been out with an ankle injury.

Kearns dominated the competition with two falls. The first, in 2:39 over Central York’s Kyle Setler, and the second came in 2:14 over Wyatt Wasielewski of Red Lion.

Schaeffer decked Muncy’s Paxton Derr in 2:45 in the first round. The Husky senior followed up with a 7-1 victory over Andrew Corp of West Chester Rustin.

Aurand pinned Bellefonte’s Isaac Gall in 2:49, and in the following round, won by decision over Owen Kleinman from Montoursville, edging him out with a score of 3-1.

Davis was the last qualifier for the quarterfinals with a 23-second pin over General McLane’s George McMillan and a hard-fought 1-0 decision over Greater Latrobe’s Marco Starton.

BEA

Guenot, a freshman, received a bye in the first round before picking up a fall in 2:56 over State College’s Izaiah Vasquez.

Judice won his first match by fall against Jack Heller from Williamsport in 2:49. He maintained his winning streak in the second round, getting a 9-2 decision over Brody Coleman from Boyertown.

Fye put on a dominant display at 127 with two quick falls. The first, in 35 seconds over Line Mountain’s Waylon Sheaffer, and the second came in 23 seconds against Central York’s Blake Anderson.

Close opened the tournament with a bye and then moved on with a fall over Hunter Goelz of Bethel Park in a time of 2:33.

Clark closed out the Eagles’ quarterfinalists with a pin over Mifflin County’s Dekker Pietzch in 1:57, and a 4-2 decision over Stone Allison of Warrior Run.

State College

Whitbred, a freshman, secured a tech fall over Tadd Ungard from Williamsport by a 16-1 score in 4:36. He continued his success in the second round, winning by decision against Ethan Whittaker from Cumberland Valley by a score of 5-2.

Cunningham’s first round saw him winning by fall against Nico Colaizzi from West Allegheny in 35 seconds. He maintained his strong performance in the second round, achieving another fall victory over Jacob Cable from Shaler Area, this time in 1:50.

Pavlechko, a returning KOM champion, received a bye in the first round and then picked up a pin over Montoursville’s Landon Morehart in 1:09.

Bellefonte

Long began his journey with a bye in the first round. In thesecond round, he secured a victory by fall over Dom Snyder from General McLane in just 42 seconds.

Swisher decked Bethel Parks’ Caleb Crawford in 1:50, then came back and earned a berth in the quarters with a 6-4 win over Tyler Ulrich from Warrior Run.

Weaver won by a 16-0 technical fall over Cranberry’s Alex McLaughlin in 1:50. In the second round, he defeated Chestnut Ridge’s Aaron Ickes by an 8-4 decision.

Day two begins Saturday at 11 a.m.