6 Panther Holiday Classic Takeaways

The Panther Holiday Classic has changed quite a bit in the past few years. A few years ago, it shifted from Penn Cambria High School to Mount Aloysius College in Cresson. Last year, it dropped Sheetz as its title sponsor. And this year, its field got a new look with a heavier emphasis on AAA squads than in the past.

Here’s what you missed if you weren’t in Cresson this weekend:

 

The kids are alright

This was a good chance to see how some highly touted freshman stack up. The answer? Pretty well.
Five of the 28 finalists were freshmen, including champions Dylan Coy (106), Luke Hileman (113) and Dayton Pitzer (170). Suds Dubler (106) and Kolby Franklin (195) each finished second.

The quintet was all over the Top Incoming Freshmen report, with Franklin at No. 5, Dubler at 13, Coy at 31, Pitzer at 36 and Hileman on the honorable mention list.

Coy beat Dubler 2-0 in the 106-pound final while Hileman pinned Mifflinburg’s Gabe Gramly, a state qualifier as a freshman last season, for the 113-pound title. Hileman’s run was especially strong, as he came from the 10 seed and went through the 1, 2, 3 and 7 seeds. 

Expectations are sky high for Franklin, who was a Greco champ and freestyle runner-up at Fargo this summer. He dominated on his way to the Panther Holiday Classic finals but fell to Thomas Jefferson’s Max Shaw, who was a PIAA Class AAA bronze medalist last season.

 

Dayton flyer

Pitzer’s title-winning performance might have been the most impressive by a freshman, as it came at 182 pounds against mostly upperclassmen. After pinning state qualifier Geoff Magin in his first day of varsity competition last week, the two-time PJW champion from Mount Pleasant continued to build on his resume in Cresson.

Coming from the fifth seed, Pitzer racked up three straight falls to start the tournament – including one over No. 4 seed Austin Hinzman of Coventry (Ohio). In the semifinals, the freshman notched a big 5-1 victory over Hollidaysburg’s Mason McCready, who was a AAA medalist last season.

In the finals, Pitzer made quick work of Penn Cambria’s J.C. Smychynsky, who was a surprise finalist from the 10 seed.

So, 10 matches into his varsity career, Pitzer is 10-0 with nine falls and wins over a AAA state medalist and a AA state qualifier.

 

Go big (school) or go home

The addition of some AAA squads had an immediate impact on the tournament, which has been mostly a AA affair in years past. North Allegheny captured the team title, beating out St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy and Penns Valley, both District 6 AA powers. Dallastown – a returnee from the 2017 tournament – was fourth, followed by AAA schools Father Judge, Thomas Jefferson, Spring Grove and Hazleton. Glendale, which has built a strong tournament team in AA, was ninth followed by another big school in Altoona.

That means seven of the top 10 teams in the standings were AAA squads, despite only nine of the 45 teams coming from that classification.

AAA wrestlers also won eight of the 14 individual titles. Throw in the fact that two of the championships were won by St. Joseph’s wrestlers, and only four titles were captured by competitors from small, non-boundary schools.

 

All-County Clash

The 132-pound championship match wasn’t just about winning a tournament title, but also about bragging rights in Bedford County.

Everett’s Garret Cornell knocked off Bedford’s Kaden Cassidy in a battle of PIAA bronze medalists. Cornell placed third last year, while Cassidy took third in 2016 for Bishop McCort Catholic before an injury wiped out almost all of his sophomore season.

It could be the first of many meetings between the two. The schools, which are just eight miles apart, are scheduled to meet in a dual on Feb. 5, and Everett is in the Thomas Tournament at Bedford on Jan. 25-26. They could also encounter each other in the district duals as well as the individual district, regional and state tournaments.

 

Merry Christas

How many guys can say they took out the No. 1- and 2-ranked wrestlers in the state in the span of a few hours? Dallastown’s Raymond Christas can after winning the 285-pound title.

It was the second Panther Holiday Classic championship for Christas, who went 38-4 last season but just missed out on a trip to the AAA state tournament by placing fifth in the Southcentral Region.

On Saturday, Christas who is No. 9 in Class AAA, beat the top-ranked AA heavyweight, Jake Ryan of Mount Union 4-1, in the semifinals. Then, Christas took out No. 2 Dave Schuffert of Valley by the same score in the finals.

 

No ordinary Joes

A year after claiming the Panther Holiday classic team title, St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy fell back a spot to second. That’s still quite a showing considering the Wolves only had seven wrestlers entered.
Caleb Dowling (145) and Tyler Stoltzfus (160) won titles, and Keegan Rothrock (152) and Franklin finished second. Ammon Ohl (120) finished fifth, and Zach Rosenberger (170) took eighth.

The private school from Boalsburg, Centre County, might have overtaken North Allegheny for the team title had Zack Witmer been able to compete. The fifth-place PIAA finisher a year ago was ranked third in the state but withdrew from the tournament last week.

 

Panther Holiday Classic

Top teams: 1. North Allegheny 163. 2. St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy 155. 3. Penns Valley 145. 4. Dallastown 143. 5. Father Judge 142.5. 6. Thomas Jefferson 139.5. 7. Spring Grove 135. 8. Hazleton 131.5. 9. Glendale 129.5. 10 Altoona 124.5.

Key: Altoona (AL), Bedford (BD), Bellwood-Antis (BA), Berlin Brothersvalley (BB), Cambria Heights (CH), Carlynton (CAR), Central (CEN), Central Cambria (CC), Colonial Forge (CF), Conestoga Valley (CNV), Corry (CRY), Coventry (CVT), Dallastown (DAL) Evangelical Christian Institute (ECI), Everett (EV), Father Judge (FJ), Glendale (GL), Hazleton (HZL), Hollidaysburg (HOL),
Huntingdon (HU), Mifflinburg (MFL), Moshannon Valley (MV), Mount Pleasant (MP), Mount Union (MU), North Catholic (NC), North Allegheny (NB), Penn Cambria (PC), Penns Valley (PV), Portage (PO), Richland (RI), St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy (SJCA), St. Marys (SM), Somerset (SO) Spring Grove (SG), Thomas Jefferson (TJ), Tunkhannock (TNK), Tyrone (TY), Valley (VAL), Westfield (WST), Williams Valley (WV), Woodbridge Senior (WBS).

 

Championships

106–Dylan Coy Wexford, NA, dec. Suds Dubler, GL, 2-0.
113–Luke Hileman, AL, pinned Gabriel Gramly, MFL, 2:48.
120–Eamonn Logue, FJ, pinned Baylor Shunk, PV, :40.
126–Brock McMillen, GL, dec. Matt Sarbo AL, 5-4.
132–Garret Cornell EV, dec. Kaden Cassidy, BD, 4-2.
138–Tommy Traver, TNK, pinned Clay Baker, SG, 2:33.
145–Caleb Dowling, SJCA, maj. dec. Caesar Fountain, FJ, 17-3.
152–Alex Weber, TJ, dec. Keegan Rothrock, SJCA, 2-0.
160–Tyler Stoltzfus, SJCA, dec. Liam Fagan, CVN, 7-2.
170–Anthony Hinson, SG, dec. Derek Brown Cresson, PC, 8-3.
182–Dayton Pitzer, MP, pinned J.C. Smychynsky, PC, 1:32.
195–Max Shaw, TJ, dec. Kolby Franklin, SJCA, 10-5.
220–Shane Noonan, HZL, dec. Jamal Brandon Dallastown, 6-5 (UTB).
285-Raymond Christas, DAL, dec. Dave Schuffert, VAL, 4-1.

 

Third Place

106–Bryce Beatty, MU, dec. Luke Geibig, MP, 8-3.
113–Mikey Myers, WV, dec. Samuel Congleton, WBS, 3-0.
120–David Evans, TNK, dec. Max Stedeford Wexford, 3-1.
126–Hunter Tibbetts, WST, dec. Freddy Junko Wexford, NA, 4-2 (SV).
132–Tyler Dilley, SM, maj. dec. Tyler Coddington SO, 14-5.
138–Clayton Royer, PV, dec. Chase Proudfit, PC, 4-0.
145–Tristan Pugh Berlin, BB, dec. Thomas Dressler, SG, 4-2.
152–Maximus Madden, SH, medical forfeit over Sammy Toggas, ECI.
160–Matthew Kidwell, FJ, dec. Nick Marcenelle, NA, 2-1.
170–Jon Hoover, NA, dec. Cole Sossong, PO, 1-0.
182–Mason Mccready, pinned Abraham Allebach, PV, 3:59.
195–Eric Glass Jr., SG, pinned Seth Hunsinger, HZL, 4:20.
220–Nate Simmers, AL, dec. Jon Croft Ebensburg, CC, 6-4.
285–Jake Ryan, MU, pinned Trae Kitko Brisbin, MV, 4:22.

 

Fifth Place

106–Sean Logue, FJ, dec. Brian Nguyen Woodbridge, WBS, 1-0.
113–Nathan Krutules Clairton, TJ, dec. Hunter Walk Tyrone, TY, 11-5.
120–Amonn Ohl, SJCA, pinned Beck Hutchinson, HZL, 2:20.
126–Liam Logue, FJ, dec. Yousuf Hammad, WBS, 5-0.
132–Cael Turnbull, DAL, pinned Oleg Johnson Chantilly, WST, 2:57.
138–Tristan Rutter, GL, dec. Clayton Lee, BB, 9-0.
145–Brendan Finnerty, TJ, dec. Malachi Duvall, PV, 6-3.
152–Alex Taylor, BA, by inj. def. over Jon Dale, MV.
160–Seth Link, CH, pinned Logan Marko, CEN, 1:41.
170–Noah Hutcherson, VAL, dec. Jake Marnell, HZL, 5-2.
182–Matt Petrilla, CRY, dec. Ryder Kocik, HUN, 6-1.
195–Hayden Linkerhof, CRY, dec. Carter Felker, PV, 8-2.
220–Cory Johnston, GL, dec. Gus Dellinger, HOL, 3-2.
285–Seth Ellsmore, WBS, dec. Dillon Covalt, PV, 5-3.

 

Seventh Place

106–Caden Dobbins, DAL, pinned Lucas Munsee, CRY, 2:07.
113–Bradley Stipetich, NA, dec. Adam Karlie Dallastown, DAL, 9-2.
120–Damien George, MP, dec. Damion Finnegan, AL, 5-3.
126–Noah Teeter, MP, dec. Kale Buckiso, TJ, 6-0.
132–Allen Mangus, RI, dec. Robert Lawlor, FJ, 3-1.
138–Jovon Mitchell, CF, dec. Ian Branstetter Wexford , NA, 2-0 (SV).
145–Matthew Ferraro, NC, dec. Austin Washic, CC, 3-2.
152–Charles Everdale, HZL, med. forfeit over Macen Akers, EV.
160–Josh Macnamara, CNV, dec. Chett Pesta, WV, 6-0.
170–Ian Eckenrode, CH, inj. def. over Zach Rosenberger Boalsburg, SJCA.
182–Collin Milko, CAR, pinned Colin Allmond, AL, 3:14.
195–Seth Dudurich, GL, dec. Eddie Lopez Lancaster, CNV, 7-0.
220–Shane Clark, EV, pinned Isaiah Reed Huntingdon, 4:39.
285–Evan Pellegrine, BA, maj. dec. Seth Worley, SG, 8-0.

 

Semifinals

106–Suds Dubler, GL, pinned Brian Nguyen, WBS, 5:02; Dylan Coy, NA, pinned Bryce Beatty, MU, 4:42.
113–Gabe Gramly, MFL, dec. Hunter Walk Tyrone, TY, 2-1; Luke Hileman, AL, pinned Samuel Congleton, WBS, 3:24.
120–Eamonn Logue, FJ, dec. Amonn Ohl, SJCA, 11-8; Baylor Shunk, PV, maj. dec. David Evans TNK, 11-3.
126–Brock McMillen, GL, maj. dec. Liam Logue, FJ, 16-5; Matt Sarbo, AL, pinned Hunter Tibbetts WST, 2:30.
132–Garret Cornell, EV, dec. Tyler Coddington, S, 6-4; Kaden Cassidy, BD, dec. Tyler Dilley, SM, 3-0
138–Tommy Traver, TNK, pinned Clayton Royer, PV, 1:48; Clay Baker, SG, dec. Chase Proudfit, PC, 5-0.
145–Caleb Dowling, SCJA, maj. dec. Thomas Dressler, SG, 9-1; Caesar Fountain, FJ, dec. Tristan Pugh, BB, 13-8.
152–Keegan Rothrock, SJCA, dec. Sammy Toggas, (ECI ), 2-0; Alex Weber, TJ, dec. Jon Dale, MV, 9-6.
160–Tyler Stoltzfus, SJCA, pinned Matthew Kidwell, FJ, 3:21; Liam Fagan, CVT, Nick Marcenelle, NA, 8-6.
170–Derek Brown, PC, dec. Jon Hoover, NA, 2-1; Anthony Hinson, SG, pinned Cole Sossong, PO, 3:39.
182–Dayton Pitzer, MP, dec. Mason McCready, HOL, 5-1; J.C. Smychynsky, PC, pinned Ryder Kocik Huntingdon, 4:19.
195–Max Shaw, TJ, maj. dec. Carter Felker, PV, 12-3; Kolby Franklin, SJCA, maj. dec. Hayden Linkerhof, CRY, 16-5.
220–Shane Noonan, HZL, dec. Cory Johnston, GL, 9-2; Jamal Brandon, DAL, dec. Nate Simmers, AL, 6-3.
285–Dave Schuffert, VAL, dec. Trae Kitko, MV, 5-1; Raymond Christas, DAL, dec. Jake Ryan, MU, 4-1 (UTB).