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Beatty the lone Trojan to move on

ALTOONA–Whittled down to eight-man weight classes after four sectional tournaments were held earlier in the week, the District 6 Class 2A Tournament had some deep weight classes.

Mount Union’s five-man contingent took on those deep weights on Saturday at the Altoona Fieldhouse. The Trojans left with one wrestler advancing to Saturday’s Southwest Regional Tournament.

Senior Bryce Beatty finished third at 113 to qualify for the regional tournament. Only the top three at every weight class moved on to the third step of five on the longer postseason road.

“Bryce came up a little bit short of what he wanted to do,” Mount Union coach Corey Wertz said, “but maybe he’ll be refocused for next week.”

Beatty rolled to a 13-4 major decision over Forest Hills’ Tony DiPaola in the consolation finals.

“We knew it was a tough road coming in with our five guys,” Wertz said. “There were a couple loaded weight classes.

Freshmen Mason Beatty and A.J. Chilcote came close to joining Bryce Beatty in the medal round with losses in the consolation semifinals.

Mason Beatty dropped an 11-8 decision to Central’s Tyler Beisinger in the 106-pound consolation semifinals. Philipsburg-Osceola’s Marcus Gable pinned Chilcote in 1:36 in his last bout.

“We thought Mason might have an outside chance if he wrestled well,” Wertz said. “He did make the consy semis.”

Mount Union senior Trevor Skopic (138) and sophomore Deegan Rittenhouse (152) were eliminated in the consolation quarterfinals.

Bryce Beatty, who placed fourth in last year’s tournament, pinned Westmont Hilltop’s Connor Lamantia in 2:31 in the quarterfinals. But the 2019 state qualifier dropped a 3-1 decision to Penn Cambria freshman and eventual runner-up Trent Hoover in the semifinals.

After a scoreless first period, Hoover escaped and took Beatty down with 14 seconds left in the second period. Beatty escaped with 53 seconds left in the third, but he couldn’t find the opening for a takedown. “We couldn’t get our offense going in the semis,” Wertz said. “The kid was pretty good defensively. We’re going to have to work on that this week and find ways to open guys up.”

Beatty responded with a 16-0 technical fall over Central’s Luke Uplinger to reach the consy finals against DiPaola. Beatty scored eight of his 13 points against DiPaola in the third period, scoring six nearfall points and a takedown.

Mason Beatty opened with a pin of Marion Center’s Cam Stewart in 4:56. He ran into a buzzsaw in the semifinals in West Branch’s eventual champion Landon Bainey, who rang up a 16-1 technical fall.

Beatty trailed Beisinger, 7-3, entering the third, but the Trojan put Beisinger on his back for three nearfall points. Beisinger, however, reversed and put Beatty on his back for four points. Beatty scored a reversal, but those were the final points scored.

Chilcote ran into a monster in the quarters in Bishop McCort’s Mason Gibson, the top-ranked 120-pounder in the country. Gibson rolled to a 26-11 technical fall.

Chilcote responded with a 7-3 win over Bald Eagle Area’s Hunter Gardner, but he was pinned and eliminated by Gable.

“For a freshman coming in and winning a match at the district tournament and qualifying for districts, he had a pretty solid year for us,” Wertz said. “I’m hoping he can build on that for the rest of his career.”

Wertz and Bryce Beatty will now get ready for the Southwest Regional, which will be held on Saturday at IUP.

“I’m kind of looking forward to getting to work this week just to fix mistakes,” Wertz said. “We just need to clean a couple things up, and hopefully that pays off for next week.”

NOTES: Mount Union finished 18th in the team standings. …. Forest Hills won the team title by 16.5 points, 96.5-80, over Penns Valley. … Forest Hills coach Jake Strayer was named Coach of the Year and his 132-pound champion Jackson Arrington was voted the Outstanding Wrestler. … The final round was wrestled straight through with four mats and was completed in an hour.

KEY, TEAM STANDINGS

1. FH–Forest Hills 96.5; 2. PV–Penns Valley 80; 3. G–Glendale 71; 4. BEA–Bald Eagle Area 64.5; 5. PO–Philipsburg-Osceola 61; 6. T–Tyrone 59.5; 7. H–Huntingdon 50.5; 8. C–Central 44; 9. MC–Marion Center and WH–Westmont Hilltop 42; 11. WB–West Branch 39.5; 12. R–Richland 35.5; 13. PC–Penn Cambria 35; 14. SJ–St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy 34.5; 15. CH–Cambria Heights 26; 16. CC–Central Cambria 23; 17. BM–Bishop McCort 22.5; 18. MU–Mount Union 19.5; 19. BA–Bellwood-Antis 7; 20. CK–Claysburg-Kimmel and BL–Blairsville 3; 22. JV–Juniata Valley 2; 23. SH–Southern Huntingdon 1.

Mount Union Results

Quarterfinals

106–M. Beatty, MU, pinned Stewart, MC, 4:56; 113–B. Beatty, MU, pinned Lamantia, WH, 2:31; 120–Gibson, BM, tech. fall Chilcote, MU, 26-11; 138–Ohl, SJ, pinned Skopic, MU, 2:20; 152–Z. Dubler, G, pinned Rittenhouse, MU, 5:00.

Semifinals

106–Bainey, WB, tech. fall M. Beatty, MU, 16-1, 5:27; Hoover, PC, dec. B. Beatty, MU, 3-1.

Consolation Quarterfinals

120–Chilcote, MU, dec. Gardner, BEA, 7-3; Claycomb, CK, pinned Skopic, MU, 2:53; Wolfe, PV, pinned Rittenhouse, MU, 4:25.

Consolation Semifinals

106–Beisinger, C, dec. M. Beatty, MU, 11-8; 113–B. Beatty, MU, tech. fall Uplinger, C, 16-0; 120–Gable, PO, pinned Chilcote, MU, 1:36.

Consolation Finals

113–B. Beatty, MU, maj. dec. DiPaola, FH, 13-4.

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