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Altoona’s Luke Sipes wasn’t letting his three opponents in the Northwest Regional Class 3A Tournament get any breathing room over the weekend.

After outscoring his first two opponents 34-3, including a 15-0 technical fall in the semifinals, Sipes, ranked third by PA Power Wrestling, earned a 3-0 shutout over Central Mountain’s fourth-ranked Griffin Walizer in the 152-pound championship finals on Saturday night at the Altoona Fieldhouse.

The regional title was the junior’s third of his career — matching three-time Northwest Regional champ Cole Manley and four-time champ Matt Sarbo as the only Mountain Lions in program history with three regional titles.

“I’m super grateful,” Sipes said, “and I’m proud of myself.”

Altoona’s Braiden Weaver wasn’t able to repeat as regional champ. The sophomore breezed to the 114-pound final, but he dropped a 4-2 decision to Hickory freshman Elijah Scriven in a rematch of the Ultimate Warrior final.

Hollidaysburg junior Wyatt Maines continued his surprising postseason surge by making it the 285-pound finals, where he was pinned by State College’s Nick Pavlechko.

Five wrestlers from Altoona and Hollidaysburg — all underclassmen — advanced to the PIAA Championships, which begin March 7 at the Giant Center in Hershey.

That group includes third-placers in Altoona freshman Gavin Ciampoli (127) and Hollidaysburg junior Mitchell Baronner. The top three wrestlers at every weight qualified for the state tournament.

Hollidaysburg’s Brayden Sidney, who made a run to the semifinals after being added to the regional tournament, just missed qualifying by placing fourth at 107.

Altoona’s Dominic Nardozza (107) finished fifth, while Hollidaysburg’s Landon Krupka (114) placed sixth. The fifth-place bouts were wrestled to help with determining seed points for underclassmen for next season.

The Mountain Lions finished ninth in the team standings with 92 points, while the Golden Tigers were 12th with 70 points. Central Mountain won the team title by 22 points, 177-155, over Mifflin County.

Sipes rolled to his 15-0 semifinal technical fall over Brashear’s Elijah Elsor in 3:16, scoring 11 nearfall points in the process.

In the finals against Walizer, one of his M2 workout partners, Sipes found himself in a scoreless bout after one. He then rode the Wildcat senior the entire second period, foiling Walizer’s attempts to break away every time he stood and keeping him down late in the period.

Sipes escaped within the first 5 seconds of the third and iced the win with a takedown with a single-leg shot with 41 seconds left. He rode Walizer (35-9) the rest of the way.

“I thought it was different (than the district final),” Sipes said. “I thought I controlled the match more. I got the rideout on top, which is huge. Even in the third, I was looking to score points. In the last match, I thought I left a lot of points on the board.”

“Sipes wrestled great out there,” Altoona coach Joel Gilbert said. “He was outstanding in all positions. In the first period, he seemed like he was feeling him out a little bit, but I believe he dominated the next two periods.”

When the final seconds expired, Sipes (33-5) offered encouraging words to Walizer as they were both kneeling on the mat.

“We’ve been training at M2 since we were in seventh and eighth grade,” Sipes said. “I just told him ‘Congrats bro, we’re going to place in Hershey.’”

Weaver, who reached the finals with a 9-1 major decision over Meadville’s Ben Fuller, was looking to repeat his 6-3 win over Scriven at Ultimate Warrior.

They were tied, 1-1, in the third period when Scriven (39-6) took Weaver down with 50 seconds left. Scriven was awarded a caution point within seconds of the takedown, making the score 4-1. Weaver (33-5) escaped with 35 seconds left, but he couldn’t find an opening to get a takedown.

“Weaver ran into a tough kid,” Gilbert said. “He beat that kid before, but Weaver just didn’t get it going tonight. That’s a part of this sport sometimes. He has to stay on his offense a little bit more out there and keep focusing on scoring points.”

Maines reached the finals with a 9-2 win over Shikellamy’s Preston Spontarelli, notching three takedowns after giving up a takedown in the first period.

“I think that was one of the best matches I’ve wrestled,” Maines said.

In a rematch of the district final, Pavlechko (32-1) built a 6-2 lead before he put Maines on his back and pinned him.

Holding a Hershey bar, Maines said, “I’m going to eat it. I deserve it. I think I competed to the best of my ability and got it done, but there’s still one more step that needs to be done. Hopefully I get that done at some time.”

Maines will enter the tournament with an 11-10 record.

“This kid has grown exponentially through the entire year,” Hollidaysburg coach Christian Harr said. “His semifinal match was the first time he wrestled six minutes and won ever. He’s certainly a football guy and wrestling isn’t number one, but for him to make these big strides in wrestling just shows the talent level that he possesses as an athlete.”

Ciampoli (27-7) went 4-1 in the tournament, rebounded from losing his quarterfinal to win four straight, including an 8-1 win over Selinsgrove’s Alex Kadryna in the third-place bout. Ciampoli was up 3-1 late in the third when he took Kadryna down to his back for a five-point move.

“I wanted to keep wrestling hard through every position,” Ciampoli said. “It doesn’t matter what the score is. There was a little bit of pressure off (after the five-point move).”

“For a freshman to get to the state tournament is a huge accomplishment,” Gilbert said.

Baronner (27-13) lost to Shikellamy’s eventual champion Connor Wetzel by technical fall, 17-2, in the semifinals, but he fired back with two decisions, including a 7-4 win over Central Mountain’s Jacob Weaver in the pressure-packed third-place bout.

Weaver actually took a 3-2 lead with takedown with 48 seconds remaining, but Baronner escaped with 40 seconds left and took him with less than 30 seconds remaining to go up 5-3. Weaver escaped with 11 seconds left, but Baronner stayed aggressive and got a takedown on a double-leg shot before time expired.

“It feels amazing,” said Baronner as he fought back emotions. “I’m just really happy to make it. I’m excited to go to Hershey and wrestle. As soon as last buzzer rang, it felt like I was on top of the world.”

“It’s a big deal for Mitchell,” Harr said. “We’re very, very excited for him to make that step to the state tournament.”

After a 4-2 loss to Central Mountain’s regional champ Gavin Heverly in the semifinals, Sidney pinned Nardozza in 3:43 in the consolation semifinals. But he dropped a 1-0 decision to Mifflin County’s Andrew Alexander in the third-place bout.

KEY, TEAM STANDINGS

1. CM–Central Mountain 177; 2. MC–Mifflin County 155; 3. SH–Shikellamy 153; 4. SC–State College 151; 5. CP–Cathedral Prep 126; 6. S–Selinsgrove 109; 7. ME–Meadville 104; 8. HICK–Hickory 100; 9. A–Altoona 92; 10. D–DuBois 77; 11. W–Williamsport 72; 12. H–Hollidaysburg 70; 13. JS–Jersey Shore 41; 14. P–Punxsutawney 38.5; 15. B–Brashear 30; 16. M–McDowell 25; 17. TA–Taylor Allderdice 24; 18. OA–Obama Academy 20; 19. CMVT–Columbia Montour Vo-Tech 17; 20. BRAD–Bradford and C–Carrick 6; 22. WE–Westinghouse 0.

SEMIFINALS

107–Heverly, CM, dec. Sidney, H, 4-2; Young, SC, maj. dec. Alexander, MC, 10-0; 114–Weaver, A, maj. dec. Fuller, ME, 9-1; Scriven, HICK, maj. dec. Nasdeo, W, 20-7; 121–Bishop, HICK, pinned Gould, P, 2:23; Kunes, CM, dec. Reed, SH, 11-6; 127–Oler, CP, tech. fall Kisner, SH, 16-1, 5:59; Slicker, HICK, dec. Kadryna, S, 3-1 OT; 133–Rutan, P, pinned Gammon, CP, 4:49; Ja. Whitbred, SC, dec. O’Brien, HICK, 3-0; 139–Perry, CM, pinned Aughenbaugh, D, 2:19; Weiss, JS, pinned Thompson, ME, :44; 145–Manville, SC, pinned Dorman, CP, :40; Simcox, CM, pinned Seiler, MC, 3:27.

152–Sipes, A, tech. fall Elsor, B, 15-0, 3:16; Walizer, CM, dec. Kearns, MC, 4-3; 160–Cunningham, SC, pinned Martucci, CP, 1:38; Schaeffer, MC, dec. Anderson, ME, 4-2; 172–Wetzel, SH, tech. fall Baronner, H, 17-2, 5:10; Aurand, MC, dec. Kearns, M, 8-3; 189–Teats, S, dec. Brungard, CM, 10-3; Burks, W, pinned Eggleston, M, 2:51; 215–Serafini, CM, maj. dec. Bullington, S, 12-0; Rebuck, SH, pinned Tidball, ME, 3:20; 285–Pavlechko, SC, pinned Peters, S, 3:25; Maines, H, dec. Spontarelli, SH, 9-2.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

107–Heverly, CM, pinned Young, SC, 4:40; 114–Scriven, HICK, dec. Weaver, A, 4-2; 121–Kunes, CM, dec. Bishop, HICK, 6-1; 127–Oler, CP, dec. Slicker, HICK, 9-5; 133–Ja. Whitbred, SC, dec. Rutan, P, 9-3; 139–Weiss, JS, dec. Perry, CM, 9-8; 145–Simcox, CM, dec. Manville, SC, 3-2 UTB

152–Sipes, A, dec. Walizer, CM, 3-0; 160–Cunningham, SC, tech. fall Schaefferr, MC, 27-11, 4:41; 172–Wetzel, SH, maj. dec. Aurand, MC, 9-1; 189–Teats, S, pinned Burks, W, 1:45; 215–Serafini, CM, dec. Rebuck, SH, 1-0; 285–Pavlechko, SC, pinned Maines, H, :59.

THIRD PLACE

107–Alexander, MC, dec. Sidney, H, 1-0; 114–Fuller, ME, dec. Nasdeo, W, 7-0; 121–Reed, SH, dec. Johnson, CP, 4-0; 127–Ciampoli, A, dec. Kadryna, S, 8-1; 133–McGregor, SH, dec. O’Brien, HICK, 7-3; 139–Aughenbaugh, D, dec. Thompson, ME, 2-0; 145–Seiler, MC, dec. Say, ME, 4-2.

152–Kearns, MC, dec. Byrd, CP, 3-1; 160–Miller, S, dec. Martucci, CP, 13-11; 172–Baronner, H, dec. Weaver, CM, 7-4; 189–Mickey, MC, pinned Gurakar, B, 1:48; 215–Tidball, ME, maj. dec. Bullington, S, 9-1; 285–Peters, S, dec. Stowe, D, 6-0.

FIFTH PLACE

107–Nardozza, A, dec. Waldman, W, 3-1; 114–Jo. Whitbred, SC, dec. La. Krupka, H, 4-2; 121–Knable, MC, won by forfeit over Gould, P; 127–Deeb, D, dec. Kisner, SH, 3-1 OT; 133–Gammon, CP, dec. Everly, MC, 6-2; 139–Campbell, SC, dec. Reardon, HICK, 4-1; 145–Dorman, CP, won by forfeit over Kurelowech, M.

152–Benedict, SH, won by forfeit over Elsor, B; 160–Cole Wetzel, SH, won by forfeit over Anderson, ME; 172–Wilson, D, dec. Kearns, ME, 5-1; 189–Brungard, CM, won by forfeit over Eggleston, M; 215–Davis, MC, dec. Spaulding, CP, 7-3; 285–Spontarelli, SH, pinned Peters, ME, :37.

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