Two Bobcat Wrestlers Advance to the NW Regionals, Clarion Finishes 9th in District IX Tournament (02/24/14)

(By Kenn Staub)

The Bobcat Varsity Wrestling Team competed in the 2014 District IX Class AA Championships on Friday and Saturday (February 21st and 22nd) at Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium on the campus of Clarion University.

Sophomores Alexander Burkhart (195lbs.) and Zach Sintobin (220lbs.) both finished on the podium for Clarion and, by so doing, punched their tickets to the NW Regionals this coming weekend (February 28th and March 1st) in Sharon. This is Sintobin’s second consecutive year as a regional qualifier and Burkhart’s first.

Overall Clarion had seven wrestlers earn multiple wins over the weekend as the Bobcats finished with 60.5 team points, good for 9th place in the 16 team tournament (won by Brookville with a District IX record 231.5 points).

Burkhart entered the competition seeded fifth and after an opening round bye found himself facing fourth seeded Brylee Shumaker of Redbank Valley. In a quarterfinals battle of sophomores Shumaker would prevail 10-3 on his way to capturing second place in the tournament. On the consolation side of the bracket Burkhart began his quest for a podium spot by pinning So. Zack Tyler of Brockway shortly into the third period of their bout (4:22). In the consolation quarterfinals Burkhart stuck Cameron County So. Nate Munsell in 2:01 and then decisioned Jr. Ryan Geyer of Ridgway 8-5 in the next round to secure his spot in the NW Regionals. Burkhart met the third seed, So. Ethan Budd of Port Allegheny, in the consolation finals, losing an 11-4 decision to finish the event 3-2 and fourth overall.

(Photo by Coach Sintobin)
195lb.Medal Podium: Forest Tuttle, Coudersport (Champion); Brylee Shumaker, Redbank Valley (2nd); Ethan Budd, Port Allegheny (3rd); Alexander Burkhart, Clarion (4th)

Like Burkhart, the fourth seeded Sintobin began the tournament with a bye before wrestling Austin Smoker of Cameron County. Sintobin pinned the fifth seeded junior in the third period (4:29), earning a semifinals matchup with defending tournament champion and first seeded Cal Haines of Redbank Valley. The Bulldog junior, ranked 13th in the state and eventual second place finisher, decisioned Sintobin 8-4, relegating the Bobcat grappler to the consolation semifinals. Sintobin scored a 3-1 decision over Fr. Colton McClain of Ridgway before falling to third seed and 16th ranked Pennsylvania 220lber. Fr. Keaton Rounsville in the consolation finals 3-1. By finishing fourth, however, the 2-2 Sintobin earned a trip to Sharon and a place in the NW Regionals.

Along with Burkhart, Jr. Addison Hockins (170lbs.) was the only Bobcat to finish the tournament with a winning record, going 3-2 on the weekend. Hockins, a fifth seed, pinned So. Ryan Howard of Oswayo Valley in the opening round (2:36) before falling 3-1 to fourth seeded Jr. Zach Stiglitz of Keystone. Once in the consolations Hockins posted pins of sophomores Devin Schimp of Redbank Valley (3:43) and Dominic Palmer of Brookville (2:22). Hockins’s streak would be stopped in the consolation semifinals when he lost a 7-1 decision to the tournament’s third seed and eventual third place finisher, Ridgway Sr. Dalton Sheasley.

Jr. Jacob Troutman (152lbs.) also advanced to the consolation semifinals before bowing out of the event. Troutman lost his opening round bout 7-0 to Brockway Jr. Cody McClintick. In the consolations Troutman rebounded by winning an 8-2 decision against the event’s third seed, So. Chad Rogers of Keystone, and then pinned seventh seeded sophomore Hunter Lancaster of Curwensville in the first period (0:49) of a consolation quaterfinals bout. Troutman was rematched against opening round opponent McClintick in the consolation semfinals, losing an 8-4 decision to go 2-2 for the tournament.

(Photo by Coach Sintobin)
220lb. Medal Podium: Bryce Town, Brookville (Champion); Cal Haines, Redbank Valley (2nd); Keaton Rounsville, Kane (3rd); Zach Sintobin, Clarion (4th)

Another Bobcat to reach the consolation semifinals was So. Alex Struble, the fifth seed in the 106lb. weight class. After a preliminary round bye Struble met fourth seeded Joshua Hancock, losing an 8-0 decision to the Cranberry freshman. Struble opened the consolations by pinning Fr. Bryce Hale of Smethport and then scoring a 3-1 victory over Cameron County Jr. Scott Cokely. In the consolation semifinals Struble was pinned by third seed and eventual third place finisher, Redbank Valley So. Ryan Kube, to end the weekend 2-2.

Clarion Sr. Tristen Shaffer (126lbs.) and So. Leo Aiello (132lbs.) both had 2-2 records and made it as far as the consolation quarterfinals. The eighth seeded Shaffer’s victories included a 7-0 opening round decision against Fr. Samuel Lander of Cranberry and a pin (2:10) of Oswayo Valley Fr. Kendal Keech in the consolations. Aiello, his weight class’s sixth seed, scored a technical fall (4:34) in the opening round against Keystone So. Austin Curtis and pinned Fr. Nolan Brannon of Cranberry in the second period (1:20) of their consolation bout.

Also reaching the consolation quarterfinals was Bobcat Sr. Riley Gunter, the 145lb. fifth seed. Gunter defeated Brockway Jr. Lucas Levinson by pinfall (1:49) in a consolation bout.

Bobcat So. Prince Brooks (138lbs.) contributed to Clarion’s team score with a consolation round pin (4:15) of Fr. Zach Huegel of Cranberry, as did fellow So. Zach Huet (HWT) with a 7-1 victory over Johnsonburg So. William Peluso.

Other Bobcat wrestlers included Adrain Weber (120lbs.), Austin Holz (160lbs.), and Will Staub (182lbs.).

Following the event Clarion Head Coach Rob Sintobin was ready to get back to work with the Bobcats’ regional qualifiers, noting “We will be tweaking our game plans to win the close bouts we lost at districts.”  He noted that “both boys have good draws [at regionals] and have good opportunities to advance to Hershey [for the state championships].”

(Thanks to Kenn Staub for this article and Coach Sintobin for the pictures. Congratulations Alexander and Zach!!!!! )