Mar 6, 2025
By Todd Irwin
sports@altoonamirror.com
Tyrone junior 189-pounder Kyle Scott will be stepping onto one of the six Giant Center mats for the third time in his career when the PIAA Class 2A Championships begins this morning.
Scott went 1-2 in Hershey as a freshman and placed eighth as a sophomore.
So, the two-time Southwest Regional Tournament runner-up has experienced the ups and downs and knows the talent, pressure and excitement the state tournament holds.
“I definitely think so,” Scott said when he was asked if the experience helps him. “The last two years I’ve put (the tournament) on a pedestal and making it more special than what it really is. It’s just another tournament. I’m going to go out there and wrestle my best like I would any other match.
“My goal is to take the top three. I think that’s my floor, and my ceiling is everything above that.”
Scott is being joined by four first-time state qualifiers from the Mirror coverage area, including two from Central Cambria in sophomore Burke Niebauer (127), who was fourth at the regionals, and senior Jake Wilson (145), who took fifth.
“Hey, it’s gravy now, right,” Central Cambria coach Matt Niebauer said. “It’s great to get there, but we’re going to go down there and wrestle. It’s a business trip. We’re going to enjoy ourselves, but at the end of the day we’re going there to wrestle.
“It’s the first trip down for both, so we’ve got to deal with that. Again, it’s just another wrestling tournament. Both of those guys were out in Fargo this summer. I’m not taking anything away from the state tournament, but you go out to Fargo and you’re in the Fargo Dome, that’s a big deal.”
Northern Bedford senior Wyatt Clouse (127) finished fifth in the regional, while Cambria Heights senior Marshall Eckenrode (160) placed sixth.
“I’m certainly looking forward to it,” Northern Bedford coach Brian Dutchcot said. “The Southwest Region is a very difficult region. If you make it out of there, it says a lot about you as a wrestler.
“I think winning that match for fifth place really set a tone for Wyatt mentally to say you know what, these are some tough kids I just competed with and I deserve to be there. If he wrestles to his ability, you never know what could happen.”
Cambria Heights coach Adam Terza was asked how he thinks Eckenrode will handle his state tournament debut.
“That’s definitely the tough part,” he said. “I remember getting there my senior year, and a part of me was just happy to make it. You really have to focus on this is just another tournament. I need to get mentally and physically ready for this and definitely do your best each match. We go six minutes until that match is over.”
All of the first-time qualifiers will have to wrestle in preliminary bouts. The Class 2A wrestlers begin their quest for a medal at 9 a.m. in the preliminaries, followed immediately by the first round. If they win in the first round, they’re done for the day. If they lose, they have to wrestle a consolation bout at 12:30 p.m.
The Class 2A quarterfinals and second round of consolations are set for 8 a.m. on Friday. The third round of consys will follow at 10:30 a.m. The semifinals are at 7 p.m., and the fourth round of consolations will follow at 9.
Wrestling resumes on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with the consolation semifinals. In a change this year, Saturday’s 11:30 a.m. medals bouts will precede the 4 p.m. championship finals.
Scott (39-4), who opens with Reynolds’ Emery Johnson (33-9), is in the same bracket as Faith Christian Academy’s two-time state champion Adam Waters (42-0). They could meet up in the semifinals, which would mean a place in the top 6 for Scott and a chance to wrestle the third-ranked 189-pounder in the nation.
“Win or lose, it’s going to be fun wrestling someone of that caliber,” Scott said. “I wrestled him outside of high school my freshman year but nothing really in high school. He’s something. I’d say he’s like a generational talent. It should be fun to go out there and scrap with him.”
Scott lost to Bald Eagle Area’s Caleb Close, 14-9, in the regional finals after throwing Close to his back in the third period. They’ve wrestled each other in the finals of four tournaments they’ve been in together. Close (41-1) is the second seed on the other side of the bracket.
“I don’t think I’ll get him again,” Scott said, “but if it comes up, I’d love to get that rematch. It left a salty taste with not getting that pin. I saw some pictures, and it looked like he was flat.”
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