Fort Cherry’s Welsh is lone area champion in 2A

Mar 2, 2025 By Jonathan Guth 5 min read

ALTOONA — Thanks to District 6 powerhouses Bishop McCort, Bald Eagle Area and Penns Valley, the WPIAL had a tough time Saturday in the finals of the PIAA Class 2A Southwestern Regional Wrestling Championships at Altoona Area High School.

Bishop McCort won seven titles,Bald Eagle and Penns Valley each had two heading into the 215-pound final.

Fort Cherry’s Braedon Welsh not only carried the flag for Washington County, he did so for the WPIAL in earning a 4-2 decision over a District 6 wrestler in Huntingdon’s Landon Erdman in the finals for his first regional championship.

Welsh, a senior who will continue his wrestling career at Brown University, had a better finish each year at the regional tournament during his high school career. He was sixth as a freshman, third as a sophomore, runner-up last year before gaining the elusive title Saturday evening.

“I just heard that I was the only WPIAL wrestler to win a championship, which was kind of surprising,” Welsh said. “I was close to winning a regional title my sophomore and junior years, so it feels really good to win a regional title.”

Welsh will compete Thursday-Saturday for a state title at the Giant Center in Hershey. He has qualified for the state tournament all four years of high school. Welsh was fourth as a sophomore and fifth as a junior.

In the finals, Welsh took Erdman down with 1:16 left in the first period for a 3-0 lead. Erdman escaped to cut the deficit to 3-1, which carried over into the second.

Welsh escaped to regain his three-point advantage. He let Erdman escape in the third, and despite being warned for stalling, held on for the decision.

Welsh would have liked to open up his offense more in the final, but he didn’t want to risk taking any bad shots, or finding himself in a bad position.

“I almost had a couple of other finishes,” Welsh said. “I wish I would have scored more points, but I played it smart because he’s (Erdman) dangerous in the throws.”

Frustrating finals

The finals weren’t kind to Bentworth’s Owen Ivcic and West Greene’s Colin Whyte. Ivcic was pinned by Bishop McCort’s Melvin Miller at 160, and Whyte dropped a 7-0 decision to Somerset’s Rowan Holmes at 285.

The duo had already qualified for the state tournament, which will be the third trip for Ivcic and the second for Whyte.

Overcoming odds

The majority of the wrestlers that competed Saturday are veterans of the mat, but Burgettstown’s Darius Simmons wasn’t one of them.

Simmons, a senior, started wrestling in eighth grade, and through hard work and perseverance, defied the odds in placing sixth at 107 and qualifying for his first state tournament.

“I think I wrestled one JV match my eighth-grade year,” Simmons said. “Coach Joey (Vigliotti) said, ‘Hey, we got a spot open and we need you,’ and I said, ‘All right, I’ll do it.'”

Simmons had a tough bout in the quarterfinals Friday, dropping a 5-4 decision to Huntingdon’s Gaige Sholly, but rebounded in the consolations with victory via technical fall and a 3-0 decision in sudden victory to assure himself no less than sixth place.

“It was a tough quarters match,” Simmons said. “I should have won a couple of times. I have the video replay of a takedown on the boundary where he runs off the mat, and didn’t even get a fleeing point, which made it even tougher. It really gave me the motivation to come back strong through the consy bracket.”

The Blue Devils made the state dual meet tournament in Simmons’ freshman, sophomore and junior years, so he has experience wrestling at the Giant Center in Hershey.

“Going to Hershey as a team my freshman year really gave me the motivation to want to do this and work really hard,” Simmons said. “All my teammates over the years made me who I am.”

Battling back

Beth-Center’s Mason Wright lost his round of 16 bout, but the junior recorded three straight victories to earn his second berth to the state tournament at 133. Wright also won his 100th career match Saturday morning in the consolations on his way to a sixth-place finish.

“I knew I had to find a way to get back to a medal through the consolations, but it was a pretty tough road,” Wright said. “It was a great feeling to not only get my 100th win, but do it on my way to a medal and a spot in the state tournament. I also decided to stay in this weight class knowing how tough it was. I hope that works for me in the future.”

Wright wrestles for the Bulldogs as part of a co-op with California Area.

On to Hershey

McGuffey led the way with four local qualifiers, as Clayton Ealy (5th at 114), Tucker Main (4th at 121), Emmett Wolfe (5th at 133) and Lucas Barr (5th at 139) finished in the top seven, which was the cutoff to earn a berth in the state tournament.

Barr is a three-time qualifier, while Ealy, a freshman, is making his first trip to states. Main, a sophomore, is a first-time qualifier, and Wolfe will be wrestling at the Giant Center for the second time.

Bentworth sophomore Drake McClure will make his second trip to Hershey. He was fourth at 133.

Washington junior Caleb Patton qualified for the first time after a 2-0 decision over Valley’s Antonio Perkins in the seventh-place bout at 145.

Another junior who will be making his debut in the state tournament is Burgettstown’s Logan Noyes, who was sixth at 152.