GLEN MILLS – On Saturday morning, the Central Mountain wrestling team made the trip out to Garney Valley High School to compete in the Rage in the Cage Duals tournament. The event marked its first competitive appearance in two weeks, with its previous competition being at King of the Mountain.

Despite the break in action, the Wildcats showed little signs of rust, going 3-0 to take home the Rage in the Cage Duals title. Within the run, they defeated Chichester (70-6), host Garnet Valley (49-15) and Pennsbury (40-24) to take home the crown.

“We were happy to get back into competition mode after a long layoff since King of the Mountain,” said Central Mountain wrestling head coach Biff Walizer. “Really thought we had some productive practices in that span, but it was nice to see the boys go out and perform that way.”

The team opened its run in dominant fashion, winning 12 straight matches to get out to a 70-0 lead against Chichester in the tournament’s quarterfinals. Of those 12 wins, nine came by pin – including six first-period pins in a row from 145 to 215 – and two came by tech fall.

That victory was a precursor for another dominant win over Garnet Valley, one which handed the tournament host its first loss of the season. Of Central Mountain’s three wins, its 49-15 one over the Jaguars was the one that impressed Walizer the most.

There, the Wildcats got out to a 38-0 lead behind eight straight wins, six which included bonus points. Highlighting that span was Cael Dorman’s pin over Caleb Ayala at 121, which saw Dorman flip what was heading towards a Garnet Valley tech fall into six points for Central Mountain.

From there, Hunter Donley (189) and Hayes Henry (285) posted a tech fall and pin respectively, both which upped Central Mountain’s lead to 40. Garnet Valley made up ground with two late pins, but the Wildcats had plenty to spare.

And in the tournament’s first-place bout, Central Mountain prevailed, enduring its toughest bout of the afternoon to defeat Pennsbury, 40-24. The Falcons made things interesting on multiple occasions, but each time, the Wildcats were able to respond.

After falling behind 5-0, the Wildcats got back-to-back major decisions from Gavin Heverly (127) and Patrick Tarantella (133) and a controlled decision win from Hayes Donley to go up 11-5.

Pennsbury would cut that lead to two before pins from Aiden Kunes and Dalton McDermott upped it to 23-9. Then, when the Falcons posted a decision and pin to make it 23-18, Todd Caris and Hayes Henry scored a combined 11 points to seal the bout, with Angelo Tarantella posting a pin to cap the match on a high note.

Throughout the event, six Wildcats finished 3-0 in Aiden Kunes, Angelo Tarantella, Dalton McDermott, Patrick Tarantella, Hayes Donley and Gavin Heverly. Of those six, Kunes and Angelo Tarantella scored the most points, with Kunes posting three first-period pins to finish with 18 and Tarantella logging two pins and a tech fall to conclude with 17.

“Angelo Tarantella won all three of his matches at 14. He went out and did a nice job for us today,” said Walizer when discussing standouts.

And in his long-awaited return to action, senior Hunter Donley impressed out the gate, finishing 2-0 with a pin and tech fall. It was his first competitive action since February of 2024 after being forced to sit out his junior season due to injury, an aspect of the event that made it all-the-more special for Central Mountain.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” said Walizer on having Donley back. “He looked good, went out and got after his offensive right away. So, we’re happy to have him back for sure.”

FIRST-PLACE MATCH

Central Mountain 40, Pennsbury 24

121: Daimian Frascella (P) won by tech. fall over Cael Dorman (CM), 24-9. 127: Gavin Heverly (CM) maj. dec. Michael DeFinis (P), 14-4. 133: Patrick Tarantella (CM) maj. dec. Brett Kean (P), 14-2. 139: Hayes Donley (CM) dec. David DeFinis (P), 13-6. 145: Sergio Martoccio (P) maj. dec. Luke Garman (CM), 16-5. 152: Aiden Kunes (CM) pinned John Hampton (P), 1:03. 160: Dalton McDermott (CM) pinned Noah McArdle (P), 3:14. 172: Alexander Reiling (P) dec. Mario Serafini (CM), 18-15. 189: John Bostian (P) pinned Tanner McCall (CM), 2:47. 215: Todd Caris (CM) won by tech. fall over Kristian Warywoda (P), 15-0. 285: Hayes Henry (CM) pinned Jackson Coons (P), 3:43. 107: Shane Matthew (P) pinned Hunter Nace (CM), 0:30. 114: Angelo Tarantella (CM) pinned Andrew Castro (P), 3:52.

SEMIFINALS

Central Mountain 49, Garnet Valley 15

114: Angelo Tarantella (CM) won by tech. fall over Connor Burns (GV), 17-2. 121: Cael Dorman (CM) pinned Caleb Ayala (GV), 2:25. 127: Gavin Heverly (CM) maj. dec. Peyton Duffy (GV), 10-2. 133: Patrick Tarantella (CM) won by tech. fall over Ryan Vance (GV), 15-0. 139: Hayes Donley (CM) pinned John Mozzani IV (GV), 1:29. 145: Luke Garman (CM) dec. Hayden Xanthropulous (GV), 6-0. 152: Aiden Kunes (CM) pinned Owen Burns (GV), 1:04. 160: Dalton McDermott (CM) dec. Joseph DiMarino (GV), 7-2. 172: Wyatt Panarello (GV) dec. Mario Serafini (CM), 16-9. 189: Hunter Donley (CM) won by tech. fall over Tyler Hays (GV), 17-0. 215: Paxton Hunt (GV) pinned Todd Caris (CM), 3:01. 285: Hayes Henry (CM) pinned Nicholas Potts (GV), 3:39. 107: Dylan Kessler (GV) pinned Hunter Nace (CM), 5:35.

QUARTERFINALS

Central Mountain 70, Chichester 6

107: Hunter Nace (CM) won by forfeit. 114: Angelo Tarantella (CM) pinned Caleb Apollo (C), 0:35. 121: Cael Dorman (CM) won by tech. fall over Dominic Ricco (C), 16-0. 127: Gavin Heverly (CM) pinned Coleman Scarpato (C), 2:50. 133: Patrick Tarantella (CM) pinned Mason Rudisill (C), 0:25. 139: Hayes Donley (CM) won by tech. fall over Joshua Baldwin (C), 15-0. 145: Aiden Kunes (CM) pinned Jake Messner (C), 1:01. 152: Luke Garman (CM) pinned Owen Baldwin (C), 0:56. 160: Dalton McDermott (CM) pinned Daniel Stevens (C), 1:04. 172: Mario Serafini (CM) pinned Robert Fields (C), 1:25. 189: Hunter Donley (CM) pinned Jason Thomas (C), 0:16. 215: Todd Caris (CM) pinned Sergio Munguia (C), 1:32. 285: Grady Whartnaby (C) pinned Hayes Henry (CM), 4:48.