Poll results: State College swimming selected as CDT Boys Athlete of the Winter Season

State College swimming is the boys athlete of the winter sports season for 2023, as selected by readers of CentreDaily.com.

The Little Lions capped off their season with a ninth-place finish in the PIAA Class 3A championship. State College had a seventh-place finish in the boys 200-yard medley relay with Tyler Uhlig, Shawn Erdley, Leo Garlicki and Sam Huggins finishing in 1:35.20. Huggins won a bronze in the the boys 200-yard freestyle and Erdley had a sixth-place finish in the boys 200-yard individual medley.

State College swimming took 66% of the vote in the poll, with 187 votes.

Here were the other nominees:

Blaze Angellotti, Bald Eagle boys basketball: The BEA senior forward finished off his regular season with a 65-43 win against Jersey Shore on Feb. 13. He went on to win the boys athlete of the week poll for Feb. 13-20 for his performance.

Braeden Shrewsberry, State College boys basketball: Shrewsberry was the Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division’s Player of the Year with a dazzling stat line of 17.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game. The senior scored 20 or more points in 12 games in 2022-23 with his highest-scoring game coming on a 30-point performance against Central Dauphin on Jan. 17 in a 55-38 victory.

Charlie Yartz, Saint Joseph’s boys basketball: Yartz had multiple weeks where he and his teammate, Michael Lower, filled up the stat sheets. While Yartz wasn’t selected as Athlete of the Week for Jan. 30-Feb. 5, he still had 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and a block that week in a 55-48 win against Newport, then 29 points in Saint Joseph’s 80-73 win against Juniata Valley and 10 points, five rebounds and three assists in a 77-45 blowout victory against Susquenita on Feb. 2.

Cole Crissman, Bellefonte boys basketball: The senior big man had 24 points in a 49-37 victory against Juniata on Feb. 10, being named as the boys athlete of the week for Feb. 6-12.

Jacob Desimone, Philipsburg-Osceola boys basketball: Desimone finished with a game-high 19 points on Jan. 27, and though the team fell 57-49 to Huntingdon, the senior had accomplished something greater than merely scoring in double figures: He broke the 1,000-point mark for his career.

Michael Lower, Saint Joseph’s boys basketball: Lower was the second part of Saint Joseph’s boys basketball’s sophomore duo that had a breakout season this year. He won the boys athlete of the week vote for Jan. 30-Feb. 5 for his 18-point, five-rebound, one-assist and two-steal performance against Newport in a 55-48 win on Jan. 30. He added 13 points in an 80-73 win against Juniata Valley on Feb. 1 and followed up with 17 points, two rebounds and two assists in a 77-45 victory against Susquenita on Feb. 2. He came in second in the poll with 24% of the vote (69 votes).

Nick Pavlechko, State College boys wrestling: Pavlechko finished with 32 victories to tie his teammate Pierson Manville. He reached the finals of the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships and brought home a silver medal.

Pierson Manville, State College boys wrestling: Manville finished with a team-high 32 victories after pinning Central Bucks South’s Jake Neill in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A championships. The State College wrestler eventually made it to his second straight state championship match and brought home a silver medal. He and Pavlechko joined up to be the only Centre County wrestlers to make it to the championship round in 2023.

Ty Watson, Penns Valley boys wrestling: Watson finished the season with a 12-0 shutout of Girard’s Story Buchanan, en route to his third major decision of the season. The Penns Valley junior finished on the podium for the second straight year.

The poll ended at noon Wednesday. As a reminder, the poll is not scientific and just for fun. In fact, we invite you to vote as many times as you want.

To nominate players to future Athlete of the Week polls, or to share news about achievements in high school sports, email cdtscores@centredaily.com.