Mt. Lebanon prepared for positive progress in wrestling this winter
Mt. Lebanon started the 2023-24 wrestling season on a positive note. The Blue Devils had four placewinners at the Charters-Houston Tournament. They also finished sixth in the team standings among 36 competing schools.
Freshman Jonathan Emma and senior Ejiro Montoya claimed runner-up honors at 107 and 121 pounds respectively while junior heavyweight Ben Lloyd took home a bronze medal. Senior Joe Gamble added a top-5 showing in the 145-pound weight class.
The foursome along with Cole Gibbons are expected to lead a talented team during dual meet competition, which commences Dec. 13 when the Blue Devils visit Central Catholic.
Lebo will host Baldwin in the section opener Dec. 20 before competing in the prestigious Powerade Tournament set for Dec. 29-30 at Canon-McMillan. The Big Macs are the defending WPIAL champions. They host the Blue Devils on Jan. 3.
“Our section is always competitive,” said Marc Allemang, who is in his 19th season of coaching, the past nine as the Lebo coach.
Allemang noted that in addition to Canon-Mac, Bethel Park and Peters Township are solid. They not only return a good core of veterans but added some talented freshmen and depth to their line-ups.
“We have to keep ourselves focused on our team and not look too deep into the schedule. It is going to be tough every match,” Allemang said.
“Each individual needs to do a job and be excited to compete against good competition. Additionally, we have some head to head match-ups within those duals that can be really exciting bouts so I am looking forward to how those go as well.”
In addition to Montoya, who posted a 33-8 record last season, Gibbons was Lebo’s other 30-plus match winner in 2022. Though he did not compete at Char-Houston, Gibbons is expected to be one of the top sophomores this winter. A sixth-place medalist in the WPIAL and fourth-place finisher in the section, he won the Eastern Area Tournament and took bronze medals at the Allegheny County as well as Burgettstown tournaments. Gibbons posted a 31-10 record last winter.
Lloyd followed with a 29-13 record. A third-place finisher in the section, he placed sixth or higher in the county, Burgettstown and Eastern Area tournaments.
In addition, Ben Mares, Yohan Bassil, Franco Busalacchi, Jayson Dang, Peter Kail, Cooper Wolling and Grant Elder will join Gamble in the lineup along with a foursome of talented freshmen.
Emma was a PJW Junior High and Keystone state qualifier. He posted a 33-14 record last winter.
Additionally, Evan Sala was a state qualifier. The 110-pound freshman placed second in the Keystone State Tournament and finished 32-12 overall.
Joshua Emma and Zach Pitassi are the other ninth graders expected to make an impact.
Allemang believes that the team’s strength is the fact that the core of the squad has come through the program. The Lebo wrestlers have trained together since March and many competed on the freestyle and Greco-Roman circuit. They lifted and attended camps and clinics together.
“All of them are experienced and have had a good youth and junior high background,” Allemang added. “Most importantly, they are really good kids that like wrestling and want to get better at it every day. They are coachable and respectful and those are great qualities to have.”
While Allemang is tasked with fitting together the pieces that give Lebo its best competitive line-up, the wrestlers themselves must do the physical as well as psychological work.
“We need to come into practice each and every day with purpose and the right attitude and believe in ourselves,” Allemang said. “There are a lot of guys in the room who have shown they can wrestle but we need everyone to buy into the same mentality and find ways to add value to the team.”
Mt. Lebanon has a storied past in wrestling. The Blue Devils have won seven WPIAL team titles and produced several individual district and state champions as well as an Olympic gold medalist in Kurt Angle. So bringing home hardware and adding to the banners are always the aim in the wrestling room.
“We prepare ourselves through the work we do all year round. We believe in ourselves, and we take pride in our team, our program, and our school community,” Allemang said.
“When we start to focus on the whole picture and realize we need to take pride and responsibility for all aspects of what we do then we will start to make strides towards meeting our goals and objectives.”