Feb 1, 2013 2 min read

Canon-McMillan defeated Kiski, 36-24, and advanced to the finals in the WPIAL Class AAA team wrestling tournament.

The Big Macs faced Franklin Regional, a 28-27 winner over North Allegheny in the other semifinal, Feb. 2 at Chartiers Valley in the title match. The Big Macs, who have been Class AAA champion for the past three seasons, were ranked No. 1 while the Panthers were ranked No. 2.

The road to the finals was not easily paved as the Big Macs overcame an 10-0 deficit, dropping the first three bouts by close decisions. Steve Lefrance, Alex Campbell and Angelo Broglia suffered the defeats at 195, 220 and heavyweight.

CM, however strung together big wins in the next four matches and erased that margin. They turned it into a 23-10 advantage thanks to a technical fall by Brendon Price, a forfeit to Macri Dalton and falls by Joshua Minor and Connor Schram.

The Cavaliers won three of the next four, with Alec Hutchin getting the lone CM decision at 138, to pull within, 26-21. However, Sammy Minor and Cody Wiercioch iced the contest for CM. Minor posted a 9-0 major decision at 160 while Wiercioch recorded the fall at 170.

In Class AA action, South Fayette earned its first berth in a WPIAL team wrestling final when the Lions decisioned Jefferson-Morgan, 37-23. In the other semifinal, No. 1 Burrell defeated Chartiers-Houston, 37-30.

Grant and Mike Fetchet had falls for the Lions as did Zach Walker. Seth Carr recorded a major decision.

Jasper Wolf, Jared Cardillo, Shane Ging and Jared Walker had the other wins for SF.

Rich McGinnis, Tanner Sutton, Jimmy Saieva and Garrett Vulcano posted pins in CH’s loss.

Despite the defeat, CH had an opportunity to qualify for the PIAA team tournament when it faced Jefferson-Morgan Feb. 2 in the consolation match also at Chartiers Valley.