Bethel Park grappler wins at Powerade
Nino Bonaccorsi from Bethel Park and Brendan Furman from Canon-McMillan captured championships during the 50th annual Powerade Wrestling Tournament held over the holiday break at Canon-McMillan High School.
Seeded first, Bonaccorsi edged Cody Mulligan, 3-2, in the 182-pound final. The senior scored an escape 13 seconds into the ultimate tiebreaker breaker to beat the junior from Saegertown who was ranked No. 2.
After posting falls in his opening rounds of action, Bonaccorsi decisioned Parkland’s Fank Guida, 5-1, to reach the finals for the second straight season. He finished runner-up in 2015.
Bonaccorsi, who was a WPIAL champion and a PIAA runner-up in 2016, looks to win a state title in mid-March. He is a University of Pittsburgh recruit.
Furman, meanwhile, upended the defending champion in his 285-pound final. In 3;40, the Big Mac senior pinned Ronald Tucker from Lockport. Furman took third in the 2015 Powerade event while Tucker was an Illinois state qualifier last year as a freshman.
In his run-up to the title, Furman pinned his quarterfinal opponent, Derek Devine from North Allegheny in 1:50 and beat No. 3 Isaac Reed from Kiski Area, 5-3, in the semifinals.
Furman’s teammate, Logan Macri finished as the 120-pound runner-up. The C-M junior succumbed to Jefferson-Morgan’s Gavin Teasdale, 10-4, in the finals.
Teasdale, who is a two-time undefeated state champion, normally wrestles at 126 but he moved to 120 so as not to be in the same weight class as his friend Spencer Lee. A three-time undefeated champion from Franklin Regional, Lee won the 126-pound weight class with a major decision, 9-0, against Jack Davis from Wyoming Seminary. It was his third Powerade title. A senior, Lee and Teasdale, a junior, are both committed to the University of Iowa.
Seeded third in the weight class, Macri defeated James Pierandozzi of Lockport, Ill., 8-1, in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Macri upended No. 2 Beau Bartlett, a freshman from Wyoming Seminary (161), which won the team title, ahead of Kiski Area (129) and Lockport (128).
Stout, Bulsak win
Luke Stout of Mt. Lebanon and Dallas Bulsak from South Park were crowned champions during the West Mifflin Tournament.
Stout decisioned Nico Marsico from Montour, 1-0, to win the 152-pound weight class while Bulsak won the 145-pound division with a 9-3 decision against Challen Cornetto from Marion Center.
After winning three matches with pins, Stout scored decisions against Portage’s Cole Sossong, 6-1, and Peters Township’s Luke Mary, 6-2, to reach the finals. After winning his first two matches by falls, Bulsak edged Dom Davido from Plum, 7-6, in the semifinals.
Lebo’s Jackson Gray finished as runner-up at 132. After winning his opening bouts by tech fall, pin and decisions, he succumbed to Garrett Reinsfelder from Shaler in the finals.
Nathaniel Hoaglund (3rd), Turner Gray (4th), Darvish Kapitono (6th), Regis Wintermant (7th) Parker Reed (8th) and Alim Kapitonov (8th) were other placewinners for the Blue Devils, who finished third in the team standings.