Wrestling round-up
With four champions, Canon-McMillan dominated the TRICADA Wrestling Tournament. The Big Macs finished runner-up to Waynesburg, 205.5-190, in the team scoring while South Fayette (138) took third-place honors and Peters Township finished fourth with 135.5 points.
Brendan Furman was one of only two seniors to claim titles in the event held at Albert Gallatin. In fact, it was Furman’s third win in the tournament. The Big Mac 12th-grader captured the heavyweight division with a 12-5 decision in the finals.
C-M freshman Gerritt Nijenhus won the 152-pound weight class, recording a fall against PT’s Luke Mary in the final. Nijenhus, who won all his matches by pin, also garnered Outstanding Wrestler honors in the tournament.
“I felt pretty comfortable coming into this,” said Nijenhuis, who finished fifth at the Powerade Tournament over the holidays. “I hadn’t seen a lot of the kids but I was comfortable.”
For the second time, Logan Macri won a TRICADA title. The C-M junior pinned Burgetts-town’s P.J. Smith in 2:33 for the 120-pound championship,
“I was working on going from move to move,” said Macri. “I’m trying to get faster. I definitely want to win it again. I’m going to keep training hard and come back here and do the exact same thing.”
Another C-M junior, Tim Hritsko picked up his first trophy at the meet. He edged Frazier’s Thayne Lawrence, 7-5, in the 138 final.
“This is my first tournament win and it felt good being on top of the podium for once,” Hritsko said. “I’ve had many runners-up, many third-places. This one was nice.”
TRICADA proved nice for Bryce Wilkes. The Peters Township freshman needed just 48 seconds to fell Waynesburg’s McCottie Denjen for the 106-pound title. Wilkes was wrestling for only the first time since suffering a shoulder injury two months ago while training with the Pitt Wrestling Club.
“I was a little nervous,” he said. “I tried not to get into position with my bad shoulder and did what I needed to win.”
Several other area wrestlers put themselves in position to capture awards. Among the other top finishers at TRICADA included:
• Noah Broyles, fifth, at 106; Colin Dunn, 113 runner-up; Mike Cusick, 145 runner-up; Camdon Hoover, fourth, 152; Kirt Hegarty, fifth, 182; Mark Kuchena, sixth, 195; Jake Walker, fourth, 220; all from South Fayette:
• Jacob Gardner, third, 106; Kenny Hayman, third, 113; Tony Mastrangelo, third, 126; Dimitri Pihiou, sixth, 145; Blaze Kansco, runner-up, 170; all from Canon-Mac.
• Coltin Jezioro, runner-up, 132; Brandon Matthews, fifth, 138; Daniel Florentino, fifth, 145; Jacob Hurley, fifth, 160; and Jeff Markert, fourth, 170; all from Peters Township.
• R.J. Hall, third, 170; and Trey Lober, third, 285; both from Chartiers-Houston.
BP falls to PT
Bethel Park lost the numbers game against Peters Township during Section 2-B, AAA wrestling action.
Forfeiting three of the last five matches after constructing a 30-9 lead, the Hawks dropped a 36-30 decision to the Indians.
Jardan Marosz decisioned Justin Pferdehirt, 5-2, at 126 to seal the victory. Will Kail’s pinned at 113 also contributed to the comeback win.
The match started with BP forfeiting at 132 but the Hawks strung together decisions by Korey Patterson, Luke Montgomery and Hunter Kernan to forge a 9-6 lead. After Jacob Hurley knotted the contest with a decision at 160, Jason Montgomery, Noah Seeberger and Nino Bonaccorsi picked up pins. Jake Dowell’s 3-0 win at 220 provided BP its largest lead before the Indians waged their comeback.
Individually, the Hawks are having a strong season despite their lack of numbers. While Bonaccorsi has won three tournament titles, three other grapplers have been placewinners. Jason Montgomery (160) finished second and third at the Gateway Invitational and King of the Mountain Tournament. Kernan (152) placed third and fourth respectively while Patterson (138) was fifth and seventh. Seeberger (3rd), Luke Montgomery (4th) and Dowell (5th) were placewinners at Gateway.
C-M whips Raiders
Canon-McMillan won 10 of 14 bouts, four by falls, and trounced Waynesburg, 50-19, in Section 4-A dual meet action in Class AAA.
The Big Macs used three consecutive pins and a technical fall to break open the match, 44-19. Heavyweight Brendan Furman, Michael Binni (103), and Ken Hayman (113) registered the pins while Logan Macri (120) recorded the tech fall. Anthony Mastrangelo, and Matt Oblock followed with decisions to finish off the match, which began with the 138-pound weight class.
Garrett Nijenhuis (152) and Bryan Milligan (182) had falls and Tim Hritsko posted a decision for the Big Macs in the win.
SF thumps SA
Pins from Eli Brensky, Cort Blatz, Michael Dedi, and Bastarli propelled South Fayette to victory, 63-15, against South Allegheny.
The Lions won six bouts by forfeits. Jake Walker had the lone decision, a 6-4 win in overtime, at 220.
Lebo falls
Mt. Lebanon dropped a 38-22 decision to Trinity.
Luke Stout and Turner Gray picked up pins for the Blue Devils. For Gray, it was his 51st fall of his career, tying the school record, shared by Stan Kochanek, a 2008 graduate.
Sam Tubbs and Nathaniel Hoaglund won with decisions. Sean McKinney recorded a major decision at 120.
CH blasts Avella
Using 10 forfeits, Chartiers-Houston defeated Avella, 72-5. Thunder Minney and Trey Lober began and ended the match with falls for the Buccaneers.