Mt. Lebanon grappler wins Allegheny County Championships
Luke Stout of Mt. Lebanon won the 152-pound weight class during the Allegheny County Wrestling Tournament.
Shamil Zaynullaev of Chartiers Valley finished as runner-up in the 220-pound weight class during the Allegheny County Wrestling Tournament.
Though he is just a freshman, Luke Stout is wise beyond his years.
“Luke understands that if he wants to be one of the best in the state, he has to have matches that test and challenge him,” Mt. Lebanon wrestling coach Mark Allemang said.
During the Allegheny County Championships held Jan. 20-21 at Fox Chapel, Stout met the challenge. Seeded sixth, he won the 152-pound weight class. He defeated No. 5 Jake Pollak from Shaler, 3-1, in overtime for the championship.
On his way to the podium, Stout upset No. 3 Nico Marsico of Montour, 6-4, in the quarterfinals and decisioned Pine-Richland’s Nick Geyer, the No. 7 seed, 7-3 in the semifinals. In his opening rounds, Stout scored a major decision against Ryder Goob from South Park, 12-2, and pinned Decian Boyd of Woodland Hills in 53 seconds.
“We are very proud of Luke and his performance,” said Allemang, noting that coming into the tournament as a No. 6 seed meant Stout had to go through the No. 3 or No. 2 seed to reach the finals.
“Luke knows that as a freshman he is going to have to wrestle in these tournaments without worrying a lot about where he is placed in the brackets. He is showing through his wrestling that he is a tough kid and can wrestle with anyone in the weight.”
Allemang noted that Stout’s composure paved the path to success in the county tournament. Down a few points or during the tight finals match, “Luke remained focused and calm,” he said
Stout has had great examples to follow. His father was a successful wrestler and his older brother, Kellan, was a state champion at Mt. Lebanon before moving on to Penn State.
“There are a lot of things that make Luke successful, starting with his support network. He has a great family,” Allemang said, noting also Stout’s younger brother (Mac) on the junior high squad.
“In addition, Luke just loves to wrestle. He does not mind a hard workout. He does not shy away from high-level competition. He enjoys the big matches.”
Though the Blue Devils failed to qualify for the WPIAL team tournament, they have matches on the schedule at Fox Chapel and Peters Township not to mention home duals with West Allegheny and Upper St. Clair before the individual sectionals start on Feb. 25. The WPIAL Class AAA individual championships are set for March 3-4 at Canon-McMillan High School and the PIAA state tournament will be held March 9-11 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
“Our expectations for Luke are just that he continues to go out and compete,” Allemang said. “If Luke Stout wrestles hard every time he steps on the mat his own goals that he set for himself will fall in place. I know he has high expectations for himself. My goals for every member of the team are just that they are grateful for the opportunity to wear a Mt. Lebanon singlet and compete for their school and achieve their goals along the way.”
Besides Stout, several other Lebo grapplers experienced success along the way at the county meet. The Blue Devils finished sixth as a team and had seven all-county performers. Brian Perri, Turner Gray and Nathan Hoaglund all finished fifth in their weight classes. Alim Kapitonov secured sixth place. Jackson Gray placed seventh and Sam Kniola was eighth.
“We had a nice group of kids wrestle hard for the team through the back end of the bracket to score points for our team,” Allemang said. “We had a lot of falls as well through the consolations. Our team is still young, wrestling a lot of ninth and 10th graders. Some guys are getting a lot of experience. They are contributing and it’s great to see a young and motivated group.
Allemang also mentioned the leadership of Perri and (Turner) Gray.
“That has been helpful,” he said. “They set expectations for the guys and having a freshman like Luke it also motivates the young guys to work hard.”
Although they have worked hard, Darvish Kapitonov and Sean McKinney could not compete in the tournament because of illness. Lebo could not fill those weights.
“I think with the points we could have collected there we potentially could have been in the top 5,” Allemang said. “I was very happy for the guys though. It is validating for them that the work they are putting in is paying off.”
CV grappler places
Shamil Zaynullaev put in a lot of hard work at Mt. Lebanon before the grappler moved to Chartiers Valley. He reached the finals and finished runner-up in the 220-pound weight class. Zaynullaev lost to Shaler’s Ron D’Amico, 11-8.
“I was happy to see Shamil reach the finals,” Allemang said. “Even though he is not wearing the Mt. Lebanon singlet anymore he spent a lot of years in our program and I know he is still working hard to reach his own goals.
In addition to Zaynulaev, CV’s Zachary Macy took the bronze at 113. In the third-place consolation bout, Macy pinned Cameron Willson from Keystone Oaks in 1:57. Additionally, Collin Eger from CV finished fifth at 170.
Bonaccorsi wins
Nino Bonaccorsi claimed his second consecutive Allegheny County wrestling title when he scored a technical fall against Mike Mahon from Fox Chapel, 20-5, in the 182-pound final.
The Bethel Park senior scored three falls en route to his championship.
“I thought I had a good tournament because there were some tough kids in my weight class,” said Bonaccorsi, who raised his record to 22-0 this winter. “It felt good to get a county title.”
Ironically, Bonaccorsi beat a Fox Chapel grappler to win last year’s championship. But, coming in seeded first and as a defending champion did not bother the BP wrestler.
“I try not to put pressure on myself,” Bonaccorsi said. “I perform better that way. All in all, I was pleased with my results. Now I’m preparing for individuals.”
Because Bethel Park lost to Upper St. Clair, the Hawks did not qualify for the WPIAL team tournament, which starts Jan. 25 with first-round action. The Hawks do have two dual matches remaining and a tournament at Chartiers Valley this weekend on the schedule.
Three other BP grapplers joined Bonaccorsi on the podium. Jason Montgomery finished runner-up in the 160-pound weight class while Luke Montgomery placed fifth at 145. Hunter Kernan secured sixth place at 152.
Grape runner-up
In the long-awaited showdown between No. 1 and No. 2 in the 195-pound weight class, top-seeded Jake Woodley of North Allegheny defeated Upper St. Clair’s Eli Grape, 14-4.
Woodley’s win helped the Tigers win the team title with 179.5 points. NA has won four of the past five county championships.
In addition to Grape, Grant Walnoha and Jake Slinger took thirds at 132 and 220 respectively for the Panthers. Dan Kyle finished fourth at 120 and Tyler Curtiss was seventh at 126.
Finally, Dallas Bulsak from South Park captured the 145-pound weight class with a 4-0 decision over Plum’s Don Davido.
Additionally, Mike Nagy took third at 145. The Central Catholic senior hails from Peters Township. He is a four-time, all-county performer with a runner-up showing during the 2016 tournament. Nagy edged Carrick’s Justice Jones, 7-6, in his third-place consolation match.
Team tourney
The WPIAL team tournament begins Jan. 25 with sectional events.
Canon-McMillan will host the Section 4-AAA tournament, battling Moon at 6 p.m. The Big Macs will face the winner of the West Allegheny vs. Waynesburg match at 7:30 p.m.
Belle Vernon’s hosts the Section 2-AAA tournament. The Leopards wrestle Upper St. Clair at 6 p.m. while Peters Township takes on Connellsville. The winners of the matches battle at 7:30 p.m.
The WPIAL team tournament begins Jan. 31 with the finals set for Feb. 4. The PIAA team finals are set for Feb. 9-11 at the Giant Center in Hershey.