CV, USC finish 3-4 at Burgettstown
Charters Valley took third place and Upper St. Clair finished fourth as a team during the Burgettstown Invitational Wrestling Tournament.
While the Colts and Panthers racked up 158.5 and 130.5 points, Pottsville won the team title with a 190 score by Steubenville, which had the most champions with four and a 178-point total. Bethel Park secured seventh place with 104.5 points.
The Colts put nine grapplers on the podium. Taking home bronze medals were: Tony Montgomery (113), Christopher Beatty (126), Cody Trout (132) and Murat Zaynullaev (170). Finishing four were: Ashton Sadowski (106) and Zachary Macy (138). Shabur Karimov (160) and Chase Bruggeman (220) secured sixth places while Luke Potts finished fifth at 120.
USC put two wrestlers on the top of the awards stand. In addition to heavyweight Jake Slinger (see related story), Quinn Murray won the 220-pound title. In the finals, Murray felled RJ Buchina from Elizabeth-Forward in 98 seconds for the gold medal.
Sean Martin and Harvey Rauch grabbed runner-up laurels at 152 and 195 respectively. While Martin lost to Steubenville’s Anthony Rice by major decision, 21-8, in his championship bout, Rauch dropped a 6-1 decision to Bentworth’s John Vargo in his finals.
Also for the Panthers, Aidan Nichols finished fourth at 145.
Bethel Park had four place winners, including third-place finishers with Luke Montgomery and Jake Dowell at 195 and 220.
Though Montgomery lost to Vargo in the semifinals, 5-4, he bounced back to beat Steubenville’s Keith Bodnar, 9-4, in the consolation bout.
Powell won by fall in his consolation match when he pinned Matthew Kordich of Frazier in 2:29. Powell had lost to Buchina in the semifinals, 5-3.
While Vinny Repose finished fifth at 132, Riley O’Mara posted fourth at 182. He lost by fall in 1:57 to Nick Whittington of Keystone Oaks in the consolation match.
Joey Fisher from South Park was the area’s only other champion. He gained gold in the 106-pound weight class. On his way to the title, Fisher scored two technical falls and a major decision.