Mt. Lebanon brothers dominate the mats

Mac and Luke Stout captured WPIAL individual wrestling titles. In doing so, the brothers imprinted their names in the annals of Mt. Lebanon’s program.
In joining their older brother, Kellan, as a champion, they equaled the feat of the Perri brothers.
Dan Perri won his WPIAL title in 1975, while Bill won in 1981 and 1982 and Chris followed with a championship in 1984.
“They all won WPIAL titles, but not in the same season,” said Lebo head coach Marc Allemang.
Mac and Luke Stout claimed their gold medals during the WPIAL/Southwest Regional Tournament held Feb. 29 at Canon-McMillan High School. They also qualified for the PIAA championships which are scheduled to begin March 5-7 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Mac edged Tyler Kocak of Hampton in overtime 3-1 to win the 170-pound weight class.
The pair had faced each other multiple times throughout the season.
“Mac is cool in positions that might rattle other kids,” said Allemang. “He just kept attacking and finally was able to pick up the take down. It was a great shot and we were so happy for him to get his title.”
After picking up a first-match fall and a major decision in the quarterfinals, Mac scored a 9-2 decision against Eli Brinsky from South Fayette to reach the finals. Mac met the 100-match winner earlier this season in dual-meet competition.
“We knew Eli would be tough, but Mac really opened up his offense,” Allemang said. “He made adjustments from the last time they met and really got his leg attacks going.
“Mac wrestled a really great tournament all around.”
After picking up pins in his first two matches, Luke outlasted Armstrong’s Logan Harmon for a 5-2 win to reach the 195-pound finals. Luke had not wrestled the section champion previously.
“We didn’t know a lot about (Harmon), but obviously he had a good record,” said Allemang. “He was a solid wrestler and gave Luke a good match, but I did not feel at any point Luke was in trouble. He wrestled smart and didn’t put himself in any bad positions.”
As a result, Luke Stout found himself in the finals facing Luke Montgomery from Bethel Park for the fifth time this season. Montgomery, who reached the championship round via two falls and a major decision, was runner-up to Luke Stout in the county and sectionals championships.
Luke won a 12-7 decision over Montgomery to win his second WPIAL title.
“The more familiar you become with an opponent, it makes it more difficult to score,” said Allemang of the rivals. “Luke did a great job of setting the pace and keeping his attack rate up. We are really happy for Luke.”
The Stout brothers were not the only area champions.
Gerrit Nijenhuis captured the 182-pound title. The Canon-McMillan senior earned his second gold with an 8-2 decision against Donovan McMillon of Peters Township.
“Winning never gets old,” said Nijenhuis, who is 43-0 this season. “It’s especially nice when both titles came here at Canon-McMillan.”
In addition to the champions and runners-up, the top four finishers in the regional qualified for states.
Brinsky took third with a 5-3 win against Nick Delp from Kiski in his consolation bout. South Fayette’s Quentin Franklin took fourth at heavyweight.
C-M’s Costa Moore and Evan Miller gained their trips to Hershey with fourth-place finishes at 120 and 220, respectively.
Dylan Evans earned his first PIAA trip. The Chartiers Valley freshman finished fourth in the 126-pound weight class.