Powerade attracts area’s elite wrestlers
The 54th annual Powerade Wrestling Tournament promises to be another blockbuster event.
The event, scheduled to be held Dec. 29-30 at Canon-McMillan High School, is slated to include 55 teams — 12 of which are new to the event.
Bergen Catholic, New Jersey’s top team for nine of the past 10 years, and Cleveland Saint Edwards, which was ranked ninth in the nation this season, are among the newcomers at Powerade.
Among the local entrants are Canon-McMillan, Chartiers Valley, Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township and South Park.
Additionally, Waynesburg, which won the WPIAL Class AAA team title and was runner-up in the state in 2020, will participate. Wyoming Seminary and Malvern Prep return to defend their Powerade championship and runner-up titles.
Included among the wrestlers are four returning champions, nine returning runners-up, 60 returning place winners, 21 individual state champions and 26 2020 National Prep Tournament competitors.
“There will be some great individuals here,” said tournament director Frank Vulcano, Jr.
Mac Stout of Mt. Lebanon and Peters Township’s Donovan McMillon are among that group. Both are rising seniors, who were PIAA runners-up.
McMillon, who recently narrowed his 47 Division I football scholarship offers to his top 10 choices, compiled a 41-4-2 record during the 2019-20 scholastic campaign. The 182-pound wrestler was a bronze medalist at last year’s Powerade event.
Stout mounted a 42-3-2 record last winter. A regional champion, he finished fourth at Powerade at 170.
South Park’s Joey Fischer is a returning state runner-up and regional champion at 113 pounds. He finished 44-3 overall last year and was a bronze medalist at Powerade.
Canon-Mac has four upperclassmen returning to Powerade.
Among them are Jacob Houpt, who was 32-15 and seventh last year at 106; Costa Moore (30-14), who was a PIAA qualifier and fourth-place regional finisher; Matt Furman (36-15) and Tyler Rohaley (33-16), who reached the round of 12 at Powerade last year.
Chartiers Valley freshman Dylan Evans is not foreign to big wrestling events. He finished eighth in the state and fourth in the regional tournaments and had a 36-11 record at 126 pounds.
Joshua Sarasnick is another top CV upperclassmen making his Powerade debut. He was 32-10 last season at 220.
Staff writer Joe Tuscano contributed to this story.