Bethel Park wrestler wins title
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Bethel Park’s Mason Kernan, left, wrestles Mt. Lebanon’s Grant Elder during the Black Hawks’ 42-24 victory over the Blue Devils in section dual meet action.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Bethel Park placed seventh during the Allegheny County wrestling championships. Pictured, from left, are place winners Landon Hartman, Ethan Higgins, Aiden Bench, Bryson Bench, Mason Kernan, Cordan McDonnell and Seth Miller.
Bethel Park sophomore Mason Kernan surprised nobody around the Black Hawks wrestling program when he claimed a championship during the Allegheny County wrestling tournament.
“It’s what we expected,” said BP head coach Tim Crawford.
Since his youth wrestling days, Kernan has been a winner.
Before he reached high school, he already was a two-time place winner on the Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling circuit. His junior high reputation preceded him such that some opponents forfeited his weight class so he ended up with a 14-4 record his freshman year. Last winter, Kernan also captured a section runner-up title and was a WPIAL qualifier.
This season, Kernan is undefeated at 23-0. He won titles at the Eastern Area and Southmoreland tournaments before heading to Fox Chapel for the county championships.
After picking up pins in his opening matches against Stephen Thompson of Plum and Quaker Valley’s Marcus Richey, Kernan dispatched Luke Dunlap from South Fayette, 3-0, in the quarterfinals. He scored a major decision against Montour’s Anthony Orlandini, 19-5, in the semifinals before edging Dominic Ferraro of Pine-Richland, 6-5, for the 120-pound title.
“Mason wrestled well. He’s been tremendous all year,” said Crawford.
“For Mason, his strength is his consistency. He’s very dedicated and responsible when it comes to being serious about wrestling. He works hard.”
After attending a high school practice, Kernan typically takes part in a club practice. He trains year-round and has an older brother that wrestled at Pitt as a role model.
“Mason has big plans for himself and so do we,” Crawford said.
The goal is for Kernan to place at the WPIAL Class AAA championships set for March 4-5 at Canon-McMillan. The semifinalists all advance to the PIAA championships set for March 10-12 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
“Mason is in a tough weight class but the goal is for him to place at WPIALs, be in the top four and get to states,” said Crawford. “Anything can happen after that.”
Several other Black Hawks also performed well at the county championships.
Aiden Bench claimed runner-up honors at 113. He suffered a pin in the finals against Jack Kazalas from Quaker Valley.
Bryson Bench, brother of Aiden, just missed the bronze medal in the 138-pound weight class when he dropped a heartbreaker to Ray Worsen of Fox Chapel in overtime. Worsen scored the sudden-victory by an 8-6 decision.
Corden McDonnell finished fifth. He won by injury default over South Fayette’s Talan Mizenko in the 145-pound consolations.
Landon Hartman secured seventh place at 189. He won his consolation match by injury default against Fox Chapel’s Jake Patterson.
Seth Miller and Ethan Higgins also contributed to BP’s seventh-place showing in the team standings.
Both earned eight places at 106 and 132, respectively.
In addition to Dunlap’s third-place at 120 and Mizenko’s sixth-place performances, Jonathan Baiano and James Anderson scored pins in their respective consolation matches at 113 and 120 to contribute to South Fayette’s 13th-place showing in the team standings.
Ben Cedar had big plans for the 2021-22 wrestling campaign after leading Upper St. Clair in victories his first two varsity seasons.
A junior, Cedar suffered a severe injury after pinning his first two opponents in the season-opening tournament at Charters-Houston. He limped to losses against eventual champion Tyler Berish of Beth Center in the quarterfinals and Isaiah Pisano of Hopewell in the consolation round.
Two days later he was diagnosed with bursitis and cellulitis and developed two bacterial abscesses above his kneecap. Placed on oral antibiotics, he bandaged up the leg and posted a pin in 31 seconds against Owen Loughran to pace the Panthers to a 36-33 win against Central Catholic.
Within 48 hours, however, Cedar was admitted to St. Clair Hospital for emergency surgery because the wound had become septic and spread up his thigh.
Cedar missed dual meets against rivals Petes Township and Bethel Park as well as the Moon Duals and Southmoreland Tournament while attempting to recover.
Once cleared to wrestle, Cedar celebrated with a pin against Braydon Barbao in 38 seconds during a dual meet against Ringgold.
He followed with a fifth-place finish in the 152-pound weight class during the Allegheny County championships held Jan. 14-15 at Fox Chapel.
Cedar opened with falls against Montour’s James Rippey (2:43) and North Allegheny’s Kellen Buggey (1:29).
Though he lost to top-ranked and eventual champion Kelin Laffey of Pine-Richland by major decision, 14-3, in the quarterfinals, Cedar managed to finish fifth. He scored a major decision against Bryan Randolph of Highlands, 9-1, to earn a spot on the podium.
While his condition is day-to-day, Cedar hoped to participate in the Burgettstown Tournament before prepping for the sectional and district championships.
Cedar owned a 9-4 record after the county championships. He is 44-29 in his career.
Cedar was 14-9 as a sophomore and 21-16 during his first varsity campaign. He was one of only two freshman to qualify for the WPIAL tournament at 138. He is a two-time section place winner (fourths) and district qualifier.