Peters Township beats Bethel Park to win sub-section
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Towship’s Chris Cibrone locks in on the leg of Bethel Park’s Max Miller en route to taking him down.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Bethel Park’s Ethan Higgins puts Peters Township’s A.J. McGarrity on his back en route to recording a major decision at 132 pounds.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township’s Phillip Nave closes in on a pin against Bethel Park’s Jacob Brown.
Peters Township defeated Bethel Park, 32-23, and captured the Section 4-B wrestling championship.
The Indians rallied from a four-point deficit and won four of the last five bouts to seal the title.
Peters Township’s Chris Cibrone ignited the rally by scoring a fall at 138.
Noah and Eliot Schratz followed with 8-0 and 11-4 decisions for the Indians against the Black Hawks’ Bryson Bench and Cordan McDonnell at 145 and 152, respectively.
A 13-5 major decision by Aaron Slizik at 160 clinched the match and preserved PT’s 5-0 section record.
The match started at 189 with Landon Hartman posting a pin for the Black Hakws but PT recovered quickly. After Peters Township’s Max Balistreri earned a 3-0 decision against Logan Pettigrew, Phil Nave recorded at fall at heavyweight.
BP carved out a 19-15 advantage, however, by winning three of the five light weights.
Bethel Park’s Seth Miller tied the match, 9-9, with an 8-2 win against Issac Meyers at 106.
Mason Kernan scored a pin at 120 and Ethan Higgins recorded a major decision at 132 for the Black Hawks.
Peters Township freshman Darius McMillon won a 4-0 decision against Aiden Bench at 113 and John Radnor edged Aden Stout, 3-2, at 126 to contribute keys wins for the Indians, who improved to 6-1 overall.
Despite the defeat, BP (7-3, 4-1) qualified for the WPIAL team tournament.
The top two teams in each sub-section earned playoff berths.
The team event starts with section tournaments Jan. 26 at the home gymnasium top finisher in sub-section B, which is Peters Township.
The Class AAA team tournament starts Feb. 2 at a site to be determined. Sixteen teams will be featured.
While two-time defending champion Waynesburg, Latrobe and Connellsville have established themselves at the top contenders, teams like PT and BP know anything can happen.
In fact, the Black Hawks were the last Allegheny County team to win a team title in 2008.
“It’s rare to do but it can be done,” said BP head coach Tim Crawford.
Lebo, SF win
In other dual meet action Jan. 19, Mt. Lebanon trounced Upper St. Clair, 60-15.
Mac Stout (189), Grant Elder (120), Joseph Gamble (132), Sam Mago (145) and Nick Busalacchi (160) picked up pins for the Blue Devils.
Tyler Shields (215) and Andrew Pirnat (285) had falls for the Panthers.
USC’s Dan Martin (172) earned the other win in the match, during which there were five forfeits.
Chartiers Valley dropped a 45-24 decision to South Fayette.
Dylan Evans (152) and CC Beatty (172) had falls for the Colts.
Travis Watkins (160), James Anderson (126) and Jacob Potts (138) picked up pins for the Lions.
Also for SF, Anthony Oliastro, Luke Dunlap and Talan Mizenko won by decisions while Domenic Oliastro won by injury default.
Each team won two bouts by forfeits.