Peters Township remains undefeated in section wrestling
Peters Township moved to 3-0 in Section 6 wrestling action after a 56-9 triumph over Upper St. Clair.
John Radnor (127), Alex McGarrity (139), Noah Schratz (145), Parker Nave (172) and Caleb Bebout (215) all posted pins for the Indians.
Darius McMillon (133) and Giovanni DeChicchis (160) won with technical falls.
Isaac Meyers registered a major decision at 121 while Chris Cibrone (152) and heavyweight Zachary Stromock won by decisions.
For the Panthers, Tyler Shields had a pin at 189 and Alex Tucker won a decision at 107.
PT’s previous section wins have been against Baldwin, 59-18, and Bethel Park, 36-23.
The Indians also had a strong showing in the TRICADA Tournament held at Canon-McMillan. PT took 10th overall and crowned two champions: McMillon captured the 133-pound weight class while his younger brother, Dane took the 87-pound crown in the junior high division.
Other top varsity finishers for the Indians were: Radnor (fifth at 121), McCarrity (sixth, 139), Cibrone (fourth, 152) and DeChicchis (fourth, 160).
Other top junior high performers were: Julian Orsi (second, 87), Brody Ketner (third, 145), Luke Lamphere (fourth, 145) and Carson Kiger (third, 210).
The Indians visit Mt. Lebanon for a 7 p.m. match on Jan. 18 before squaring off with perennial power Canon-McMillan on Jan. 25 for the section title.
Bethel Park also has a critical contest with the Big Macs coming up. The Black Hawks will travel to Canonsburg on Jan. 18 for a 7 p.m. showdown.
The Black Hawks are coming off a 46-21 win against Mt. Lebanon.
After surrendering a pin to Cooper Wolling at 160 where the match started, BP reeled off falls by A.J. Tomaino, Hunter Goelz and Landon Hartman to take an 18-6 lead it would not relinquish.
Though Ben Lloyd escaped with a 1-0 win at heavyweight and Ejiro Montoya recorded a fall at 107 for the Blue Devils, BP reeled off five consecutive wins to ice the match. After a forfeit win at 114, Aden Stout registered a pin at 127 and Mason Kernan scored a tech fall at 133 while Aiden Bench and Ethan Higgins chalked up major decisions at 121 and 139.
After Cole Gibbons picked up a pin for Lebo at 145, Maksim Miller closed out the match with a 7-3 decision for the Hawks at 152.
The Hawks are 2-1 in the section. They opened with a 36-22 loss to PT but rebounded with a 54-9 win against Upper St. Clair.
Kernan has been BP’s most consistent performer this winner. He is 17-2 with five tech falls and two major decisions. Previously, he placed fifth in the Powerade Tournament. He is the 16th wrestler in BP history to place in the prestigious event.
For the Hawks, Goelz (9), Hartman (7) and Tomaino (6) lead the team in falls. Goelz (12-5) is one of four BP grapplers to sport 10 or more victories this winter. The others, besides Kernan, are Bench (11-3) and Hartman (10-1).
Bethel Park and Mt. Lebanon will meet again on the mats when the teams participate in the Allegheny County Championships to be held Jan. 20-21 at Fox Chapel.
In other wrestling action, Jonny Baiano captured a championship at the TRICADA Tournament. The South Fayette grappler decisioned West Greene’s Seth Burns, 9-8, in the 121-pound finals.
Other Lions to place were Brock Dennison and Luke Dunlap, fourth at 107 and 139 respectively as well as Jacob Potts and Talan Mizenko, fifth at 133 and 152.
NOTES: The top three teams in each of the six sections advance to the WPIAL team tournament, which is scheduled to start Jan. 30 with preliminary action. The WPIAL team championship match is set for Feb. 4.