Chartiers Valley wrestler claims county title
Dylan Evans might not be familiar with Sammy Davis Jr. but the Chartiers Valley High School senior is quite acquainted with the entertainer’s signature song when he’s on the wrestling mats.
“I gotta be me,” Evans said.
At the start of the season, Evans exhibited flashes of himself. He racked up 11 straight victories, six by falls, before dropping two of his next three bouts.
“I do it every year,” Evans groaned. “Early on in the season, I wasn’t wrestling myself. I was trying to wrestle like someone else. I think that halts my progress.
“I tried to wrestle like a wrestler that I wasn’t. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to take small bits and pieces from people but I still have to be myself. Wrestling like a different person is not necessarily a bad thing but I wouldn’t find it ideal. Everyone should wrestle (as) themselves.”
Evans entered the scholastic wrestling season as a defending district, regional and state champion, not to mention a national runner-up. He also trained with collegiate All-Americans as well as NCAA champions in preparation to defend his own titles.
“When you pal around guys like that, you want to be like them but you can’t be them. All you can do is try to become the best wrestler you can be.”
During the Allegheny County Tournament on Jan. 20-21, Evans was the best version of himself. He picked up two pins and three technical falls on his way to his first championship title in the event.
Evans opened with first-period falls against Fox Chapel’s Milo Wright (57 seconds) and Kijuan Harris of Keystone Oaks (26 seconds) before recording technical falls at 4:14 and 5:05 against Brady Fitz from Thomas Jefferson, 17-2, and North Allegheny’s Adam Rohan, 21-6.
He defeated Baldwin’s Keith Mincin by technical fall, 24-7, within four minutes to claim the 160-pound weight class.
“This tournament, I wrestled like myself. I was in all my positions. I picked up some little things from the other wrestlers that translated to my finals match,” Evans said. “Because of that, I think that I am growing as a wrestler.”
Evans has developed into one of the finest grapplers in CV history. After the county championships, he sported a 121-27 record. A three-time PIAA qualifier and state medalists, Evans though is only a one-time Allegheny County winner.
So, his victory over Mincin at Fox Chapel High School on Jan. 21 was special.
“This is great,” he said. “Coming into my senior year, it’s the only tournament that I had not won. Winning WPIALs, winning states and a bunch of other tournaments, okay that’s pretty cool but lo and behold in the county, I only take third and second in years past. So to win it, is special. I’m very happy that I had a very good showing.”
The performance was beyond good as Evans claimed the Outstanding Wrestler distinction, too.
“I’m blessed to have had a tournament like this because it’s a cool event. The stands are packed, the fans are screaming and it’s the toughest county to win. Things are run really well here. There are no breaks, no malfunctions. So you are grateful to be wrestling in something like this.
“It’s definitely a positive and to also win Outstanding Wrestler is an amazing feat because there are so many other great wrestlers that competed well. I’m very blessed to have achieved such an award.”
William Evans, who is the CV head coach as well as Dylan’s father, said that the OW honor was well deserved.
“Dylan was extremely dominant in his matches,” he said. “He did really well.”
His lone criticism was the ‘brain lapse’ that prevented ‘catching a fall’ in the final.
“We have to cure that because sometimes when you get in big matches that aren’t decided by 15 points or it’s a 2-point match, we have to close those. We are going to take a look at that and make sure we don’t fumble around, that when we get in a winning position, then we quickly take advantage.”
Winning a county championship gives Evans an advantage as he prepares for individual tournaments scheduled to begin in late February with district, regionals and state tournaments being held in early March.
“Dylan’s in a good place mentality and we like where he is now,” Coach Evans said. “He’s enthusiastic.”
The county title not only thrilled Evans but it inspired him. He hopes the triumph translates to better things ahead, especially in the post-season, and spurs him on to winning another state title.
That will happen as long as Evans remains true to himself.
“I need to stay like myself. Myself is a three-time state placer and state champion. Myself is a Fargo All-American. Myself is a guy that can wrestle with anybody in the nation. At least that’s my thought,” he said.
“I think I have wrestled a lot of great wrestlers. For all the wins and losses, this is a very positive one for going into the next tournament and the post season. But it’s never done. You just keep trying to wrestle and be the best version of yourself that you can be.”
Brady Joling earned runner-up honors at the Allegheny County championships.
The Chartiers Valley senior took second place in the 121-pound weight class after dropping a 9-2 decision to Quaker Valley’s Jack Kazalas in the finals.
A Davidson commit, Joling opened the competition with three consecutive, first-period falls against Tristan Albert from North Hills, Central Catholic’s Gavin Lugaila and Isaac Welner from Obama Academy.
He reached the championship round with decisions over Baldwin’s Owen Klodowski, 3-1, and Plum’s Sam Snyder, 4-0.
“When Brady gets in control of a match, he really takes control of it,” said CV mat boss William Evans. “He wrestled a good tournament but (the final) got away from him. He needed to start scoring points right away.
“Brady is such a good counter offensive wrestler but I’d like to see him create his own offense. There were some opportunities there where he had a shot; he had some opportunities to score but he did not take advantage of them.
“He scores a lot off other people’s offense and he is really good at it. He’s a tough wrestler on the mat but we want to be able to get out there and get that first takedown and put ourselves in the driver’s seat.”
Joling’s showing coupled with a championship from Dylan Evans enabled the Colts to finish fifth in the team standings with a 162.5 point total. Plum captured the team title with 230.5 points while Pine-Richland secured second place with a 207 score. North Allegheny (202.5) and Quaker Valley (165) followed in third and fourth positions.
The Colts placed three additional wrestlers on the podium. Michael Lawrence finished fourth at 139, Tyler Glover took fifth at 215, and Logan Connolly secured seventh place at 127.