Bethel Park wrestlers overcoming adversity
Photos: Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Aiden Bench wraps up a major decision against Conner Smalls. The Bethel Park junior defeated his teammate, Seth Miller, to capture seventh place at 121 in the Allegheny County Championships. Miller took eighth place.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Ethan Higgins of Bethel Park puts the finishing touches on a major decision against Mt. Lebanon’s Franco Busalacchi during dual meet competition. Higgins finished fifth at 139 in the Allegheny County Championships.
Aden Stout of Bethel Park puts the moves on Grant Elder of Mt. Lebanon during previous dual meet competition. More recently, Stout was one of five placewinner for the Black Hawks during the Allegheny County Championships. He placed eighth at 127.
Before Neil deGrasse Tyson became a famed astrophysicist, he wrestled. He captained his Bronx High School of Science team before he went on to earn degrees from Harvard, Texas and Columbia universities.
Of the sport, Tyson once said that it’s the hardest thing in the world to do. “Anyone who says something else is the hardest thing has never wrestled,” he added.
The wrestlers at Bethel Park did something a little more difficult. They wrestled with heavy hearts during the Allegheny County championships as well as during key section dual meets against Canon-McMillan and Baldwin.
Many are still in mourning after the sudden death of Shawn O’Mara on Jan. 14. O’Mara had a son, Riley, who wrestled for the Black Hawks before matriculating to Seton Hill University. Riley is a 184-pound junior for the Griffins.
O’Mara also had a daughter, Carley, a senior who plays on the Lady Hawks’ basketball club, and another son, Frank, a sophomore who plays football and basketball.
O’Mara’s death, said BP wrestling coach Tyler Nauman, has been “tough” on his team.
“There were a lot of very close ties,” he said, noting that many of his wrestlers either lived next door to the O’Mara family or in the same housing development. “Plus, they know the other two kids because they play sports here, too. So there are a lot of close ties.”
Naaman gave all his wrestlers the option of participating in the county tournament.
Five of them reached the podium and the Black Hawks placed 11th in the team standings.
“I give the whole team a lot of credit, particularly with what we had going on,” Nauman said. “I can’t imagine how hard it was to wrestle, especially for the ones close to (Riley). It was tough on a lot of them. They showed a lot of heart coming out here and choosing to wrestle.”
Landon Hartman was BP’s top finisher. He won a major decision against Shaler’s Vito Barravecchio, 9-0, to win the bronze medal in the 215-pound weight class. A junior, Hartman scored three pins and a decision in previous rounds before falling into the consolation brackets. He pinned Chartiers Valley’s Tyler Glover to reached the third-place bout with Barravecchio.
“Landon flipped a switch and wrestled a lot different his last two matches and came away with a tough, third-place,” said Nauman. “It was hard for him.”
Challenging was the 121-pound weight class where BP put two grapplers on the podium. Aiden Bench defeated Seth Miller, scoring a first-period fall in 36 seconds to secured seventh place. Miller placed eighth.
Ethan Higgins finished fifth at 139 while Aden Stout took eighth at 127.
“It’s a good tournament,” Nauman said. ” There are a lot of high-level kids here and every one came away with multiple wins, some of them bonus-point wins, which is great. They gained confidence and hopefully they can build upon this.”
The Black Hawks faced another tough week when they dropped their rescheduled dual with Canon-McMillan, 55-11. In the loss, Mason Kernan recorded a technical fall at 133 for his 18th win of the season. Dheyea Danyan scored a pin at 152 for BP’s other win in the match.
The Black Hawks scored a win against Baldwin, 47-24, to nail down third place in Section 6 to secure a spot in the WPIAL Class AAA team tournament, scheduled to begin Jan. 30.
BP will face Fox Chapel at 6 p.m. Jan. 30 at Kiski Area in its first playoff dual. If the Black Hawks beat the Foxes, they would travel to top-seeded Waynesburg for a match at 6 p.m. Feb. 1.
The semifinals and finals are set for Feb. 4 at the AHN Arena at Peters Township High School.
“Everything is boom, boom, boom,” Nauman said. “We have to handle our business.”
Other action
Mt. Lebanon finished 10th in the Allegheny County championships and put three on the podium.
Ejido Montoya and Cole Gibbons brought home bronze medals at 107 and 145 while heavyweight Ben Lloyd finished fourth.
Upper St. Clair’s Ben Cedar finished fourth at 152.
South Fayette’s Brock Dennison finished fourth at 107 while Jonny Baiano placed fifth at 121. Also for the Lions, Jacob Potts and Talan Mizenko secured sixth places at 133 and 152.
Peters Township will travel to Butler for a first-round WPIAL team tournament match at 6 p.m. Feb. 1. The winner will take on the victor between Hempfield and Trinity being held at the same time.