A recap from the Giant Center
For the second straight year, I was able to make my way to the Giant Center in Hershey for the 2016 PIAA state wrestling championships. Not only did I get to witness the annual spectacle that is the greatest high school tournament in the country, but I was lucky enough to be in the arena for some truly memorable feats.
Jefferson-Morgan super sophomore Gavin Teasdale not only cruised to a second straight state title, but he did it in historically dominant fashion. Teasdale improved his high school record to 82-0 by going 4-0 with four technical fall victories and scored a tournament-record 96 points in those victories. Amazingly, his title-clinching 23-8 triumph over Boiling Springs’ Kollin Myers lasted just 3:30.
While Teasdale was clearly the most dominant wrestler at the AA tournament, an even more impressive performance was put together by a young standout who elevated himself from talented junior to one of the best grapplers in the country. Athens junior Brian Courtney survived the most difficult bracket in event history by doing something that has never been done before.
Courtney defeated not one, not two, but three returning state champions en route to being named AA Outstanding Wrestler. According to legendary western Pennsylvania wrestling writer and historian Ken Wunderly, this year’s 126-pound AA field was the first to boast that many gold medal winners in the event’s long and illustrious history.
Courtney, who was the returning 120-pound runner-up, first defeated the defending champ at the weight, Bedford’s Jonathan Gabriel. He followed that up by beating Reynolds sophomore Cole Matthew, who won last year’s 120-pound crown by edging Courtney 3-2. Despite two grueling wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, he still had enough left in his tank to down returning 113-pound champ Max Murin of Central Cambria 3-2.
Prior to the start of the PIAA tournament, I got the opportunity to interview Southmoreland heavyweight Jake Beistel. After that brief five minute exchange, I walked away genuinely liking the young man and rooting for him to finally capture the 285-pound gold medal that had eluded him over the past three years.
Beistel advanced to the title bout with relative ease (two first-period pins and a decision in the semifinals) and faced Cambridge Spring’s Zach Stafford for the gold. Stafford certainly didn’t make it easy for the Scottie big man, but when the final buzzer went off, Beistel was finally able to stand with his hand raised following a 3-2 victory.
The 11th-ranked heavyweight in the country will wrestle one more scholastic match on Saturday, March 26, in the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic. Beistel will compete as a member of Team Pennsylvania, which faces a loaded roster of the most celebrated competitors from the rest of the country. Following that match, he will hang up the head gear and return to the gridiron as a member of the St. Francis (Pa.) University football team.
While all six of Waynesburg Central’s state qualifiers would have loved to bring AAA medals back to Greene County, each of them can boast at least one win at the state’s highest level of competition. Senior Shaun Wilson (138) and junior Colin McCracken (182) claimed enough of those victories to place fifth and seventh, respectively.
Wilson’s 7-4 win over North Allegheny’s Jake Hinkson capped a stellar Raider career. Like Beistel, Wilson will get one more chance to compete as a high school wrestler at the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic. The veteran will be a member of Team WPIAL when it takes on an all-star team from the state of Indiana.