Raiders’ Augustine, Homet place third at NHSCA Championships
Waynesburg Central’s Luca Augustine and Cole Homet rebounded from losses in the semifinals to place third at the National High School Coaches’ Association (NHSCA) Championships on Sunday at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Augustine, a sophomore, earned the bronze at 152, while Homet, a freshman, placed at 120 to achieve All-American status. Both wrestlers competed at the PIAA Class AAA Championships earlier in March. Homet placed seventh and Augustine was one win away from medaling. Augustine and Homet are coached by Joe Throckmorton.
Homet won his first four bouts to advance to the semifinals and assure himself of at least a top-six finish before suffering a 10-2 major decision setback to Florida’s Tom Crook. Crook went on to win the title. Homet rebounded with a 7-4 decision over Nevada’s Anthony Aniciete in the consolation semifinals.
Homet scored a takedown with 22 seconds remaining in the first period for a 2-0 lead. He escaped in the second and added another takedown for a 5-0 advantage heading into the third. Aniciete escaped to cut the deficit to four, but Homet scored a third takedown for a 7-1 lead. Aniciete scored an escape and takedown in the last 10 seconds but Homet held on.
Homet beat California’s Donte Lopez for a second time in the tournament. He earned a 4-2 decision over Lopez in the quarterfinals, and beat him, 7-4, in the third-place bout.
Homet scored a takedown with 1:22 remaining in the first period of the third-place bout and held that lead until the third. He escaped and scored a second takedown for a 5-0 advantage with 1:08 left. Lopez scored a reversal, cut Homet for an escape, added another takedown with 41 seconds remaining before letting Homet up again, but couldn’t get any closer.
Augustine dropped a 6-5 decision to Arizona’s Nicholas Steele, who went on to win the championship, in the semifinals before earning back-to-back double overtime decisions over two Pennsylvania grapplers in Tommy Dressler and Cole Spencer.
Augustine edged Dressler, 2-1, in the consolation semifinals. Dressler escaped with 1:20 left in the second period to break a scoreless tie before Augustine escaped with 54 seconds remaining in the third. Neither scored in sudden victory, and after Augustine rode out Dressler for the first 30-second rideout, he escaped with 24 seconds left in the second rideout and held on for victory.
Augustine used a five-point move in the first 30-second rideout and avoided being turned in the second rideout en route to a 6-2 decision. Spencer scored with two seconds remaining in the second period for a 1-0 lead before Augustine escaped with 1:54 left in the third. Both were warned for stalling in the one-minute sudden-victory period.
Augustine scored a reversal and three near-fall points for a 6-1 advantage heading into the second rideout. Augustine rode out Spencer, but was penalized one point for stalling.