Waynesburg rolls to individual, team titles
Joe Tuscano
Mac Church of Waynesburg Central has chosen Virginia Tech to advance his athletic and academic careers.
Wyatt Henson of Waynesburg Central holds onto Sam Hillegas of North Hills at 138 pounds at the WPIAL Class AAA Championship at Canon-McMillan High School Saturday. Henson won a 4-3 decision. (Photo by Joe Tuscano)
CANONSBURG 鈥� The awards stand was awash in red Saturday night.
Waynesburg High School, riding a rising tide, had three WPIAL Class AAA champions and won the team title Saturday night inside the gymnasium at Canon-McMillan High School.
Mac Church won the 106-pound title, Wyatt Henson wrestled arguably his best match of the year in winning the 138-pound title and Luca Augustine outlasted Jack Blumer of Kiski to take the gold medal at 160 pounds.
Belle Vernon蘑菇视频 Cole Weightman knocked off the No. 1 seed to win the 220-pound title.
Connellsville蘑菇视频 Jace Ross fell in the 120 final to Seneca Valley蘑菇视频 Dylan Chappell by fall in 2:32. He and the Falcons鈥� Mason Prinkey (fourth at 113) and Jared Keslar (fourth at 145) advanced to the state tournament in Hershey. The first round got underway at the Giant Center Thursday morning.
Joining the champions from the final matches was Rocco Welsh of Waynesburg, who took second place at 126 pounds.
Sweating it out in the blood round (state qualifying bout) was Cole Homet (132) of Waynesburg.
Waynesburg had five qualifiers and 159.5 points. Seneca Valley was second with four and 113 points and Canon-McMillan was third with three and 112 points.
Church, who entered the 106 weight class as the second seed, raised his overall record to 42-5 when he pinned Vince Kilkeary of Latrobe in 4:17. The two wrestlers can discuss the match early next week at the Young Guns wrestling club, where they work out together.
鈥淚 know he is a tough, strong kid,鈥� said Church, a freshman. 鈥淗e蘑菇视频 one of my practice partners and I just love the kid. We told each other that we would both make it to the finals. I felt a little bad because I showed some emotion at the end. I was just happy.鈥�
Church snapped out of a lethargic showing by gathering in the diminutive Kilkeary by hooking the leg and trapping the head, then turning him over and pinning him.
鈥淚 thought I could have taken more shots but things happen the way things happen,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t蘑菇视频 all God蘑菇视频 plan.鈥�
Henson avenged an 8-3 loss to Sam Hillegas of North Hills in last December蘑菇视频 Powerade tournament by taking Hillegas down twice, once in the second period and once in the third for a thrilling 4-3 decision. Hillegas, a two-time state champion, suffered his first loss to a WPIAL wrestler in his varsity career.
鈥淚 took some selective shots that I thought I could finish,鈥� the Waynesburg junior said. 鈥淭his win means a lot but I have to focus on states now.鈥�
Augustine outlasted Blumer 3-2 in the ultimate tiebreaker. Augustine, a second seed, entered overtime with the bout tied, 2-2. Augustine chose top for the final 30 seconds and Blumer had no answer.
鈥淚 was not going to stop for anything,鈥� said the second-seeded Augustine, a senior with a 41-7 record. 鈥淗e蘑菇视频 a really good wrestler, don鈥檛 get me wrong, but I went after him with everything I had. I knew he had phenomenal defense so I had to focus on clean shots and clean finishes.鈥�
Weightman entered the 220-pound weight class as the second seeed and knocked off John Meyers of Greensburg Salem, the top seed. His record is 29-1.