Makel, Tracanna kept J-M wrestling on top
What Travis Makel and Justin Tracanna achieved in the relatively early to mid-1990s at Jefferson-Morgan is part of the Rockets鈥� rich wrestling history.
Makel, a two-time PIAA champion in 1994 and 1995, and Tracanna, a state champion in 1995, also led Jefferson-Morgan to a WPIAL Team Tournament championship in 1995. It was the program蘑菇视频 fifth title in seven years.
鈥淚 think they were able to feed off the previous group that went through and won WPIAL championships,鈥� said former assistant coach Scott Rhodes.
That first group included Cary Kolat, Jimmy Howard, Rob Keys, David Arnold, Billy White and Eric Mosier, among others.
鈥淚 mean we were loaded those couple years,鈥� Rhodes said.
鈥淲e were really good for a Double-A team and Travis and Justin, seeing that when they were in junior high, they were able to feed off that success.
鈥淭hey did things differently in approach and in style but the one thing they had in common was both were very intelligent individuals academically 鈥� excellent students.鈥�
Makel, who made use of his strong hips and abilities to scramble and use funk roll moves before they became fashionable, was hard to figure. He鈥檒l tell you he wasn鈥檛 the best or keenest in the practice room. He wrestled only during wrestling season.
Tracanna, was a year-round wrestler, a Cadet National champion and a technician with a game plan on the mat. He resides in Canonsburg with his wife, Nicole, and his children, Hunter, 13, and Stella, 11.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think, in hindsight, I really prepared properly,鈥� Makel said, 鈥減hysically or mentally. I just kind of hung out and went out and wrestled. I didn鈥檛 really have much of a game plan. I kind of worked out the case as I went along.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 begging to train. My first day of practice was the first day of practice. I never heard of freestyle. I was playing three sports. I never lifted weights. Wrestling was just my winter sport.鈥�
Tracanna was the opposite.
鈥淭he bar had been set so high at Jefferson-Morgan team-wise and individually,鈥� Tracanna said. 鈥淐ertainly, the team championships before us with those great wrestlers probably just drove us. You knew the expectations; they were higher in a positive way and there was a belief in a positive way to accomplish bigger things. Having that mentor/mentee relationship with Cary when I was younger, was huge.
鈥淛ust pulling on that uniform and having a sort of a swagger, gave you confidence and it carried throughout the team. It was an exciting time. The community was behind you. Everybody traveled everywhere and you know it was just a good time to compete for a really great team that was backed by a great community.鈥�
Ron Headlee, Jefferson-Morgan蘑菇视频 head coach then, appreciated the contributions and accomplishments made by the two.
鈥淭ravis was a little head strong,鈥� Headlee said. 鈥淏ut he had confidence in what he did. That蘑菇视频 one thing that I always liked about him. He didn鈥檛 back down from any situation. He believed no matter what, he was going to find a way to win and he usually did.
鈥淔or them to help us do what we did in the 1994-95 season, it was pretty amazing. They each believed in their own ways. Justin was a great technician and totally committed. I don鈥檛 think they were best friends or were buddy, buddy. But they led together. They just went out and they did their own thing. But they counted on each other to win. They believed and respected each other.
鈥淚 know that they had different personalities and approached it differently. That蘑菇视频 what I like about the sport. Everybody doesn鈥檛 have the same makeup. Nobody wrestles the same.鈥�
Makel credits many for Jefferson-Morgan蘑菇视频 success.
鈥淚t was kind of made easy by the coach we had,鈥� said Makel, who resides in Waynesburg with wife Rachael and children, Eli, 20, and Ellie, 16. 鈥�(Ron) Headlee was a fantastic coach and the (wrestling) room that we had was incredible.
鈥淲e had a lot of high-quality wrestlers. So, you know there鈥� s no place to hide from your partners. That competition absolutely helped.鈥�
Path to greatness
Makel might be the most under-appreciated two-time state champion. He also placed sixth in the state as a sophomore.
Some have questioned the legitimacy of his two state championships because of what happened in the 1994 and 1995 semifinals brackets opposite him.
In 1994, Makel won his semifinals bout over Mike Altif of Northern Lehigh. In the other semifinal at 130 pounds, Ryan Stephenson of Columbia won by disqualification over James Kocher of Pen Argyl for an illegal slam. Makel won in the finals by forfeit over Stephenson, who could not wrestle because of an injury suffered in the semifinals.
That蘑菇视频 never a fan-favorite way to win a state title.
As a senior in 1995, Makel dropped a weight class to challenge three-time PIAA champion Jason Betz of Warrior Run.
It was an unconventional and risky move by a defending state champion. Both advanced to the semifinals, and Makel won his match while Betz opened a 10-2 lead on Jeremy Lengle of Pine-Richland. But Lengle caught Betz in a spladle and pinned him, leaving the old Hersheypark Arena in shocked silence.
Makel蘑菇视频 attempt to meet Betz had ended. He would battle a familiar foe in the finals. He had defeated Lengle 16-1 and 8-2 the previous two weekends in the WPIAL and Southwest Regional tournaments.
This time, Makel fell behind Lengle, 7-0. But he again rallied to win a second gold.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 agree (he didn鈥檛 earn his titles),鈥� Rhodes said. 鈥淭here蘑菇视频 a lot of good wrestlers who didn鈥檛 make it to the state finals and Travis did his part to get there. That蘑菇视频 for sure. A lot of wrestlers show up there and fall short in the blood round or whenever. He made it to the finals twice and obviously he couldn鈥檛 control what happened on the other side of the bracket. I鈥檒l give him credit for when he got down seven, he was smart enough to take timeout, regroup and gather his composure. He knew he could win.鈥�
Makel attended Brown University on a scholarship before transferring to Washington & Jefferson, where he wrestled. He graduated in 1999.
Tracanna finished sixth in the state as a freshman in 1993.
Undefeated heading into the PIAA Championships in 1995, Tracanna was outstanding at Hershey and won the state title with a 10-6 victory over Mahanoy蘑菇视频 Joey Weidle at 171 pounds. He had to make a comeback but was confident in doing so after watching his opponent throughout the tournament. He finished 40-0.
鈥淚 did things that were uncharacteristic of me in that match,鈥� Tracanna said. 鈥淏ut it was by design because, you know this was before you had all the videos and could do all the scouting. I remember my dad saying that (Weidle) was a really good wrestler but 鈥榟e gets gassed a little bit.鈥�
鈥淭he game plan was to push the action. Because of that, I made some overly aggressive errors. He took some injury time in the second. Headlee and Rhodes were a little panicky and they鈥檙e wondering what蘑菇视频 going on. I was kind of smiling and laughing because in my mind it was going the way I planned. He was running out of gas.鈥�
Tracanna, who wrestled for West Virginia University for 2 1/2 years before shoulder injuries ended his career, graduated in 2001, was cruising along his senior season and seemingly on the road to a second PIAA crown. But a right shoulder injury kept him out of the lineup and, ultimately, denied him a chance to wrestle for that championship.
鈥淲hat still bothers me today about that time was I didn鈥檛 get to wrestle in the (Dapper Dan) Wrestling Classic. Of course, I wanted to defend,鈥� he said.
Said Headlee: 鈥淚 think he would have won another. It was really a shame. I just really thought Justin, and the senior year like he was having, had a great shot. He was hurt and it became hard. He tried to wrestle through it.鈥�
Headlee said both Makel and Tracanna have special places in Jefferson-Morgan wrestling.
鈥淭hat first crew of our great teams were gone,鈥� Headlee said. 鈥淭ravis and Justin kept Jefferson-Morgan at the top. It was a lot of other guys, too. But those were the two who it had to be. That has to say a lot about them because we graduated a lot of great wrestlers, and maybe the greatest (Kolat) and they kept us right there. That蘑菇视频 hard to do over that kind of period of time.鈥�