蘑菇视频

Dec 31, 2025 By Jonathan Guth 5 min read

CANONSBURG — In the critically acclaimed film and novel “Gone with the Wind,” lead character Scarlett O’Hara concludes both works with the famous line, “After all, tomorrow is another day.”

The book and movie are classics, but they were also released in 1936 and 1939 respectively, so the members of the Connellsville wrestling team may not be aware of either, but they sure followed O’Hara’s quote on Tuesday morning after a tough quarterfinal round on Monday evening in the 59th Annual Powerade Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School.

The Falcons’ Tommy Gretz, Nolan Rice and Kai Vielma rebounded from their losses in the round-of-eight to win their matches in the sixth round of consolations, which determines whether a wrestler will place in the tournament or not. The round is known among aficionados of the sport as the “blood round.”

All three victories in the blood round were special, but Vielma’s meant a tad more as the junior and Stanford commit earned the 100th win of his career in a 2-0 decision over Bishop McCort’s Jackson Butler in the 145-pound weight class.

“This morning I finally broke through and got on the medal stand with a win in the blood round, but to also get my 100th career win is the cherry on top,” Vielma said.

Vielma is in rare company among one of the strongest programs in the WPIAL, as three members of the Connellsville coaching staff — Ashtin Primus, Chad Jesko and Mason Prinkey — had over 100 career victories in their career at Connellsville.

Primus is No. 1 on the all-time wins list with 179. Jesko is 13th with 120 and Prinkey is 19th with 109.

Vielma’s brother, Lonzy, is fifth on the list with 154 career triumphs. Lonzy is currently wrestling at West Virginia University.

“I texted him a little bit here and there, but he is at practice now,” Kai said. “I am going to go home tonight and hang out with him. He helps me out a lot, especially over break. We drilled a couple of times and he is a great resource for me.”

Vielma was in a battle with Bobby Duffy of Christian Brothers Academy, N.J., in the seventh round of consolations, as the bout was scoreless with Vielma choosing bottom to start the third period, but the Iowa commit and the No. 6 ranked wrestler in the country caught him in a cradle for the fall.

“I’m not going to lie, I’m kind of bummed out about the match after the blood round,” Vielma said. “That kid, he’s pretty tough, but it was 0-0 going into the third after I rode him out the whole second. I chose bottom and I stood up, but I got my head a little bit too close to my knee. He hopped sides, got in a cradle, and pinned me.

“That’s a match I definitely think I could win. I am going to see that guy again in a couple of weeks at Escape the Rock.”

Vielma won his next match, 4-1, over Clinton Plotner of Lake Highland Prep, Fla., to finish in seventh place. Vielma lost in the blood round last year.

Vielma is 12-2 this season and 101-14 for his career.

Gretz dropped a 4-0 decision to DuBois’ Mateo Gallegos in the quarterfinals but won his match in the blood round over Germantown Academy’s Max Berman, 7-0, to assure a spot on the podium.

Gretz blanked Wyatt Stauffer of Blair Academy, N.J., by decision, 4-0, before dropping his final two bouts to place sixth at 121.

“It was a relief to win in the blood round because of the nerves knowing that you have to win to reach the podium,” Gretz said. “I was happy to get that out of the way, and after that, I started to feel like myself. I felt 100 percent in my next match. I lost in the blood round last year.”

Gretz, who placed at Powerade for the first time, improved to 11-4 this season. The junior has a career mark of 70-21.

Rice clinched his spot on the podium with a 5-2 victory over Wyoming Seminary’s Alex Marchetti at 127. He lost his next two bouts for eighth place. Rice medaled for the first time at Powerade.

“It was pretty nice to win this morning,” Rice said. “I never made it to the blood round at Powerade before, so to make it to the blood round and win was nice. It felt like a curse.

“I think my mindset is pretty good, and I think I wrestled well, but I think I need to be more offensive. I was stingy enough and didn’t give up too many points, but I need to score more when I have the opportunity instead of laying back.”

Rice, a junior, improved to 10-5 this year and is 85-30 in his career.

The Falcons were 21st in the team standings with 65.5 points. They were fourth among WPIAL squads in Kiski Area (13th/88), Norwin (17th/74.5) and Derry (18th/72.5). Connellsville had the most medalists for District 7 schools with three.

“I think our team is shaping up nicely now that Zach (Franks) is at 114, and that helps us a lot, but I think we are going to be fine,” Vielma said. “The top teams in this tournament are nationally ranked, so to finish near the top 20 is good for us.”

Lake Highland Prep won the team championship with 189.5 points. Malvern Prep was second with 176.5 and Blair Academy finished third with 165.

Bishop McCort’s Jax Forrest became the seventh four-time Powerade champion with a 20-13 decision in the finals at 139. Forrest was also named the tournament’s “Outstanding Wrestler.”