Burrell rolls into semifinals in search of 12th straight WPIAL wrestling title

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 31, 2018 | 11:39 PM

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Step one is complete.

The Burrell wrestling team can turn its focus to Saturday's WPIAL Class AA semifinals in pursuit of its 12th consecutive team title. The No. 1 Bucs rolled to a 62-12 quarterfinal victory over Mt. Pleasant on Wednesday.

“We came out and wrestled, I feel, our most complete match of the year,” Burrell coach Josh Shields said. “That's the type of momentum we want to carry into this weekend.”

The Bucs will take on McGuffey in the semifinals at noon Saturday at Chartiers-Houston. McGuffey defeated South Side Beaver, 56-21, in the first round and South Fayette, 38-31, in the quarterfinals at Canon-McMillan.

The WPIAL championship match is slated for 2 p.m.

“Every day, we're getting closer to getting our 12th in a row,” Burrell's Trent Valovchik said. “It's exciting, and hopefully we can continue this weekend and do our best out there,”

Valovchik, No. 1 at 106 pounds in the Tribune-Review WPIAL Class AA rankings, earned an 8-2 decision over No. 5 Damien George to break an early tie and put the Bucs ahead for good at 15-12. The bout was 3-2 after the second period before Valovchik recorded a takedown and nearfall points to set the final.

“George is a kid I've wrestled a couple of times in the past two years, and we always have good matches,” Valovchik said. “I was a little banged up, but I just wanted to go out there and do my best, and I ended up coming out with the win.”

Ian Oswalt at 113 followed Valovchik's lead and added to Burrell's advantage with a fall in 4 minutes, 43 seconds over Doug Bittner. Oswalt also owned a major-decision win over Bittner from Saturday's Thomas Chevrolet Tournament at Bedford.

“Getting the fall there was huge,” Shields said. “He's one of the guys we expect to get bonus points from, and he delivered against a very tough opponent.”

Burrell's A.J. Corrado met Mt. Pleasant's Alex Miscovich for the third time this season. Miscovich topped Corrado, 8-6, in the 132-pound semifinals at Bedford, but Corrado turned the tables Wednesday and scored a 5-0 decision.

“It's always a good match when they wrestle,” Shields said. “We're up 2-1 now.”

Corrado's victory, coupled with forfeit wins by Colby Christie (120) and Bryan Gaul (126), extended Burrell's lead to 36-12.

Dominic Holmes' forfeit win at 138 put the lead to 42-12 and clinched the match.

With the win already in the books, Daniel McCarthy scored an 8-0 major decision at 145, Shaun Gates tallied a 16-2 major decision at 160, and Corey Christie and Austin Mele picked up forfeit wins at 152 and 170, respectively.

The match started at 182 as Burrell's Richard Feroce picked up a first-period takedown of Alex Shaley and added an escape and a takedown in the second before recording a pin at 3:08.

Mt. Pleasant's Zack Charlesworth, No. 3 at 195 in Trib rankings, evened the score at 6-6 with a quick pin in 1:08.

The teams then traded victories at the two heaviest weights. Mason Slahtovsky won for Burrell with a pin at 220, and Cody Vokes put one in the win column for the Vikings with a 46-second pin at heavyweight.

Mt. Pleasant began the evening with a 41-33 first-round victory over Burgettstown.

“The postseason championship environment is what these guys train for,” Shields said. “A lot of these guys have been here from the beginning. The seniors are going for their fourth WPIAL title. They're always excited for the opportunity. There's always areas we can improve, and we'll work on those over the next couple of days.”

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Burrell, Mt. Pleasant