Burrell wrestling sends all-time-high 13 to WPIAL individuals

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, February 16, 2018 | 11:45 PM

The Burrell wrestling team got back in the practice room Monday after last weekend's PIAA Class AA team tournament in Hershey.

The focus was on the individual journey as the Bucs began what they hope is a successful march back to Chocolate Town in a couple of weeks.

That march began in strong fashion Friday evening at Canon-McMillan as Burrell crowned five Section 3 champions, finished with four runners-up and qualified 13 for Saturday's WPIAL championships.

“We wrestled well, and we're pretty excited for (Saturday),” said Bucs junior Bryan Gaul, now a three-time Section 3 champion after pinning Summit Academy's Brady Sherlock in the 126-pound finals.

The Class AA individual championships begin at 11 a.m., with 12 wrestlers in each weight class.

The top seven at each weight advance to the PIAA Southwest Regional on Feb. 23-24 at IUP.

Burrell coach Josh Shields said the 13 who qualified for the WPIAL individual finals are the most in school history.

“It was a solid effort,” Shields said. “There were a lot of good battles and some matches I thought we could've won. But at this stage, it's all about moving forward. We set ourselves up well for Saturday. We want to get a good night's rest and come back ready to compete.”

In addition to Gaul, freshmen Ian Oswalt (106) and Anthony Corrado (132) and seniors Corey Christie (152) and Shaun Gates (160) won section titles.

Christie and Gates repeated as section champs.

Burrell sophomore Trent Valovchik (30-12) will attempt to defend his WPIAL 106-pound title after finishing as Section 3 runner-up to Quaker Valley freshman Conner Redinger (28-1).

Also finishing second for the Bucs were junior Austin Mele (170), sophomore Ricky Feroce (182) and Mason Slahtovsky (220). Freshman Colby Christie (120), senior Ethan Awes (138), sophomore Noah Linderman (145) and senior Colton Moorhead (195) took third.

Valley crowned a pair of champions in junior Matt Ashbaugh at 220 and senior David Schuffert at heavyweight.

The section title was Schuffert's second in a row. He takes a 28-2 record into the WPIAL championships after losing in overtime of last year's heavyweight title bout.

“I can't wait to get back out there,” Schuffert said. “I am feeling really good. My finals match went really smooth.”

Ashbaugh's title is his inaugural place finish at a section tournament.

Junior Noah Hutcherson (170) and sophomore Travis Lashko (113) placed third, and senior Nick Banko (138) took fourth.

Hutcherson (34-5) bounced back from a loss in the semifinals to post a 12-0 win and a pin in 33 seconds.

Riverview qualified three for the WPIAL individual finals: senior Christian Tamburro at 160, junior Lucas Murphy at 113 and sophomore Isaac Murphy at 120.

“I thought we had a shot to get a couple more,” Riverview coach Joe Murphy said. “We fell a little short at 170 and 138, but we're looking forward to Saturday and seeing how the three coming back can do.”

Tamburro was the lone Raiders wrestler to make it to a section final. He fell to Gates by fall (2:23). Lucas and Isaac Murphy placed fourth.

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