Penn-Trafford wrestlers Coy, Chishko headed to PIAA tournament

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, March 5, 2018 | 11:00 PM

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And then, there were two. With just seven wrestlers on the roster for much of the season, the Penn-Trafford wrestling team might have been short on numbers but always was long on desire and heart.

Penn-Trafford marched four wrestlers into Canon-McMillan's gymnasium last weekend, and after two days, a pair of Warriors survived the gauntlet that is the WPIAL Class AAA individual wrestling championships. Senior Job Chishko and junior Nick Coy moved on to this weekend's PIAA championships in Hershey.

“All in all, I thought it was really good weekend for our guys,” coach Rich Ginther said. “Nick and Job had some really great matches and put themselves in position to win in the finals but unfortunately didn't come up with it.”

The PIAA Class AAA championships begin Thursday at Giant Center.

“I'm really excited to be getting back there and trying to get on the podium,” said Chishko, a Bucknell recruit. “I had some hard losses last year at 132 pounds after moving up from 106, and I lost in the blood round. I definitely grew and learned from (that).”

It was literally and figuratively a reversal of fortune for Chishko, who will be making his fourth trip to Hershey. A week after Chishko beat Kiski Area's Cam Connor on a late reversal to earn a 2-0 decision and win the 145-pound title at the Section 1-3A tournament, the two met again in Saturday's finals match. Connor scored two points on a reversal at the 1-minute, 12-second mark of the third period to earn a 2-1 decision over Chishko.

“It's crazy how that goes,” said Chishko, 137-25 in his career. “I won on a reversal at sections, then he won at WPIALs by a reversal. He's really tough. I look forward to wrestling him at states if we meet.”

The depth and talent of Section 1-3A was on display at Canon-McMillan last weekend. Besides Connor and Chishko finishing No. 1 and No. 2 at 145, Franklin Regional's Colton Camacho, the top-ranked wrestler in the state at 132 pounds, and Coy (26-7) experienced deja vu when the two section rivals stepped into the circle for the 132-pound title match.

“(That) was my first time getting to the finals at WPIALs, and it was nice not having the stress of the blood round,” Coy said.

Coy didn't need to stress much. He knew exactly what to expect with Camacho. Coy lost to Camacho, 5-2, a week prior in the section finals. All Coy needed to do was stay away from Camacho's signature “snap-down go-behind” move.

“(Camacho's) a strong kid and a real good hand fighter on his feet,” Coy said. “You just have to keep with that pace and keep good position.”

Coy did that for three periods and two overtimes before Camacho struck with his move to get the two-point takedown and the 5-3 win in the third overtime.

“He ended up winning the match because in the second ride-out period he ended up taking me down,” Coy said. “We've been wrestling (one another) for so long we have a feel for each other, and we're friends.”

Friendship aside, if Camacho and Coy square off at states, it will be in the finals as their 1-2 finish in the WPIAL placed them on opposite sides of the bracket.

Also at the WPIAL tournament, junior John Bachar's postseason ended in the quarterfinals, when he was pinned by Butler's Christian Sequete at 2:16 in the 182-pound bracket. Sequete went on to win the 182-pound title.

Junior Brett Ginther's season finished in the Round of 16, where he lost via third-period fall to Wayensburg's Wyatt Henson.

“We still had all four guys alive going into Saturday, which is nice,” Ginther said. “We're in one of the toughest sections in the state. We're seeing top-notch competition from the start of December. The only difference here is, (the competition's) good from Round 1 all the way into the finals.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Penn-Trafford