3 Plum wrestlers claim Eastern Area titles

By: Michael Love
Sunday, December 11, 2022 | 11:01 AM

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Plum wrestling coach Mike Supak said the Eastern Area Invitational Wrestling Tournament on Dec. 2 and 3 at Gateway was a strong first step for his young but experienced group.

The Mustangs finished a close second to Bethel Park in the team standings and produced three champions, one runner-up, a trio of fourth-place finishers, two fifths and a sixth.

“They did very well,” Supak said. “Every wrestler got a win and got a pin. They were setting up their shots. They were finishing. They were doing the things they wanted to do from what they were working on the in the practice room. They also found out what they still wanted to work on. No one has their conditioning where they want it.

“They understand that it is a process. A lot of them were able to meet their goals and set themselves up for hopefully more good things.”

Eleven of the 13 Plum wrestlers entered in the event won at least three matches. Junior Jack Tongel saw the most action over the two days as he finished 4-2 and placed fifth at 172 pounds.

Juniors Charlie Campbell (4-0 at 152) and Rylen Campbell (3-0 at 114) and freshman Owen Campbell (3-0 at 107) all brought home EAIWT titles.

Rylen Campbell picked up where he left off last year when he captured a team-best 30 victories (30-8) and went 2-2 at 106 at the WPIAL Class 3A tournament.

“The first match, I was a little bit sloppy. But after that, I was on a roll,” said Rylen Campbell about his Eastern Area performance.

“Overall, I felt I did pretty well. It was a good start to the season for me. We are all really excited about this season. I think if we wrestle the way I know we can, we can challenge for the section title.”

Senior Olandis Freeman went 3-1 at the Eastern Area Tournament. He wrestled in the championship bout at 285 but was not able to finish because of an injury.

Supak said the injury shouldn’t keep Freeman out of action.

“He had a very good first day and a good semifinal match,” Supak said. “The finals just kind of got away from him. Other than that, everything else looked pretty good.”

Placing fourth at Eastern Areas were junior Carson Yocca (3-2 at 121), sophomore Trent Reese (3-2 at 133) and senior Frank Macioce (3-2 at 215), while junior Sam Snyder took fifth (3-2) at 127, and senior Dakoda Pisano was sixth (3-3) at 160.

“The guys were really feeding off each other,” Supak said.

Supak said he likes the depth of his team. In addition to Rylen Campbell, Snyder (27-11), junior Antonio Walker (26-8), Tongel (24-17), Macioce (23-15), junior Andrew Claassen (22-13) and Yocca (21-10) won at least 20 matches last year.

Snyder went 3-3 at 113 at WPIALs and took sixth overall.

Walker is battling back from injury, and Supak said he should be ready to go after the holiday break.

Freeman (19-17) and Pisano (19-14) both came close to that 20-win mark last year.

“We have a number of guys who are sort of on top of each other in terms of the lineup,” Supak said.

“We’re still working on the lineup to get it to where we want it to be. We’ve been working on seeing guys moving away from each other. Once that happens, we will be a little more even.”

Supak hoped to see that play out more Saturday at the Hampton Dawg Duals, an annual early season opportunity for some of the area’s top teams including the host Talbots, Seneca Valley, Thomas Jefferson, Kiski Area, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant and Fox Chapel from the WPIAL and District 6’s Altoona.

The event offers a chance to wrestle up to five times in a single day.

“A lot of the guys could have 10 to 12 matches in the first week of the season,” Supak said.

“It lets them know where they’re at in terms of conditioning and what else they need to work on. We’re always looking for that, especially this early.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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