Allegheny County wrestling tournament notebook: Mt. Lebanon’s Luke Stout impresses in quest for fourth title

By: Greg Macafee
Friday, January 17, 2020 | 6:40 PM

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For the past three years, the Allegheny County tournament has been good to Mt. Lebanon senior Luke Stout.

He’s a three-time champ and after earning three pins on Friday at Fox Chapel High School, Stout is making a run at No. 4.

“I’ve just wanted to keep doing the same stuff I’ve been doing,” Stout said. “I think it would be cool to win four titles, so I’m gonna try everything in my power to do that.”

The 195-ponder earned his first fall of the day in 11 seconds over South Allegheny’s Charles Sethman. For an encore, Stout went up 7-0 on Keyshawn Frazier from Woodland Hills in the Round of 16, then pinned him in 42 seconds.

He capped off the day with a 1 minute, 16 second pin of Dalton Dobyns from Moon that punched his ticket to Saturday’s semifinals.

“I think I was able to get to my attack right away and assert myself pretty quick,” Stout said. “So that kind of allowed me to save myself for tomorrow and the rest of my matches.”

In his first match Saturday — the semifinal rounds will begin at 11 a.m. — Stout will take on Donovan O’Malley from Chartiers Valley.

Luke won’t be the only Stout wrestling on Saturday as his younger brother Mac also worked his way into the semifinals.

Mac, who wrestles at 170 pounds for Mt. Lebanon, earned three pins on Friday as well and will take on No. 4 seed Brian Finnerty from Thomas Jefferson.

While his older brother knows there is still work to be done, he’s hoping he and his brother can win a county title together once again.

“Last year we got to win the title together, so it’s the same plan this year,” Luke said.

Quick and easy

North Hills 138-pounder Sam Hillegas is a two-time Allegheny County champion and when he won his weight class last year, he put on a show, winning all five of his matches via pin. Only one got out of the first period.

On Friday at Fox Chapel, Hillegas looked to top that performance. He won his first two matches via pin and neither lasted longer than 30 seconds. His first came in 15 seconds and his second came in 22.

“I got to my shot right off the bat and locked up something tight,” Hillegas said. “I got a cradle in both matches and just made sure it was tight enough to get the fall.”

Hillegas’ first day at the Allegheny County tournament ended quickly and as he received a default to the semifinal round on Saturday. The North Hills senior is looking forward to it.

“I was just trying to get these matches out of the way for today before the better competition comes tomorrow,” Hillegas said. “Tomorrow, I’ll be able to open up a little more, get to my stuff and work on some different things.”

Hillegas will take on Kale Buckiso from Thomas Jefferson in the semifinals.

Familiar faces

When Quaker Valley’s Logan Richey and Mike Carmody stepped onto the mat for their 113-pound quarterfinal match on Friday, they found themselves staring at each other and competing for a semifinal berth.

Because of a PIAA rule change that permits schools to enter more than one wrestler in a weight class, teammates have found themselves going up against each other at times this season. On Friday, it just so happened to be Richey’s and Carmody’s turn.

“I think it’s good and they are practice partners, so they don’t really get a chance to go at each other,” Quaker Valley coach Mike Heinl said. “I was just concerned about Logan Richey coming back from an arm injury, but they are competitors and they were like, ‘Let’s go do it.’”

Carmody came out on top with a 15-8 decision and earned an opportunity to take on No. 1 seed Vince Citrano from Plum in the semifinals.

Still alive

Heading into Saturday’s semifinals, every No. 1 seed but one still has an opportunity to compete for a county title.

The only top seed that won’t be making an appearance in the semifinals is 220-pounder Damon Thompson. The North Hills senior dropped a close 3-1 decision to Quaker Valley’s Donovan Cutchember in the quarterfinals. Cutchember used a third-period takedown with 7 seconds left to seal the win.

Remaining No. 1 seeds:

106: Jacob Goldberg, Taylor Allderdice; 113: Vince Citrano, Plum; 120: Joey Fischer, South Park; 126: Ryan Michaels, Elizabeth Forward; 132: Kelin Laffey, Pine-Richland; 138: Sam Hillegas, North Hills; 145: Nate Lukez, Pine Richland; 152: Conner Redinger, Quaker Valley; 160: Brendan Finnerty, Thomas Jefferson; 170: Mac Stout, Mt. Lebanon; 182: Patrick Cutchember, Quaker Valley; 195: Luke Stout, Mt. Lebanon; 285: Ben Grafton, North Allegheny

Top 10 teams:

1. Pine Richland, 139; 2. North Allegheny, 130.5; 3. Mt. Lebanon, 107.5; 4. Thomas Jefferson, 107; 5. Hampton, 106; 6. North Hills, 105; 7. Elizabeth Forward, 97; 8. South Fayette, 93; 9. Chartiers Valley, 88; T-10. Moon, 85; T-10. Quaker Valley, 85

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Chartiers Valley, Elizabeth Forward, Hampton, Moon, Mt. lebanon, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine-Richland, Quaker Valley, South Fayette, Thomas Jefferson