Burrell wrestling looks to start its own streak against rival Kiski Area

By: Michael Love
Tuesday, December 12, 2023 | 9:12 PM

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The Burrell wrestling team waited 10 years to get back into the win column against rival Kiski Area.

The Bucs ended the decade-long losing streak to the Cavaliers in a match last season at Kiski Area High School that went down to the wire.

Julian Bertucci’s pin at 121 pounds clinched the match. While the Cavaliers won at 127 — Kiski graduate Ryan Klingensmith pinned current Bucs junior Calio Zanella for a 34-30 lead — defending Burrell state champion Cooper Hornack picked up a forfeit at 133 to clinch the 36-34 victory.

Back-to-back wins for the Bucs over the Cavaliers hasn’t happened for a while, but Hornack hopes that will become a reality when the teams do battle Wednesday at Burrell in the annual clash of Alle-Kiski Valley powers.

“I look forward to this every year,” Hornack said. “Everyone is ready for this one. It’s going to be pretty exciting. Now, we’re looking to start a streak and, hopefully, keep it going for a while. But it is never easy against them, no matter what year it is. They have a strong lineup, and we’re going to have to be ready.”

In last year’s match, Kiski Area held a 7-6 advantage in overall wins, 2-0 in decisions, 1-0 in major decisions, and 4-3 in pinfalls.

But Burrell earned 18 points with three Cavaliers forfeits.

Cooper Roscosky experienced the Kiski-Burrell rivalry match for the first time as a freshman last season and earned one of the Cavaliers’ bonus-point triumphs with a major decision at 189. He hopes to be one of several from his team who can come up big and put Kiski back on top.

“This is a rivalry that I witnessed all throughout my childhood,” Roscosky said. “Watching my brother (Brayden) come up and compete in it, it is a match that we really wanted to win. It is a match that I want to win now. Guys on both teams know each other really well. There’s respect on both sides. We want to get this (win) back for Kiski.”

Burrell’s high school gym is expected to be rocking Wednesday.

The emotions and energy always are high when the Burrell and Kiski Area boys teams meet, but for the first time, there will be a girls dual match involving two Alle-Kiski Valley teams.

The Bucs and Cavaliers girls will meet at 6 p.m. and lead into the boys match at 7.

“We’re all just so happy for the opportunity the girls have, not only (Wednesday) but the entire season,” Kiski coach Chris Heater said. “To be able to add their match to the evening is really special. It will be a great atmosphere for wrestling.”

Karly Jo Thomas, the first Kiski girls wrestling coach, said there should be about a half dozen head-to-head matches contested with each team expecting to earn one or two forfeit wins.

A couple of youth bouts will kick off the evening.

“Burrell and Kiski, it’s just a good grind-it-out type match,” Burrell junior Isaac Lacinski said. “There’s nothing that will be easy about it. There’s going to be pressure, just as in any other match. You just have to go in there and do your best.

“There is going to be a ton of people here. It’s going to be packed.”

Kiski Area junior Mark Gray, a Columbia commit who won 32 matches last year and placed seventh at 172 at the PIAA championships, remains out of the lineup as he recovers from an injury. Heater expects him to be back competing for the Cavaliers in the first half of January.

Senior Riley Shearer earned six points for Kiski against Burrell last year with a pin at 152. He’s hoping to contribute to a team win this year.

“This match means so much to everyone,” Shearer said. “We’re looking to get the bragging rights back.”

Burrell hopes to keep the momentum gained from its trip to the McCallie Invitational in Tennessee on Friday and Saturday. Six Bucs wrestlers earned medals as the team finished second out of 40 in the team standings.

Sophomore Cam Baker (113), Hornack (144), and Lacinski (175) each won individual titles, while Zanella (138) placed second, Bertucci (132) was fourth, and freshman Carter Thomas (120) took sixth.

Every Bucs wrestler won at least two matches.

“I am really pumped coming from that tournament,” said Hornack, also a Columbia commit. “We had multiple guys place, and everyone won at least two matches. It helped raise everyone’s confidence level. It was a great start to the season.”

Added Lacinski: “It was a great couple days of team bonding, and we also wrestled really well. There was some great competition. It was a good trip.”

Kiski Area kicked off the season at the Hampton Dawg Duals and went 1-4. The lone victory came against the host Talbots, 51-21. Two other matches, setbacks to Altoona and Thomas Jefferson, came by a combined three points.

“There were some things that we were disappointed in, and there were some really good things throughout the day,” Heater said. “I don’t really feel like that was a true reflection of who we are and what we are seeing in the practice room. Five dual meets in one day, one right after the other, was a lot for some of the younger kids. We got to the fifth match, and some of the guys were just worn out.

“We worked on a lot of things in the room (Monday) and today, and I hope to see improvement against Burrell.”

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.

Tags: Burrell, Kiski Area