Quaker Valley wrestling goes through highs, lows

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, January 29, 2018 | 11:00 PM

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In its second year of existence, the Quaker Valley wrestling program has logged several notable achievements this season but also has endured frustrating setbacks.

Just days after several Quakers impressed at the county wrestling tournament, Quaker Valley suffered disheartening defeats in the WPIAL Class AA Section 3 team tournament.

Among the four semifinalist teams, the Quakers finished fourth. Although there is no shame in falling to Burrell, the 11-time defending WPIAL champ, one surprising outcome particularly stung. Quaker Valley's John Rocco Kazalas, the top-ranked 132-pound Class AA wrestler in Pennsylvania, was upset in his bout against AJ Corrado. Courtesy of a third-period escape, Corrado pulled off a 5-4 stunner.

“He did not go out and wrestle his match. He was tentative,” Quaker Valley coach Mike Heinl said. “It's our job to fix it.”

Quaker Valley lost 75-3 against Burrell, with 182-pound junior Jeff Magin scoring the only decision in favor of the Quakers.

Heinl detailed the disparity in scoring between his squad and the perennial powerhouse Bucs.

“We just don't match up,” he said. “Quaker Valley is not built right now for dual-meet competitions. We have too many forfeits, and you just cannot be competitive at a higher level with more than one forfeit.”

In the third-place match, the Quakers faced a Valley team that was constructed with holes similar to Quaker Valley. While there were some bright spots, such as freshman Conner Redinger moving up to 120 pounds and winning via technical fall, Valley edged the Quakers, 39-35.

“Everybody was pretty disappointed in their performance. They're anxious to get back in the room and figure out what went wrong,” Heinl said.

Just four days earlier, Kazalas and Redinger captured titles at the Allegheny County Wrestling Tournament at Fox Chapel.

Redinger, competing at his natural 106-pound class, dominated his way to the title. After scoring pins in his first three matches, the freshman notched a 9-2 decision against North Allegheny's Max Stedeford in the finals.

Kazalas was even more impressive, as he won all of his matches by pinfall. In addition to his first-place trophy, the Quakers' junior won an award for the most pins in the shortest amount of time.

“That tournament is pretty competitive, and he did very well,” Heinl said of Kazalas. “We weren't expecting him to pin everybody in that bracket, but he went out there and got the job done.”

In addition to the two champions, the Quakers were well represented by Magin, who finished fifth at 182 pounds, and Brad Fadeley, who placed seventh in the 220-pound class.

Because the Quakers took only seven competitors to the tournament, Heinl was not concerned with the team standing but rather how his individuals fared.

“We knew we had a shot to get pretty deep in the individual brackets. It's always good to go out and wrestle some AAA wrestlers to see where we stand,” he said.

While Heinl believes the Quakers could have five competitors reach the state individual tournament in Hershey in a few weeks, an imposing team test looms large.

The Quakers, who finished 4-3 in Class AA Section 3A, traveled to face Freedom in the WPIAL first-round bout Wednesday. The Bulldogs won Section 1 with a mark of 7-0. Results of that match were unavailable at press time.

Sean Meyers is a freelance writer.

Tags: Quaker Valley