Balanced Bethel Park lineup filled with 20-win wrestlers

By: Ray Fisher
Saturday, February 22, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Eight athletes assumed leading roles in the Bethel Park wrestling program this season.

Seniors Ethan Higgins, Aden Stout, Michael Gibson, Seth Miller and Hunter Goelz and sophomores Pierce Reinhart, Ian Bucheli and Colton Fisher all attained 20 or more victories by mid-February.

“Each of these wrestlers have had great seasons to date,” said their coach, Tyler Nauman. “We have challenged them with a tough team and individual schedule. We look for our wrestling of tough opponents all year to pay off this postseason for each of these guys and for them all to have deep runs like they can.

“Each is good in his own area, but all their skill sets in whatever area they may be good come from their hard work and dedication.”

The star of the show for the Black Hawks has been Higgins, who posted a 33-7 record at 145 pounds to hike his career mark to 116-48. He is the 17th wrestler in school history to eclipse the century mark in career wins.

Higgins finished 24-18 as a freshman, 25-13 as a sophomore and 34-10 as a junior. This year, he was leading the team with 14 falls and seven technical falls and was ranked No. 2 in Class 3A in his weight class in the Trib HSSN wrestling rankings.

Stout was 29-10 at 139 pounds — and 93-59 for his career — while Gibson stood at 28-12 at 285 and Bucheli 28-15 at 152. Gibson was ranked fifth in his weight class by Trib HSSN.

Three others, Reinhart (121), Miller (133) and Goelz (215) were bunched together with 26, 26 and 25 wins; Fisher (127) was next in line with 22. Reinhart was ranked third at 121 by Trib HSSN.

Miller won 20 times as a freshman and racked up a 32-17 record last year. He had 16 technical falls this season, and his career mark held strong at 87-46.

Bucheli accumulated 11 falls and nine technical falls so far in 2024-25.

Two other noteworthy contributors for the Black Hawks include sophomore Caleb Crawford (172) and senior Maksim Miller (160), with 19 and 18 victories.

Bethel Park posted a 12-2 regular-season record, taking first place Dec. 6-7 at the Chartiers-Houston Invitational and second place Jan. 17-18 at the Allegheny County championships.

“The team wrestled well all year,” Nauman said. “Beating any good team or top team in our region or state is challenging with a forfeit (in the starting lineup).

“Our team found that out all year with many close wins as a team and also two tough losses. But overall, we wrestled and competed well.”

Prior to the postseason, the Black Hawks were ranked fifth in Class 3A by Trib HSSN behind Connellsville (15-3), Franklin Regional (19-2), Norwin (16-3) and Thomas Jefferson (12-2).

Bethel Park had 10 grapplers end up as top-six placers at the WPIAL Class 3A Southern Sectional tournament Feb. 15 at South Fayette. All 10 qualified for the WPIAL championships.

“Although we pushed 10 wrestlers through, we did not wrestle remotely close to how we should have or our best,” Nauman said. “I pulled the team together before that last two rounds and told them this.

“Friday night, I advised them we all want to be section champs, but if we have a bump in the road, what matters is rebounding and advancing. We did that the final two rounds and put ourselves in the best possible places from that point, but ultimately, it wasn’t our best day. Even with having the most in the section qualified, I’m not sure we outshined the rest. The Black Hawks will learn, improve and rebound.”

Higgins (145) and Goelz (215) led the way at the section tournament with runner-up finishes. Reinhart (121), Fisher (127) and Stout (139) captured third place; Crawford (172) and Gibson (285) placed fourth.

Seth Miller (133), Bucheli (152) and Maksim Miller (160) corralled fifth place.

The WPIAL Class 3A tournament was set for Feb. 21-22 at Canon-McMillan.

“The only expectations we have is for our 10 wrestlers to show up confident and hungry to win while fighting every match,” Heinl said prior to the tournament. “If they do that, they can all do very well.

“The WPIAL is a tough region and anything can happen, but we will be prepared and ready to go.”

Tags: Bethel Park