Canon-McMillan, Burgettstown fall in PIAA team wrestling semifinals

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, February 10, 2023 | 3:14 PM

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HERSHEY – Winning a PIAA team championship is not easy.

Just ask WPIAL Class 3A champion Canon-McMillan and Class 2A champion Burgettstown.

Both teams reached the semifinals Friday at the Giant Center but saw their dreams end against tough opponents.

Canon-McMillan dropped a 38-20 decision to District 11 runner-up Nazareth, and Burgettstown fell in a hard-fought match to District 10 runner-up Fort LeBoeuf, 31-23.

Things didn’t start well for the Big Macs as Dominic Wheatley defeat Matt Furman, 4-2, in overtime at 172 pounds. Furman almost secured a takedown in overtime, but Wheatley countered and got the winning takedown.

“I wish we would have gotten Matt’s match,” Canon-McMillan coach Brian Krenzelak said. “We gave them a good battle. We just came up short.”

Canon-McMillan drops into the consolation round where it will face the winner of the Waynesburg/Chambersburg match at 11 a.m. Nazareth faces District 11 rival Bethlehem Catholic at 1 p.m. for the championship.

Nazareth won big in the middle against Canon-McMillan, collecting two pins and two decisions between 152 and 189.

“I thought every wrestler battled against the competition they were matched up with,” Krenzelak said. “I felt we battled very hard. Hartman got a nice win for us and Andrew Binni got a win in overtime.

“I’m proud of my guys. It was a tough loss and they wanted more. I know the kids would like to medal.”

Tanner Mizenko (107) and Josiah Gardner (145) picked up pins for the Big Macs and Geno Calgaro (215) added another win to his record.

Burgettstown, meanwhile, lost eight of 13 matches to Fort LeBoeuf.

Fort LeBoeuf got close wins from Brady Bowers at 107, Jojo Przybycien at 133, Brody Beers at 152 and heavyweight Dan Church.

Bowers edged Darius Simmons, 6-4; Przybycien nipped Gaven Suica, 3-2; Beers topped Logan Noyes, 4-3; and Church got by Joe Baronick, 6-4.

Joe Sentipal (139) and Rudy Brown (160) picked up pins for the Blue Devils.

“The kids knew the swing matches that needed to be won,” Burgettstown coach Joe Vigliotti said. “I can’t call out anybody and said who should have won, but they know who they are.

“That’s wrestling. It was a great job by them and a great job by us. It was a great, fun and exciting dual.”

Burgettstown will now try to refocus for Saturday and earn a medal. It won’t be easy as it gets the winner of Notre Dame-Green Pond/Brookville match at 11 a.m.

“We can hold our own with the best,” Vigliotti said. “Little Burgettstown. I know all my guys grew up in Burgettstown. I can’t say that about all the other teams here.”

Canon-McMillan 49, Spring Ford 18 – The Big Macs fell behind 12-0 before roaring back for the win in the quarterfinals. The Big Macs (17-2) got consecutive pins by Matt Furman (172), Gabriel Stafford (189), Geno Calgaro (215) and Noah Livesay (285). They also got a pin by Ryder Joseph (133) and major decision wins by Brandon Dami (121) and Andrew Binni (127).

Bethlehem Catholic 55, Waynesburg 8 – Rocco Welsh (172) and Eli Makel (215) were the only Raider wrestlers to register wins against the No. 1 ranked team in the state in the quarterfinals. Welsh won by technical fall and Makel a decision. Bethlehem Catholic recorded six pins and had a forfeit. Kollin Rath rallied to defeat Waynesburg’s Mac Church, 4-3, at 145 pounds.

Waynesburg 43, Delaware Valley 15 – The Raiders bounced back from a tough loss to Bethlehem Catholic to dominate Delaware Valley in a second-round consolation match. The Raiders won nine of 13 matches and got pins from Nate Jones (152), Roan Tustin (189), Brody Evans (215) and Eli Makel (285). Waynesburg now faces Chambersburg at 9 a.m. The winner faces Canon-McMillan at 11.

Burgettstown 30, Saucon Valley 28 — The Blue Devils advanced to the semifinals by defeating District 11 runner-up Saucon Valley, 30-28, in the quarterfinals. The WPIAL champions strung together six consecutive wins in the light weights to overcome a slow start. Picking up key wins against three of Saucon Valley’s best were Parker Sentipal (121 pounds), Dylan Slovick (127) and Rudy Brown (152). Darius Simmons (107) and Gaven Suica (133) had pins for the Blue Devils (17-0), and Joe Sentipal clinched the win with a 5-2 victory at 139. Burgettstown next faces District 10 runner-up Fort LeBoeuf at 7 p.m. Friday.

Quarterfinals

Class 2A

Burgettstown 30, Saucon Valley 28

160: Rudy Brown (Bg) d. Liam Scrivanich, 4-3.

172: Jared Rohn (SV) major dec. Jake Noyes, 16-6.

189: Mason Beckowki (SV) p. Tristin Roach, :40.

215: Evan Leibert (SV) dec. Tyler Cody, 8-2.

285: Jacob Jones (SV) dec. Joseph Baronick, 6-4.

107: Darius Simmons (Bg) p. Ty Dellmyer, :41.

114: Daniel Smith (Bg) won by forfeit.

121: Parker Sentipal (Bg) d. Aiden Grogg, 4-0.

127: Dylan Slovick (Bg) dec. Cole Hubert, 5-4 (UTB).

133: Gaven Suica (Bg) p. Bradon Pfanders, 1:37.

139: Joe Sentipal (Bg) dec. Jackson Albert, 5-2.

145: Travis Riefenstahl (SV) won by forfeit.

152: Leonidas Zaharakis (SV) won by forfeit.

Class 3A

Bethlehem Catholic 55, Waynesburg 8

152: Jake Dailey (BC) major dec. Nate Jones, 13-3.

160: Andrew Harmon (BC) p. Jake Stephenson, 1:07.

172: Rocco Welsh (W) tech fall Dario Cruz, 20-4 (3:28).

189: Luke Thomas (BC) dec. Brody Evans, 4-1.

215: Eli Makel (W) dec. Augustus Warke, 6-1.

285: Elijah Thompson (BC) p. Kaden Russell, 3:21.

107: Ken Dillard (BC) p. Floyd Huff, 1:00.

114: Nathan Desmond (BC) p, Ky Szewczyk, 1:09.

121: Ryder Campbell (BC) p. Albert Medlen, 1:47.

127: Shane McFillin (BC) p. Luke Rush, 2:40.

133: Cael McIntyre (BC) won by forfeit.

139: George Pavis (BC) dec. Daniel Huffman, 4-3 (SV).

145: Kollin Rath (BC) dec. Mac Church, 4-3.

Canon-McMillan 49, Spring Ford 18

152: Jake Mest (SF) pinned Racer Litster, 3:31.

160: Anthony Attilio (SF) pinned Blake Ward, 4:54.

172: Matthew Furman (CM) p. Gavin Klipphahn, :31.

189: Gabriel Stafford (CM) pinned John Kelly, 2:34.

215: Geno Calgaro (CM) pinned Daniel Borzillo, :53.

285: Noah Livesay (CM) pinned Connor Hudak, 1:58.

107: Tanner Mizenko (CM) tech fall Gus Smith, 26-11 (5:45).

114: Cole Smith (SF) pinned Collier Hartman, 3:42.

121: Brandon Dami (CM) major dec. Dominick Ferrizzi, 12-2.

127: Andrew Binni (CM) major dec. Quinn Smith, 14-6.

133: Ryder Joseph (CM) pinned Steven DeAngelo, 5:10.

139: Luke Shaffer (CM) dec. Jamie Silva, 6-3.

145: Josiah Gardner (CM) dec. James McGill, 8-2.

Semifinals

Class 2A

Fort LeBoeuf 31, Burgettstown 23

160: Rudy Brown (B) pinned Dom Stearns, :47.

172: Conner McChesney (FL) pinned Tristin Roach, 2:52.

189: Ryan Welka (major dec.) Jake Noyes, 14-5.

215: John Duran (FL) pinned Tyler Cody, 3:09.

285: Dan Church (FL) dec. Joe Baronick, 6-4.

107: Brady Bowers (FL) dec. Darius Simmons, 6-4.

114: Daniel Smith (B) tech fall Nikolay Bardwell, 15-0 (5:20).

121: Parker Sentipal (B) dec. Jake Bennett, 3-1.

127: Noah Cuic (FL) dec. Dylan Slovick, 8-3.

133: Jojo Przybycien (FL) dec. Gaven Suica, 3-2.

139: Joe Sentipal (B) pinned Blake Glass, 2:18.

145: Eric Kovach (B) dec. Jackson Bowers, 4-0.

152: Brody Beers (FL) dec. Logan Noyes, 4-3.

Class 3A

Nazareth 38, Canon-McMillan 20

172: Dom Wheatley (N) dec. Matt Furman, 4-2 (SV).

189: Sonny Sasso (N) dec. Gabriel Stafford, 12-6.

215: Geno Calgaro (CM) dec. Marco Malerba, 13-7.

285: Sean Kinney (N) pinned Mason Williams, :28.

107: Tanner Mizenko (CM) pinned Remy Trach, :53.

114: Collier Hartman (CM) dec. Dom Rizzotto, 7-6.

121: Tahir Perkins (N) dec. Brandon Dami, 12-6.

127: Andrew Binni (CM) dec. Charlie Bunting, 9-7 (SV).

133: Jack Campbell (N) pinned Ryder Joseph, 3:19.

139: Jake Doone (N) tech fall Luke Saffer, 18-3 (3:13).

145: Josiah Gardner (CM) pinned Alex Dimartino, 3:19.

152: Cade Campbell (N) pinned Racer Litster, :59.

160: Brayden Zuercher (N) pinned Blake Ward, 1:24.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Burgettstown