Burrell wrestling teams moves 1 step closer to 16th consecutive WPIAL Class 2A title
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Wednesday, February 2, 2022 | 9:35 PM
Burrell’s Damian Barr works to pin Montour’s Riley Hensley at 160 pounds during their WPIAL Class 2A team quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, at Burrell High School.
Burrell’s Cole Clark pins Montour’s Henry Orlandini at 189 pounds during their WPIAL Class 2A team quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, at Burrell High School.
Burrell’s Shawn Syzmanski works to pin Montour’s James Rippey at 152 pounds during their WPIAL Class 2A team quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, at Burrell High School.
Burrell’s Cooper Hornack works to pin Montour’s Jacob Stetz at 120 pounds during their WPIAL Class 2A team quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, at Burrell High School.
Burrell’s Calio Zanella works to defeat Montour’s James Walzer at 113 pounds during their WPIAL Class 2A team quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, at Burrell High School.
Burrell’s Shawn Syzmanski is awarded the victory at 152 pounds after pinning Montour’s James Rippey during their WPIAL Class 2A team quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, at Burrell High School.
Burrell’s Nico Zanella works to pin Montour’s Jerrod Bethea at 172 pounds during their WPIAL Class 2A team quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, at Burrell High School.
Burrell’s Nico Zanella works to pin Montour’s Jerrod Bethea at 172 pounds during their WPIAL Class 2A team quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, at Burrell High School.
No. 1 remains alive for No. 16.
The Burrell wrestling team, the top seed in the WPIAL Class 2A tournament, took care of business Wednesday with a 57-18 triumph over No. 9 Montour.
The victory sends the Bucs to the WPIAL semifinals Saturday at Chartiers-Houston and puts them a step closer to a shot at a 16th consecutive team championship.
“We’re all really excited for Saturday,” said senior 189-pounder Cole Clark, who scored one of eight pins for Burrell against the Spartans.
“Fifty-seven to 18 tonight. You really can’t ask for much more than that. We’re really focused, and we wrestled like it against Montour. We love the pressure. What it’s going to take (Saturday) is a complete team effort, just like any other dual. We have to come together, keep working and keep fighting.”
Burrell (11-4) will face No. 5 Mt. Pleasant (12-4) on Saturday in one of two semifinals at noon. It is a rematch of a 43-25 victory for the Bucs in the Section 3 championship match Jan. 26 at Mt. Pleasant.
Mt. Pleasant topped No. 4 Beth-Center, 37-28, in the quarterfinals.
“It was a close matchup with Mt. Pleasant last week,” Burrell coach Josh Shields said. “It was kind of even for a little bit, and then we won a big one up top that kind of blew it up. But they are a tough team and will no doubt try to come back with a vengeance.
“We were the better team last week, but that really means nothing on Saturday. Our guys are focused on the task at hand. They know what is at stake.”
If Burrell tops Mt. Pleasant, it will advance to the finals at 1:30 p.m.
Burrell jumped to an early 6-0 lead on Montour as Cooper Hornack pinned Jacob Stetz at 2 minutes, 51 seconds of their 120-pound bout.
Anthony Orlandini won by forfeit for Montour at 126 before Burrell’s Niko Ferra (132) and Montour’s Perer Chacon (138) scored pins.
At that point, the match was tied at 12-12.
Burrell then asserted itself by going on a pin spree from 145 to 189.
Isaac Lacinski (145), Shawn Szymanski (152), Damian Barr (160), Nico Zanella (172) and Clark each picked up six team points. Just like that, Burrell led 42-12.
Montour’s Ben Koch stopped the run at 215 with his second pin in as many matches. His fall earlier in the evening over Fort Cherry’s Mitchell Cook, No. 4 in the Trib HSSN Class 2A rankings at 215, helped lift the Spartans to a 36-25 first-round victory over the No. 8 Rangers (7-8).
Luke Boylan (285) followed with a pin, and Lucas Grazmiller (106) won by forfeit for Burrell before Calio Zanella scored a 6-5 decision over Montour’s James Walzer at 113 to set the final.
“That is what postseason wrestling is all about: scoring bonus points,” Shields said. “That is something we’re always working on and preaching. Obviously, we have some talented guys on this team who can score a lot of takedowns and win a lot of matches by major decision or tech fall, but for us to accomplish our team goals, we want to always work to get those extra points with pins. We came out tonight and got eight falls. That was great to see.”
Montour fell to 6-3. The Spartans will face Fort Cherry again Monday in a nonsection match.
“We wanted the match with Burrell to go a little bit better than what it did, but we know just how tough they are and how tough they’ve been,” Montour coach Zachary Tournay said. “They were just a little bit more physical than we were today.
“But it was nice to come out and get that win over Fort Cherry. We knew it was going to be a to be a close match. Luckily, we were able to weigh in extra guys at different weight classes. We were able to bump around to get some matchups we wanted, and it turned out positive for us.”
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, Fort Cherry, Montour
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