Chartiers Valley wrestlers find individual success

By: Don Rebel
Saturday, February 19, 2022 | 11:01 AM

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This season has been a wild ride on the mat for the Chartiers Valley wrestling team.

The Colts have enjoyed historic highs and struggled through some tough lows.

They missed the WPIAL team playoffs for a second straight year after finishing 0-4 in the tough Section 4-3A.

“We definitely had a few holes coming into the season, and we saw that coming from last season,” Chartiers Valley wrestling coach Bill Evans said. “Like many wrestling programs, we took a slight hit to our numbers during and after covid. But I would say that we struggled as a team more so because of the strength of our opponents. All of the teams in our subsection are really good.

Waynesburg Central won a third straight WPIAL title while Canon McMillan reached the district semifinals and qualified for the PIAA team playoffs.

While the team struggled, several Chartiers Valley wrestlers achieved individual success so far.

Juniors Brady Joiling and Dylan Evans, along with seniors CC Beatty and Josh Savasnick, are all ranked in the WPIAL and PIAA. According to PA Power Wrestling, Joiling is ranked fifth in the WPIAL and 20th in the state, Evans second and second, Beatty fifth and 19th and Savasnick fifth and 23rd.

“Our wrestlers have had a really tough schedule this season, between our strong subsection matches and competing in tournaments like King of the Mountain and Powerade, these guys are battle tested and getting prepared for the individual postseason,” Evans said.

Some of the achievements this season included Savasnick picking up his 100th career victory.

“We are so proud of Josh,” Evans said. “He’s the 13th member of the Century Club in Chartiers Valley history. This is a great achievement, but even more for a bigger wrestler. When Josh was a freshman, he was wrestling against mostly juniors and seniors. His hard work and dedication has paid off and he will forever be in the history books here as one of the top wrestlers in school history.”

Beatty won the 160-pound division at the Allegheny County Championships.

“CC wrestled a great tournament,” Evans said. “Heading into the finals, he was actually leading the tournament for the most amount of falls in the shortest period of time. I think he is the first county champion that we have had in almost a decade.”

Also in the County Championships, Evans finished second while Joiling and Savasnick finished in third place in the 113 and 215 weight divisions, respectively.

“Dylan, Brady and Josh came up a little short, but they all wrestled really well,” Evans said. “Dylan and his opponent from Pine-Richland are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the WPIAL and PIAA. That match could go either way. They had a nice game plan. Brady was actually beating the county champ in the semis with under 10 seconds left in the match, but got caught with a headlock basically at the buzzer. Josh lost a tight semifinal match also, and battled back to take third with back-to-back falls in the consolation brackets.”

Evans feels one big addition to the program this season was not a wrestler, but the hiring of a member of his coaching staff, Troy Reaghard.

“Troy was an NCAA qualifier for the University of Pittsburgh, a three-time WPIAL champion and a PIAA runner-up. He brings so much to the table as a coach. He is technically sound, professional and has helped many of our wrestlers make some huge gains this season.”

Chartiers Valley will miss soon-to-be-graduating seniors such as Beatty, Sarasnick, Ashton Sadowski, Eric Allen, Gavin Novak and Khojiakbar Sultanov, however Evans is excited about where the program is headed moving forward.

“I’m looking forward to seeing this junior class step into a role next season as mentors and leaders,” Evans said. “The 2022 group paved the way, and I want to see them pass the torch to the next generation. Dylan and Brady are going to bring a lot of leadership on the mats, but our three other juniors, Anthony Trout, Joseph Kochin and Chase Dalbon will also be there to mentor and lead the team.

“We have some fantastic young wrestlers that will start for us next season. I expect Logan Connolly to continue to develop and be a huge difference maker next year.

“We have some really nice young wrestlers coming up from our junior high team next year, led by 2021 junior high state medalist Michael Lawrence. I also expect junior high state qualifiers Morgan Silberman, Howard Clellan and Jack Czarnecki to have an immediate impact as freshman starters next season.”

Tags: Chartiers Valley