Chartiers Valley wrestling looking to rebound with international flair

By: Ted Sarneso
Sunday, December 8, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

When you walk down the steps into the depths of the Chartiers Valley gymnasium and wind your way through the hallways, you’ll eventually find the Colts wrestling practice rooms.

On your way to the rooms, you pass a weight room on your right that is partitioned off from the hallway by a chain-link cage. Displayed on the cage is a sign that reads: “If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.”

The last two seasons have been a challenge for the Chartiers Valley wrestling program. The team finished 4-7 overall and 1-4 in Section 5-3A in 2022-23 and 0-5 in section matches and 5-12 overall last year.

The team lost its top two wrestlers to graduation after both seasons.

“We graduated my son, Dylan, and Brady Joling after the 2022 season,” Colts head coach Bill Evans said. “Dylan is a starter at Pitt and Brady is currently injured, but is wrestling at Davidson College.”

Last year, the Colts lost Tyler Glover, who went 17-12 at the 215 and 285 weight classes, and Nick Pruchnitzky, who finished 16-12 at 189 and 215.

“Tyler was pretty tough and is now playing football at Duquesne, and Nick took third in sections and was a very strong kid,” Evans said.

The Colts have a strong trio of captains in seniors Logan Connolly and Howard Clellen and junior Mike Lawrence who are ready to take on the challenges facing them as leaders of a young team.

Connolly went 30-14 last year at 133 and was third in sections and seventh at regionals. Lawrence went 28-10 at 160 and was second in sections. Clellen wrestled at 189 and 215 and was 13-14.

“Logan looks pretty good again this season,” Evans said. “Mike, in my opinion, can get a state medal at 160 this year, and Howard is a big, strong kid who works hard and is starting to find some traction right now. Each of these guys has what it takes to get to regionals and knock on the door for Hershey.”

“I really liked my top work last year,” said Connolly, a Saint Vincent College commit. “Going to try and get more turns, ride people, and I think I improved a lot on my stand-up game in the offseason.”

Clellen, who just signed up for the Marines, is looking to come back strong and have a bounce-back season.

“I worked really hard these last four years, so I want to get as far as I can,” Clellen said. “I want to see all my hard work pay off with a trip to Hershey.”

Lawrence, who is the starting quarterback of the football team, has high hopes for the team and higher expectations for himself.

“I want to teach the young guys, specifically the freshmen, the proper technique and how to push themselves in practice,” he said.

The three captains will also be busy teaching the finer points of folkstyle wrestling to the many international kids on the roster.

“Our school is extremely diverse,” Evans said. “I think we have some 40 countries represented and like 11 on our wrestling team.”

Many of the wrestlers hail from Eastern European countries, such as Russia and Kurdistan, while there are a few from Afghanistan and Pakistan and one from Japan.

“We have kids that are talented, tough and can pull off some throws,” Evans said. “They just didn’t see a lot of stand-up wrestling or much in the way of mat competition before they got to us.”

Tilek Sadyrbekov was 22-16 as a freshman last year at 127 and will be up at 133 this season. His younger brother, Musabek, will spot start at 180 pounds.

“Musabek gets better in the room every day and is challenging our juniors and seniors. He’s a hard wrestler,” Evans said.

Tamerlan Kapitonov, who will wrestle at 172, was out with an injury last year and has been wrestling all summer.

One of the judo-style grapplers, Maksim Rybalko of Russia, will wrestle at 145, and Evans says he’s “ridiculous to look at.”

“He’s got muscles in places we’ve never heard of,” Evans said. “It looks like he was made in a lab, and he’s only a sophomore. He does a lot of things where you think you have him pinned and all of a sudden, he does an arm throw and you’re flying halfway across the room.”

Rybalko was 18-16 at 139 last year.

The three captains were surprised with how well the international kids wrestled last year and are impressed with their development this offseason.

“They pick things up very well,” Howard said. “From summer practices to now, they’re so much stronger, faster and mentally tougher. They’re starting to beat kids who have been folkstyle wrestlers their entire lives.”

Said Evans: “They definitely bring a different flair to the game. They do things that other kids can’t, which makes them dangerous and fun to watch.”

It’s been a learning process, but not just for the international wrestlers making the adjustment to folkstyle. They also have been giving tips and tricks to the seasoned wrestlers.

“We’re teaching them a lot of top and bottom because they wrestle a lot of freestyle and they’re not used to that,” Connolly said. “We’ve been learning a lot of Greco throws and working out of Russian underhooks. They’ve shown us some good ways to counter throws and even set up our own throws.”

Other notable additions to the squad include Cooper Knorr and Kochiro Abe, who will wrestle at 107 and 114. Other talents, such as Ahmed Rihawi and Wyar Alosie, are still a little raw, but Evans has high hopes for their futures.

“Alosie will struggle this season, but over the next few years, he’ll come into his own and be pretty good,” Evans said. “Ahmed has only been at it a couple of years, but he’s very tough and I like what I see from him.”

One last change the Colts will encounter this year is a move to Section 2-3A. Coming with them to the newly formed section are old Section 5 foes Trinity, South Fayette and Waynesburg. Joining that quartet will be perennial powerhouse Canon-McMillan.

“They’re all good legacy programs,” Evans said. “We have a tough group, and some of those schools have graduated a lot of good wrestlers recently. We’re going to be in it as much as any one of those teams.”

“We’re going to be a tough team this year,” Lawrence said. “If we make it out of section play, anything could happen.”

Tags: Chartiers Valley