Controversial loss ends North Allegheny wrestler’s bid for states

By: John Grupp
Sunday, March 9, 2025 | 11:01 AM

North Allegheny junior Gus Stedeford couldn’t believe his eyes.

Leading 7-0 and on the verge of qualifying for the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships, Stedeford was called for an illegal slam on State College’s Nicholas Berrena and lost by injury disqualification in the 133-pound fifth-place match.

The controversial ruling at the PIAA Class 3A West Regional on March 1 at Canon-McMillan ended Stedeford’s season with 30 seconds remaining in the second period.

“It’s a hard way to end the season like that,” Stedeford said. “It’s hard to process. I’m winning the match, and that’s why I lose. It’s a heartbreaker.

“I thought it was fine. The kid stood up, and I was thinking we were going to go back at it. But the ref came in the middle and said, ‘Shake hands.’ As soon as he said that, I knew it was over. I was just in disbelief.”

The stunning loss came shortly after North Allegheny junior Bradyn McConneha had secured his berth to states at 285 pounds for the second straight year.

McConneha (36-11), who reached the regional semifinals and finished fourth, said his NA teammate got “kind of robbed.”

“I had the Hershey bar ready,” McConneha said. “… After that match, I was all upset. I just went up to him and said, ‘I love you, bro.’ I was so heartbroken.”

Stedeford, who placed seventh at WPIALs to sneak into the regional bracket, had rallied from a first-round loss to eventual champion Nico Fanella of Indiana to win three consecutive consolation matches and put himself in position to reach states for the first time. During his consolation run, Stedeford (35-13) avenged three losses to West Allegheny’s A.J. Snatchko (36-13) and Franklin Regional’s Chase Smith (21-7) from earlier in the season.

“Quite frankly, it was inspiring to watch him wrestle,” North Allegheny coach Jamie Kyriazis said. “I was getting the chills watching him. … He had such a great tournament. I was so proud of the way he wrestled, but I was actually even more proud of how he handled himself after that situation in the (consolation) round. He accepted it better than I did. It gave me a little bit of comfort knowing that he was OK.”

In the fifth-place match — the top five advance to states — Stedeford put Berrena (13-17) in a body lock, and Berrena countered with a whizzer (a defensive technique in which a wrestler controls the opponent’s arm by hooking it with his arm). Stedeford lifted Berrena off the mat and slammed him, drawing a one-point penalty from the referee.

“Both of his hands were free,” Stedeford said. “It wasn’t a trap or anything. I just lifted and dropped him to his back. I guess he landed on his head.”

Said Kyriazis: “It’s wrestling. It’s a tough sport. You’re in the mix. There are times when things are just egregious and sometimes it’s just wrestling. … The thing that’s tough is his opponent had already been under concussion protocol earlier that day. That’s a tough one to swallow.”

Berrena, who had hit his head in the previous match and had to be evaluated before competing in the fifth-place match, remained on the mat and twice used 30 seconds of recovery time.

State College coach Jason Nickal said he asked for the five-minute concussion protocol, but the referee told him because it was an illegal move, they would have only 90 seconds of recovery time.

The team’s trainer informed Nickal that Berrena, who entered the weekend with a 22-52 career record, couldn’t be cleared to resume that quickly, and he received an injury default victory.

“It wasn’t dirty, but it was definitely a slam,” Nickal said. “He dropped him on his head pretty good. He didn’t do it intentionally, but there’s a rule for that. … It wasn’t the way we wanted it to go either. You know what I mean. It was bad all the way around. But that’s why they have those rules in place to protect kids.”

As a result, McConneha was the lone NA wrestler to qualify for the PIAA Class 3A championships March 6-8 at Giant Center in Hershey. The event was held after deadline for this edition.

“He wrestled well and he did what he needed to do,” Kyriazis said. “He kept moving forward. It was good to see.”

North Allegheny junior 152-pounder Griffen Reid and senior 189-pounder Mason Hartung also qualified for regionals but failed to advance. Reid (41-11), who won the Northern section title and placed fifth in the WPIAL, went 2-2 at regionals, and Hartung (35-14), also fifth at WPIALs, finished 1-2.

McConneha earned a pair of pins to reach the regional semifinals, where he lost to eventual champion Shepherd Turk of Thomas Jefferson by pin at 1:16. McConneha pinned West Allegheny junior Cam Danna (47-8) late in the third period in the fourth-round consolation match to secure a trip to states and avenge a loss in the WPIAL third-place match one week earlier.

“Coming off the WPIALs, I was a little disappointed how I performed that second day,” McConneha said. “All week I worked on my conditioning and focused on my confidence. Coming into the first day of regionals, I feel like I was shot out of a cannon. I was mad and ready to go to prove to everybody my actual potential.”

Stedeford will have to wait until next year in his bid to reach states for the first time. One day after his DQ loss, he had reconciled with the decision.

“I’m not even disappointed,” he said. “That was the best I’ve wrestled all season. I left it all out there. I’m proud of how I wrestled. In my heart, I still believe I made states. I was winning that match. I don’t think I did anything wrong.”

Tags: North Allegheny