PIAA Class 3A Team Wrestling Championships: Defending champ Waynesburg falls in semifinals

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, February 11, 2022 | 11:24 PM

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Semifinals

Nazareth 38, Waynesburg 17

106: Dominic Rizzotto (N) p. Jake Thomas, :37

113: Tahir Parkins (N) d. Ky Szewczyk, 8-2.

120: Charlie Buntin (N) p. Xavier Harmon, 1:08.

126: Braxton Appello-Fries (N) d. Zander Phaturos, 6-3.

*132: Mac Church (W) t.f. Ayden Rader, 22-7 (4:45).

138: Colton Stoneking (W) d. Jake Doone, 11-7.

145: Nicholas Foster (N) d. Cole Homet, 3-2.

152: Dominic Wheatley (N) m.d. Nate Jones, 14-2.

160: Ryan Fairchild (N) p. Nate Kirby, 5:30.

172: Brody Evans (W) won by forfeit.

189: Rocco Welsh (W) d. Chase Levey, 5-2.

215: Sonny Sasso (N) m.d. Eli Makel, 15-5.

285: Sean Kinney (N) d. Noah Tustin, 5-0.

The difference: Nazareth won nine of 13 matches and held Waynesburg pinless. Nazareth won the final six bouts and outscored Waynesburg, 25-0.

Big swing: Waynesburg senior Cole Homet, despite essentially wrestling with one arm due to injury, lost a hard-fought 3-2 decision to Nicholas Foster.

Quote: “The Homet match was to see if we could get a win against a top kid in the state, and Cole almost pulled it out. He fought to the end. We look to win two straight Saturday and finish third,” Waynesburg coach Kyle Szewczyk said.

Up next: Waynesburg faces the winner of the Connellsville/Abington Heights match in the third round of consolations at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Quarterfinals

Bethlehem Catholic 50, Connellsville 8

106: Shane McFillin (BC) p. Trent Huffman, :35.

113: Cole Campbell (BC) d. Evan Petrovich, 8-2.

*120: Cael McIntyre (BC) m.d. Jacob Layton, 8-0.

126: Dante Frinzi (BC) p. Gabriel Ruggieri, :34.

132: Kollin Rath (BC) d. Chad Ozias, 6-2.

138: Tyler Kasak (BC) p. Ayden Henry, 1:37.

145: Charlie Scanlan (BC) d. Lonzy Vielma, 6-4.

152: Andrew Harmon (BC) p. Ethan Ansell, 3:08.

160: Jared Keslar (C) m.d. Trey Miletics, 18-5.

172: Landon Muth (BC) d. Zach Bigan, 3-0.

189: Luke Thomas (BC) m.d. George Shultz, 11-2.

215: Dennis Nichelson (C) m.d. Augustus Warke, 8-0.

285: Elijah Thompson (BC) p. Tyler Gallis, 4:13.

The difference: The Golden Hawks won 11 of 13 matches and got bonus points in eight of them. They won the first six matches.

Falcon wins: Connellsville got major decision wins by Jared Keslar (160) and Dennis Nichelson (215).

Quotes: “They are very good, but we didn’t come out aggressive enough. It’s something we have to discuss after we’re done. We have to use it as a learning experience,” Connellsville coach Bill Swink said.

Waynesburg 31, Mifflin County 24

106: Styers Oden (MC) p. Jake Thomas, :57.

113: Nic Allison (MC) won by forfeit.

*120: Hunter Johnson (MC) p. Xavier Harmon, 1:33.

126: Zander Phaturos (W) m.d. Cody Seiler, 12-4.

132: Mac Church (W) p. Blake Aumiller, 3:47.

138: Colton Stoneking (W) m.d. Jacob Cunningham, 11-3.

145: Nate Jones (W) d. Deakon Schaeffer, 11-3.

152: Parker Kearns (MC) d. Jake Stephenson, 5-0.

160: Kyler Everly (MC) d. Nate Kirby, 5-2.

172: Brody Evans (W) m.d. Avery Aurand, 12-3.

189: Rocco Welsh (W) m.d. Trey Shoemaker, 13-4.

215: Eli Makel (W) d. Anson Wagner, 7-5.

285: Noah Tustin (W) d. Jaxson Pupo, 6-2.

The difference: Waynesburg outscored Mifflin County 14-0 in the final four weight classes and ended up winning seven matches.

One pin: It’s been awhile since Waynesburg was only held to one pin in a match. That was by Mac Church at 132 pounds.

Quote: “We just wrestled well and got a great performance from the top of the lineup,” Waynesburg coach Kyle Szewczyk said.

First-round consolations

Canon-McMillan 46, La Salle College 18

106: Tanner Mizenko (CM) d. Edward Donovan, 8-3.

*113: Brandon Dami (CM) p. Jackson Hersh, 1:34.

120: Jacob Houpt (CM) p. Connor Kwok, 17-3 (4:01)..

126: Andrew Binni (CM) p. Aidan Buchanan, 1:38.

132: Charles Huber (L) p. Mikhail Krenzelak, 4:10.

138: Brendan Purvis (L) d. Josiah Gardner, 8-4.

145: Cormac Morrissey (L) d. Tyler Soule, 2-1.

152: Landen Simms (CM) m.d. Matthew Wiley, 14-3.

160: Gianmarco Ramos (CM) p. Robert Reilly, 1:47.

172: Ashton Slavick (CM) d. Josh Fayette, 7-1.

189: Matthew Furman (CM) p. Dylan Clair, :59.

215: Geno Calgaro (CM) p. Tim Petrilli, 2:48.

285: Andrew Brennan (L) p. Mason Williams, 1:19.

The difference: Canon-McMillan recorded six pins and raced out to an 18-0 lead on pins by Brandon Dami (113), Jacob Houpt (120) and Andrew Binni (126).

Key win: The Big Macs also got wins from Geno Calgaro (215), Matthew Furman (189) and Gianmarco Ramos (160) by the way of pins and a major decision by Landen Simms (152) to stop La Salle’s three-match win streak.

Quote: “We wrestled well and it was a good bounce back after a tough loss to Bethlehem Catholic,” Canon-McMillan coach Brian Krenzelak said.

Second-round consolations

Mifflin County 45, Canon-McMillan 23

106: Tanner Mizenko (CM) p. Styers Oden, 1:23.

113: Nic Allison (MC) p. Nic Allison, 1:22.

120: Jacob Houpt (CM) p. Hunter Johnson, 4:17.

*126: Andrew Binni (CM) t.f. Colby Seiler, 23-8 (4:25).

132: Blake Aumiller (MC) p. Mikhail Krenzelak, 4:33.

138: Jacob Cunningham (MC) d. Josiah Gardner, 5-3.

145: Deakon Schaeffer (MC) d. Tyler Soule, 6-5 (UTB).

152: Parker Kearns (MC) d. Landen Simms, 6-1.

160: Kyler Everly (MC) p. Gianmarco Ramos, 1:52.

172: Matthew Furman (CM) p. Avery Auand, :45.

189: Trey Shoemaker (MC) p. Geno Calgaro, 2:47.

215: Anson Wagner (MC) won by forfeit.

285: Jaxon Pupo (MC) won by forfeit.

The difference: Mifflin County won eight of the nine upper weights. The only Canon-McMillan winner was Matt Furman’s pin at 172 pounds.

Other Big Mac winners: Canon-McMillan’s other winners were Tanner Mizenko (106), Jacob Houpt (120) and Andrew Binni (126). Mizenko and Houpt won by fall.

Quote: “We have a young team and we expect to bring some back in a month for the individual tournament. An experience like this is invaluable to get our program back into the culture we expect it to be. I feel we improved all season,” Canon-McMillan coach Brian Krenzelak said.

Connellsville 37, Quakertown 21

106: Isaac Williams (Q) p. Trent Huffman, :18.

113: Even Petrovich (C) p. Justin Adamson, 2:44.

120: Mason Ziegler (Q) d. Jacob Layton, 4-2.

*126: Gabriel Ruggieri (C) m.d. Todd McGann, 12-2.

132: Collin Gaj (Q) d. Chad Ozias, 5-2.

138: Lonzy Vielma (C) d. Gavin Carroll, 4-3.

145: Zach Borzio (Q) d. Chad Jesko, 4-2.

152: Ethan Ansell (C) t.f. Maxwell Hibsman, 15-0 (3:58).

160: Zach Bigam (C) t.f. Edmund Buckley, 22-7 (4:51).

172: Jared Keslar (C) d. Calvin Lachman, 12-6.

189: George Shultz (C) t.f. Kaden Roesener, 16-1 (4:17).

215: Dennis Nichelson (C) p. Brandon Pierce, 1:45.

285: Frederick Retter (Q) p. Tyler Gallis, :50.

The difference: Connellsville won eight of 13 matches and got bonus points in six of them. Evan Petrovich (113) and Dennis Nichelson (215) recorded pins and Ethan Ansell (152), Zach Bigam (160) and George Shultz (189) registered technical falls.

Key win: Connellsville senior Jared Keslar moved up to 172 pounds and defeated one of Quakertown’s better wrestlers, Calvin Lachman, 12-6.

Quote: “We wrestled a lot better than the earlier match against Bethlehem Catholic. We were more aggressive and we dictated the pace. We beat a good team,” Connellsville coach Bill Swink said.

Up next: Connellsville wrestles Abington Heights at 9 a.m. Saturday in a third-round consolation match.

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: Canon-McMillan, Connellsville, Waynesburg