Plum wrestling ready for next wave of WPIAL qualifiers to emerge

By: Andrew John
Saturday, December 7, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Last year, the Plum wrestling program had a handful of wrestlers qualify for the WPIAL tournament. Even though most of those were seniors, the Mustangs are hopeful to have another handful reach the tournament this season.

Plum will look to replace Antonino Walker (152) and Rylen Campbell (127) who each won section titles in their final season at Plum. Walker, who is now at Edinboro, finished third at the WPIAL tournament. He finished the season with the most wins on the team with a record of 39-7.

Campbell, who is now at Ashland, finished sixth at the WPIAL tournament.

Carson Yocca (133) was a runner-up at the section tournament last season and finished sixth in the WPIAL. Yocca, who won 36 matches last season, is wrestling with Campbell at Ashland.

Jack Tongel (172) finished sixth in the section and fourth in the WPIAL. Tongel, who went 26-14 during his senior season, is now wrestling at Pitt.

Last season, the Mustangs went 8-5 overall and won the Allegheny County Championship. Plum finished second out of 26 teams at the Chartiers-Houston Invitational and fifth at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic.

The Mustangs will return junior Frank Grazulis (285), who finished fourth at the section tournament. Grazulis won 22 matches last season.

Junior Owen Campbell also returns after finishing third in the section in the 121-pound weight class. Campbell, who went 28-12 last season, got injured preparing for the regional tournament and had his season cut short. Campbell finished sixth at the WPIAL tournament during his freshman year.

“Owen got concussed right before WPIALs. He’s really disappointed because he thought he had a chance to finish in the top four and move on to states,” coach Mike Supak said. “He really is looking forward to getting back so he can take another shot at that. He’s just a junior, so he feels like he needs to make that step now.”

The Mustangs will return two other key wrestlers from last year’s team whose seasons came to an early end due to injury — seniors Trent Reese and Julien Sepelyak. Reese will wrestle at either 145 or 154, while Sepelyak will wrestle at 172 this season.

Supak also hopes for freshman Jacob Ligo to contribute this season for the Mustangs. Ligo will wrestle at either 152 or 160 pounds.

Juniors Kam Dietrick and Matt Nelson have been battling, working hard to crack the lineup at the 215-pound weight class.

“They are pretty new, but you can see their work ethic is pushing them,” Supak said.

The Mustangs will be part of Section 9-3A, which includes Penn-Trafford, Franklin Regional, Norwin and Gateway.

“When you get to the end of the year part where you’re trying to qualify for individuals or as a team, it’s pretty much on you and what you do in your room to get ready,” Supak said. “There’s not much you can do about the talent level of the other team to get your team as prepared as possible and mentally ready.”

The Mustangs were scheduled to open their season at the Chartiers-Houston Invitational on Dec. 6 and 7.

Tags: Plum