Quaker Valley wrestlers use trip to Mount Aloysius as ‘good practice for the end of the year’

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, January 5, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Quaker Valley was led by juniors Bruce Anderchak and Matthew Danna at the Panther Holiday Wrestling Classic held mid-December at Mount Aloysius.

QV placed second among WPIAL teams and 13th overall with a 102 overall point total. Hill School (160), Hickory (155), McGuffey (149.5), Penns Valley (145.5) and Corry (138.5) were the top five finishers.

“I think we had an overall good experience at the tournament,” QV coach Austin Heinl said. “It’s a great team bonding experience traveling and competing against teams you’re not used to seeing.

“This tournament does give us a similar feel of a bigger competition stage. We see a lot of the teams that are in our region. There are also a ton of teams from all over the state. Getting to wrestle teams that you aren’t used to seeing simulates those types of matches deep in the postseason.”

Anderchak and Danna captured third place at 114 and 145 pounds to end the tournament with 9-2 and 11-1 records, respectively.

“Bruce and Matt both wrestled well,” Heinl said. “Both fell short in the semifinals to wrestlers they’ve lost to before. I’m proud how they both bounced back to win two straight matches to both end the day in third place.

“That’s something we emphasize when at a tournament — to always win the last match of the day. It’s good practice for the end of the year.”

Anderchak and Danna were complemented in the scoring column by senior Marcus Richey, who took sixth place at 172 to go to 8-4 on the year.

“Marcus also had a great tournament,” Heinl said, “improving to sixth place this year from a seventh-place finish last year.”

Other leading competitors for the Quakers included senior Jack Diemert (160), sophomores Trey Dunlap (160) and Noah Fardo (215) and freshman Brennan Breisinger (215). Diemert and Breisinger both boosted their 2024-25 win total to seven.

“Trey Dunlap, Jack Diemert and Brennan Breisinger all lost in the blood round,” Heinl said. “Making it to that point and getting that experience will help them throughout the season.”

QV freshmen Brendan Fitzgerald (127) and Jack Bednarski (139), junior Eoin Parnell (121) and seniors Grant Castaldo (114) and Sebastian Juarez-Safran (285) also made it to the tournament’s consolations.

“We had a lot of our younger and inexperienced wrestlers compete in the junior varsity tournament,” Heinl said. “A lot of our guys gained valuable experience there.

“Sawyer Stelzig won his first two wrestling matches ever in his life that weekend. He started last season with no experience. He lost every match. He stayed consistent with practice all year and in the offseason. His performance was one of the ones I was most proud of that weekend.”

QV competed in two holiday tournaments in December, traveling to Hickory for the Rande Stottlemyer Memorial Duals and to the Highlands Sports Complex for the Wheeling Park Duals.

Anderchak and Danna led the way for the Quakers with 7-0 records at Wheeling Park and 3-0 marks at Hickory.

Diemert and Richey also won all three of their bouts at the Stottlemyer Memorial.

QV was ranked fourth in Class 2A behind Burrell, Derry and McGuffey in the Trib HSSN high school wrestling rankings.

QV grapplers were ranked among the top three in the individual weight classes: Anderchak, first at 114; Breisinger, second at 215; and Danna, third at 145.

Danna (22-1), Anderchak (20-2), Richey (18-5), Diemert (16-5), Breisinger (13-5), Dunlap (12-9) and Fardo (10-6) all kicked off the new year with double-digit wins.

Tags: Quaker Valley