Trib HSSN Wrestler of the Week for Jan. 25, 2021: Luca Augustine, Waynesburg

By: Greg Macafee
Monday, January 25, 2021 | 5:35 PM

The defending WPIAL Class AAA champion at 160 pounds dominated at the Cavalier Duals this weekend as his team went undefeated and only allowed a combined 28 points between their five matches. Luca Augustine was a big part of that success, too.

The 172-pound senior went undefeated, recorded four pins and capped off his day with a 4-3 decision over Kiski Area’s Sammy Starr. Augustine was the top-ranked wrestler in his weight class heading into the weekend, and he showed why.

He started off his day by pinning Penn Trafford’s Ryan Bachar in 2 minutes, 30 seconds, then he pinned Mt. Lebanon’s Patrick Dunn in his second match. Against Franklin Regional, Augustine recorded a 59-second pin when he took on Andrew Bonace.

Against Seneca Valley, Augustine recorded his fourth pin of the day when took down Manuel Santos in 3:22.

When he beat Starr, 4-3, it was Augustine’s first victory this season that came by a decision as he’s started off the year with a record of 6-0 with four pins and one forfeit against Chartiers Valley in Waynesburg’s first dual meet of the season.

Honorable mention

Alejandro Herrera-Rondon, Seneca Valley — The 152-pounder tallied two wins via decision, two via pin and one via technical fall at the Cavalier Duals. He also earned two pins in two of Seneca Valley’s dual meets during the week. His biggest win of the weekend came against Waynesburg’s Rocco Welsh in a 1-0 decision. Welsh was ranked No. 1 and Herrera-Rondon was ranked No. 2 in the 152-pound Trib HSSN Class AAA rankings.

Cole Weightman, Belle Vernon — The top-ranked 215-pound wrestler in WPIAL Class AAA went undefeated this weekend at the North Allegheny Invitational. He recorded three pins to capture his weight class and earned a pin over North Allegheny’s Brady Leczo in 2 minutes, 1 second in the first-place match.

Ryan Klingensmith, Kiski Area — The Cavalier sophomore continued his undefeated start with four victories at the Cavalier Duals. He pinned his first two opponents in 25 seconds or less then earned a 9-1 major decision over Seneca Valley’s Evan Vetter. His final win of the day came against Penn-Trafford’s Ryan Auel, a pin in 3:13.

Cole Spencer, Pine-Richland — Between Wednesday and Saturday, Spencer recorded six pins and none of his matches lasted longer than 2:12. Four of his matches lasted less than a minute and just one of them got out of the first period. He recorded his quickest pin of the week when he took down Mars’ Cole Yoshioka in 14 seconds.

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Belle Vernon, Kiski Area, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley, Waynesburg