Westmoreland County wrestling notebook: Mt. Pleasant to host junior high tournament

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, January 7, 2020 | 5:44 PM

The annual Westmoreland County Junior High wrestling tournament will be held Friday and Saturday at Mt. Pleasant.

It will feature teams from throughout the county. Teams entered include Belle Vernon, Burrell, Derry, Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Kiski Area, Latrobe (two teams), Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland and Valley.

Action will begin at 5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday. The finals will start around 3 p.m.

Big Macs grab title

Canon-McMillan had eight finalists, including four champions, to edge Waynesburg for the team title at the Tri-County Athletic Directors Association tournament Saturday at South Fayette.

The Big Macs finished with 283.5 points and Waynesburg, which had five champions, finished with 257.5.

Winning for Canon-McMillan were Costa Moore (120), Tanner Rohaley (152), Gerrit Nijenhuis (182) and Evan Miller (220).

The Raiders championships were Mac Church (106), Nate Jones (113), Rocco Welsh (126), Cole Homet (132) and Wyatt Henson (138).

Tigers roar

North Allegheny had seven finalists including four champions in winning the Tool City Classic at Meadville. The Tigers finished with 243.5 points. General McLane was second with 168.5 points and Meadville third with 162.

North Allegheny’s winners were Nick Gorman (106), Fred Junko (145), Nick Marcenelle (195) and heavyweight Ben Grafton.

Placing second were Dylan Coy (120), Nathan Monteparte (126) and Grant Mackey (152).

Miller honored

Perry Miller was a long-time announcer and supporter of the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association wrestling tournament. It was an event he attended and volunteered his time. He loved the sport.

Miller passed away in late June. Before Saturday’s finals at Kiski Area, Miller was honored with a moment of silence.

Miller was a longtime wrestling fan who attended many WPIAL, PIAA and NCAA tournaments over the years.

His son, Perry Miller Jr., was a WCCA 185-pound champion in 1987.

Miller taught for 30 years in the Franklin Regional School District. He formerly served as school director for Greensburg Salem.

He worked with Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling (Area III) for 50 years. He coached Franklin Regional junior high wrestling as well as high school baseball.

Tournament watch

The first Mid-Winter Mayhem will be held at IUP on Friday and Saturday and WPIAL teams entered include Freedom, North Allegheny, Penn-Trafford and West Mifflin. Carrick also is entered.

There are 20 teams in the field. Others include DuBois, Forest Hills, General McLane, Fairfax, Va., Hollidaysburg, Brockway, West Chester Rustin, Cedar Cliff and Pocono Mountain East.

The annual Burgettstown tournament is also set for this weekend. The top teams include Burgettstown, Bethel Park, Thomas Jefferson, McGuffey and Upper St. Clair. There are 24 teams entered in the tournament.

There are a couple of big duals tournaments as well. Seneca Valley is headed to Reynolds (District 10), Canon-McMillan is headed to Virginia, and Valley will be playing host to Avonworth, Butler, Southmoreland and Summit Academy.

Waynesburg is headed to Fairmont, W.Va. for the Winner’s Choice tournament.

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.