WPIAL wrestling notebook: Norwin hires coach with college, national team experience

By: Paul Schofield
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 | 4:44 PM

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Norwin has a new wrestling coach.

It’s Connellsville grad Kyle Martin, an up-and-coming coach who has been an assistant at a couple of colleges and coached USA Wrestling’s national and Pennsylvania teams.

Martin was a finalist for the Connellsville job that went to former Greensburg Central Catholic coach and Mt. Pleasant grad Mike Yancosky.

He replaces Vince DeAugustine, who returned to coach Hempfield after spending two years with the Knights and helping Kurtis Phipps become the school’s first state wrestling champion.

“I’m excited to get started,” Martin said. “I was disappointed that I didn’t get the Connellsville job, but Norwin is giving me a great opportunity, and I’m grateful for that. I see a lot of potential there, and the wrestlers are hard workers. I’m excited to get them prepared to compete and get ready for life. What I’ve learned coaching the national team is don’t get in their way. I’ll help tweak things, but I want their abilities to take over.”

Martin said he learned a lot from Tom Dolde, the late Hall of Fame coach, when he wrestled for the Falcons.

“Coach Dolde did his coaching in the room,” Martin said. “He never got excited during a match. He told me the toughest thing about coaching is you’ll expect more than the wrestler does at times.”

Yancosky replaces Swink

It’s been a while since Yancosky was a head coach. He coached at GCC until 2006.

Yancosky was a junior high assistant last year at Connellsville.

The Cornell University grad (1991-95) was a two-time NCAA qualifier.

The 1990 Mt. Pleasant grad finished second in the PIAA in 1990 and sixth in 1989. He was a two-time WPIAL champion in 1989 and 1990 and was a PIAA qualifier in 1988.

Swink reportedly resigned for personal reasons.

Signed and sealed

The NCAA letter of intent day was last week, and numerous area wrestlers made their intentions known.

Several wrestlers are headed out of state to national powers: Franklin Regional’s Carter Dibert (Arizona State), Seneca Valley’s Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (Oklahoma) and Waynesburg’s Wyatt Henson (Iowa).

Others are staying in Pennsylvania, like Hempfield’s Ty Linsenbigler (Lock Haven), Waynesburg’s Luca Augustine (Pitt), Seneca Valley’s Antonio Amelio and Dylan Chappell (Bucknell), Seneca Valley’s Chanz Shearer (Clarion), South Park’s Joey Fischer (Clarion) and Norwin’s John Altieri (Clarion).

A handful of others signed with Ivy League schools: Pine-Richland’s Cole Spencer (Penn), Burrell’s A.J. Corrado (Brown), Franklin Regional’s Mason Spears (Brown) and Freedom’s Kenny Duschek (Columbia).

Also, Hempfield’s (Jeannette senior) Ethan Berginc will join the United States Military Academy. Canon-McMillan’s Costa Moore signed with NYU and Seneca Valley’s Drew Vlasnik with Chicago.

Franklin Regional junior Finn Solomon committed to North Carolina State and Kiski Prep junior (former Kiski Area) Enzo Morlacci to Lehigh.

Change of venues

Because of the coronavirus, two prominent holiday tournaments — Powerade and Southmoreland — are changing sites.

Powerade will move from Canon-McMillan High School to the Monroeville Convention Center on Dec. 28-29. Southmoreland is moving its tournament from the high school to the Murrysville SportsZone on Dec. 28-29.

Gateway athletic director Don Holl said the annual Eastern Invitational at Gateway has not been moved and will be Dec. 11-12 at the high school.

The Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association still is considering holding its tournament in early January.

This and that

Latrobe sophomore Vinny Kilkeary, the returning PIAA Class AAA 106-pound champion, won a Super 32 title earlier this month. … Waynesburg (Class AAA) and Burrell (Class AA) are the early favorites to win WPIAL team titles. Waynesburg is ranked No. 1 in the state. … The PA Wrestling Handbook is now available. The book is full of high school wrestling information. The book was compiled by historian Tom Elling. Check the pawrsl.com website for more information.

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, Franklin Regional, Hempfield, Jeannette, Norwin, Southmoreland