Wrestling notebook: Norwin’s Weinzen done for season with arm injury

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, February 18, 2020 | 6:18 PM

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The season is over for Norwin senior Ryan Weinzen.

Weinzen suffered an injury to his left arm at practice, and it was serious enough that he might need surgery.

Weinzen (19-3) was having a good season and was ranked behind returning state champion Gerrit Nijenhuis of Canon-McMillan and Donovan McMillen of Peters Township at 182 pounds.

After competing at 220 pounds last season, Weinzen dropped to 182, a weight he believes is good for him.

“During my sophomore season, I wrestled at 170, and I got hurt and gained weight,” he said. “At the end of last season, I decided to drop back to a more natural weight for me.”

He competed at 195 pounds in the summer and continued to lose weight.

“I first it was hard to lose weight,” he said. “I wrestled 197 at Disney, and now it’s a lot easier to control my weight. I’m still as strong as I was at 220, but I’m a lot faster.”

Weinzen won his only Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association title in January.

Lawrence brothers shine

Frazier’s Lawrence brothers continue to put their team on the map.

Thayne (160), a senior, captured his fourth WPIAL title Saturday and will go after his third Southwest Region and PIAA titles the next three weeks. Young brother Rune, an eighth-grader, captured his second consecutive WPIAL junior high title Saturday at Norwin.

Neither wrestler gave up a point during the weekend.

Thayne outscored five opponents 43-0. He probably would have had additional points, but he received a forfeit in the WPIAL semifinals. Rune outscored his five opponents 47-0. He had four first-period pins and a technical fall in winning the 155 class.

Both wrestlers had a dinner bet with coach Buck Watkins if they didn’t yield a point.

“We always have fun things like that,” Thayne Lawrence said. “I might let coach slide on this one.”

WPIAL junior champs

Connellsville won the 54-team WPIAL junior high tournament Friday and Saturday at Norwin.

The Falcons scored 220.5 points and had eight placewinners, including two champions: Gage Ruggieri (115) and Lonzy Vielma (122).

Hempfield finished second by edging Canon-McMillan, 179-177.5. The Spartans had seven placewinners and three finalists. Freshman Eli Binakonsky won the 170-pound title by defeating North Hills’ Evan Letky, 7-2. Charlie Mesich (122) and Connor Chillinsky (145) placed second.

Kiski Area finished fourth (163.5) and Penn-Trafford was fifth (135.5). Jack Crider won the 210 title for Kiski Area, and Penn-Trafford’s Joe Enick was the heavyweight winner. Hayden Coy (101) and Adam Hall (155) placed second for the Warriors.

The other winners included Peters Township’s Darius McMillon (180), Indiana’s Nico Fanella (87), Canon-McMillan’s Andrew Binni (94), Burrell’s Cooper Hornack (101), Trinity’s Blake Reihner (108), Belle Vernon’s Gio Weightman (130), Pine-Richland’s Vaughn Spencer (138), Trinity’s Brodie Morgan (145) and Apollo-Ridge’s Nick Curci (190).

Class AAA begins

The WPIAL Class AAA section tournaments are Saturday. Action begins at 9:30 a.m., and the consolation finals and finals are at 4.

The sites are: Section 1: at Kiski Area; Section 2: Thomas Jefferson; Section 3: at Fox Chapel; Section 4: at Chartiers Valley.

The top 5 from each weight clas will advance to the WPIAL/PIAA Southwest Region on Feb. 28-29 at Canon-McMillan.

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: Burgettstown, Connellsville, Elizabeth Forward, Fox Chapel, Frazier, Hempfield, Kiski Area, Norwin