Wrestling notebook: Plum has good showing on Day 1 of Allegheny County tournament
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Friday, January 14, 2022 | 7:49 PM
Plum’s Vince Citrano controls West Mifflin’s Ny-Zair Burt during the quarterfinals of the Allegheny County Wrestling Championships at Fox Chapel High School on Friday, Jan 14, 2022.
Plum’s Rylen Campell pins Fox Chapel’s Landon Funk during the quarterfinals of the Allegheny County Wrestling Championships at Fox Chapel High School on Friday, Jan 14, 2022.
Plum’s Antonino Walker and Quaker Valley’s Brandon Krul battle during the quarterfinals of the Allegheny County Wrestling Championships at Fox Chapel High School on Friday, Jan 14, 2022.
Chartiers Valley’s Christopher Beatty works at pinning Shaler’s Michael Ulery during the quarterfinals of the Allegheny County Wrestling Championships at Fox Chapel High School on Friday, Jan 14, 2022.
Fox Chapel’s Trever Katz battles with North Hills Even Leky during the quarterfinal matches of the Powerade Wrestling Tournament at Fox Chapel High School Friday, Jan 14, 2022.
Highlands’ Jrake Burford takes down Bethel Park’s Cordan McDonnell during the quarterfinals of the Allegheny County Wrestling Championships at Fox Chapel High School on Friday, Jan 14, 2022.
If Plum hopes to challenge for the team title at the 20th annual Allegheny County Wrestling Championship, it has work to do Saturday.
The Mustangs put themselves in position at least give it a run, sitting in third place after Day 1 of the tournament Friday at Fox Chapel.
Plum is third with 118.5 points behind North Allegheny (131.5) and Quaker Valley (122). The Mustangs have four wrestlers – Rylen Campbell (106 pounds), Vince Citrano (132), Jack Tongel (160) and Andrew Claassen (172) – in the semifinals at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
The finals are slated for 6 p.m.
“It was a decent day,” Plum coach Mike Supak said. “We still have a lot of work to do. A lot of guys picked it up, but we have things to work on.”
Plum had 10 wrestlers alive in the consolation rounds. The tournament awards the top eight finishers in each weight class.
“We have everyone coming back,” Supak said. “We have to figure out a way to finish.”
Supak said Charlie Campbell and Tongel had solid days.
Campbell, who was unseeded, reached the quarterfinals, and Tongel made it to the semifinals.
Learning experience
Highlands coach Walter Grant said his team continues to improve.
“For the most part, we wrestled OK,” Grant said. “We still have a lot of wrestling in front of us. We faced some adversity and we have to learn to keep our cool.”
The Rams have one wrestler – Jrake Burford – in the semifinals and 10 in the consolations.
Burford was the 132-pound champion in 2020, defeating Pine-Richland’s Kelin Laffey.
He’ll face Carlynton’s Chase Brandebura in the semifinals.
“We still have a lot of improvement ahead,” Grant said. “We have to repeat what we did on Saturday.”
Highlands sits in ninth place with 84.5 points.
FC coach pleased
Fox Chapel coach Michael Frank couldn’t be happier for the effort his team put forth during Day 1.
“There are probably four bouts I’d like to have back, but all in all, that was a great showing for us,” Frank said. “We have a very young team and not having a tournament last year hurt us.
“We have one in the semifinals and 10 others returning. I just want to see them compete against good competition. We’re working towards the end of the season and we want to then continue to improve.”
The only Fox Chapel wrestler to advance is Alexander Kaufmann at 145 pounds. He’ll face Travis Stipetich of North Allegheny.
Fox Chapel is 10th in the team race with 82 points.
Two Raiders stay alive
Riverview had two wrestlers competing in the consolation round. They are Gage Howard (126) and Mike Pietragallo (215).
Venue change
The PIAA announced Friday it will move the Class 2A Southwest Regional tournament from IUP’s Kovalchick Center to Peters Township High School this season. The tournament includes wrestlers from the WPIAL and Districts 5 and 6.
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.
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