SF’s Walker is 4-time WPIAL champion
Joe Tuscano / Observer-Reporter Gage Nicolella of McGuffey works to get Alan Miscovich of Mt. Pleasant off his back during their 113-pound finals of the WPIAL Class AA Wrestling Championships at South Fayette High School Saturday. Nicolella pinned Miscovich in 1:19.
Joe Tuscano / Observer-Reporter Jared Walker of South Fayette (top) works on Jason Stay of Beth-Center during their 160-pound finals of the WPIAL Class AA Wrestling ?Championships at South Fayette High School Saturday. Walker won a 3-1 decision to become the 25th wrestler to win a WPIAL championship in the tournament's history, which reaches back to 1936.
Joe Tuscano / Observer-Reporter Brendan Howard of Jefferson-Morgan keeps an eye on Austin McDermitt of Burgettstown during their 120-pound finals of the WPIAL Class AA Wrestling Championships at South Fayette High School Saturday. Howard won a 6-4 decision to reach 150 career victories.
McDONALD – It was a subject no one wanted to talk about.
Though Jared Walker’s quest for a fourth WPIAL Class AA championships did not come up in many conversations in the wrestling room at South Fayette High School, everyone knew it was within reach.
On a cold and snowy Saturday, Walker joined an elite group of wrestlers by winning a 3-1 decision over Jason Stay of Beth-Center to win the 160-pound title and become only the 25th wrestler to capture four WPIAL championships in an tournament that has been ongoing since 1936.
“It’s a big relief,” said Walker, a senior who will wrestle at Kent State University next fall. “I tried to treat it like any other match. After I won the first one as a freshman, I thought maybe I can be on that list. This year, I tried not to think of it at all.”
The top seven wrestlers in each weight class advanced to the Southwest Region Tournament, which begins Friday at Canon-McMillan High School.
Burrell had the most qualifiers with eight, followed by Southmoreland and Mt. Pleasant with seven. Walker was one of six wrestlers from South Fayette to advance.
Micky Phillippi, a junior from Derry, won his third straight title as did Burrell heavyweight Al Beattie. South Fayette’s Mike Carr, South Park’s Jake Wentzel and Greg Bulsak and Jefferson-Morgan’s Bill Bowlen each won their second.
Two other Jefferson-Morgan wrestlers – Gavin Teasdale and Brendan Howard – won their first. Teasdale, a freshman, put himself into position to be a four-time champion when he pinned Manny Dovshek of Bentworth in 1:24 at 106. Howard, a senior, got his 150th career victory in the 120-pound finals with a 6-4 decision over Austin McDermitt of Burgettstown.
Walker moved his career record to 146-26, with half those losses coming in his freshman season.
“I’ve seen the list (of four-time champions),” said Walker. “They are all great wrestlers. The all did something great. It’s amazing that I get to be on it. When I was a freshman, I thought it was a big thing to be a Junior Olympic champion.”
Walker, a state runner-up last season at 160, trailed 1-0 in his bout against Stay midway through the second period. But he took Stay down before the period ended, then escaped in the third for the two-point win.
“I knew I had to get a takedown and score some points,” said Walker, who was named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. “I wanted it to be a good match and it was a good match.”
Walker has only been wrestling since Dec. 20 because he was a vital part of the South Fayette football team that repeated as Class AA state champions.
“His work ethic is awesome,” said South Fayette head coach Rick Chaussard. “He goes seven days a week, 365 days a year. What’s interesting is that there is not a lot of full-time football players who have done this. He wrestles three-quarters of the year and football for the other quarter of the year. Five days after we won the state football title, he was stepping into the wrestling room.”
Walker should find out today who his opponents will be in the regional tournament. The brackets are expected to be released this afternoon.
“It’s going to be easier to go ahead now that this is done,” Walker said. “I have a state championship to work for.”
Howard’s 150th win was satisfying not only for the milestone but who it came against. Howard and McDermitt have been competitive rivals.
“I didn’t know about it until someone texted me about it (Saturday),” said Howard, whose career mark is 150-32. “McDermitt and I have wrestled about nine times in our career and he has something like a 5-4 lead on me. It’s a good rivalry. We’ll probably see each other next week and maybe at states.”
Teasdale won his first WPIAL title but he is more concerned with other things.
“I wrestled pretty good but I made a few mistakes,” said Teasdale, who is 38-0. “I want to wrestle to my full capability. You can be beat by anyone anytime, so you don’t want to wrestle stupid.”
Teasdale is one of two Class AA wrestlers with an undefeated record. The other is Carr, who raised his mark to 37-0 with a 7-1 decision over Evan Myers of Southmoreland in the 138-pound finals.
Gage Nicolella became the first WPIAL champion at McGuffey since Matt Scherich won the title nine years ago. Nicolella made quick work of Alex Miscovich of Mount Pleasant, pinning him in 1:19.
“We didn’t talk about it,” said Nicolella, a junior who raised his record to 37-2 this season. “My brother (Teague) told me about it, but I didn’t know.”