Observer-Reporter Athlete of the Week

Name: Gage Nicolella
School: McGuffey
Class: Junior
Sport: Wrestling
Weight: 113
Nicolella’s week: Nicolella snapped a nearly decadelong drought of WPIAL champions Saturday after he won the WPIAL Class AA title at 113 pounds, when he pinned Alex Miscovich of Mt. Pleasant in 1:19. It was the first WPIAL title for McGuffey since Matt Scherich decisioned Josh Testa of Hempfield, 6-1, to win the 119-pound weight class in the 2005-06 season. McGuffey was competing in Class AAA at that time.
Nicolella entered this tournament as the top-seeded wrestler in the weight class and received a first-round bye. He had his closest match in the quarterfinals, a 9-6 decision over Seuqouwan Harris of Valley. Nicolella followed that with a pin in 1:08 of Zack Charles of Yough in the semifinals, and finished with the pin of Miscovich.
Nicolella and Miscovich met in the Section 2 finals the previous week at McGuffey and Nicolella pinned him in 5:18.
“I wasn’t super confident that I would beat him,” Nicolella said. “I pinned him in the third period last time, but the match was 0-0 heading into the third period. I took bottom, turned him, got backpoints and pinned him.”
The three victories in the WPIAL Championships moved Nicolella’s record to 37-2.
Secret to his success: Nicolella’s win total has been bolstered by his ability to pin opponents, a trait that has developed as his skills in the sport have been refined.
“Recently, I’ve been getting more of them,” he said. “It seems like I’ve been pinning people a lot more this year.”
Nicolella doesn’t know his pin total and the team doesn’t keep track, but he has pinned five of his six opponents in the individual postseason.
“I work on pinning combinations,” he said. “I try the arm bar on top. That’s always my first move.”
Nicolella has worked not only on his technique, but also his strength. He has put time into the weight room, and that has made him stronger.
“He’s perfected (the arm bar),” said McGuffey head coach Mark Caffrey. “He’s used it all through junior high. He’s pretty mean on top, and most pinners are pretty mean. He’s got those cable muscles. They are not short muscles, but long, cable-like muscles.”
McGuffey’s drop to Class AA this season provided a better opportunity for postseason success, simply because of the increased number of qualifiers throughout the tournament schedule. Nicolella doesn’t see much of a difference at this point in the season.
“I thought the competition would be different, and I was excited about the move,” he said. “There is still good competition here. The styles might be a little different but any postseason tournament will have tough kids to wrestle.”
Compiled by Joe Tuscano