Feb 28, 2015 5 min read

PENN HILLS – As the final seconds ticked off the clock in the 132-pound WPIAL Class AAA championship bout Saturday night, Waynesburg High School coach Joe Throckmorton looked at assistant coach Kyle Szewczyk and the two gave each other a high five.

Raiders’ senior A.C. Headlee pulled off the upset of the tournament, at least in the eyes of many of those in attendance at Penn Hills High School.

To Headlee, what he accomplished Saturday night was expected.

“You’ve got to be be confident in your own abilities,” said Headlee, who improved to 41-1 with his 2-1 victory over Latrobe junior Luke Pletcher via ultimate tiebreaker. “You can’t go into a period thinking you’re going to get scored on. It’s all about heart. I had to hold him down to win, so I did. I’m proud of myself for that.”

Headlee didn’t just hold Pletcher, a two-time defending WPIAL and PIAA champion, down for one overtime period. Immediately following their second overtime, when Headlee was on top, he had to keep Pletcher, who had choice of position because he had scored first in the bout, under control in the rideout period.

Pletcher nearly escaped with 16 seconds remaining, but Headlee clung to his ankle – a move that forced a stall call against him in overtime – until a stalemate was called.

Then, with eight seconds remaining, the two wrapped up like a pair of battling snakes, forcing a stoppage for a potentially dangerous situation. Immediately after the restart, the celebration began for Throckmorton and Szewczyk.

Headlee, who was also named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler, is saving his celebration for next week at the PIAA wrestling championships at Hershey where he expects a rematch with Pletcher, who lost for the first time this season and just the third time in his career.

“Nothing matters until next week,” said Headlee. “Next week’s all that matters. This is good, but it’s just a warmup. I’ve got to show up next week for sure.”

If that happens, it would be the third time the two have crossed paths on the wrestling mat. The first time came in 2011 when they met for a junior state championship. Pletcher came away with a 1-0 decision about which Headlee had not forgotten.

“It’s always good beating a good kid like Luke for sure,” Headlee said. “And I got my payback from eighth grade states.”

Pletcher had been ranked No. 1 in the United States at 132 pounds, but facing top-ranked wrestlers is nothing new for Headlee, a WPIAL champion in 2013 who had settle for third-place finishes at both the WPIAL and PIAA tournaments last season in what was a loaded 126-pound weight class.

“A.C., he’s never been shy (of competition),” said Throckmorton. “He’s always had good kids in his weight class. I’ll bet all four years he’s been in the WPIAL, the guys he’s wrestled in the semis and up have been in the top five in the country. That’s what makes him that good, though. He’s right there.”

He proved it Saturday night and will get to do so again next weekend.

So will his teammate, freshman Caleb Morris.

Morris earned a 4-2 decision against Penn Trafford’s Job Chishko, the brother of former Canon-McMillan state champion Solomon Chishko, coming up with a takedown with 24 seconds remaining in the third period to secure the win.

Morris improved to 37-8 with the victory and sets himself up for the possibility of being a four-time WPIAL champion.

“This was one of his goals,” said Throckmorton. “Now, we’ll wipe the slate clean and start working on getting another one in a state championship.

“I’ll take two champions of the WPIAL any day of the week. They beat some very good kids in the process of doing it.”

The championships by Headlee and Morris were the only two in what was a tough tournament for wrestlers from Washington and Greene counties.

Canon-McMillan had two placewinners who will advance to next weekend’s state tournament, which will now feature 20 wrestlers in each weight class.

Micah Kustriss will head to Hershey as a third-place finisher in the WPIAL after dropping a decision to Jarod Verkleeren in the semifinals but rebounding with victories over Tim Wallace of Albert Gallatin and Brandon Ingram in the 145-pound consolation bracket.

Teammate Logan Macri came back from a quarterfinal loss to Chishko Friday night to reach the consolation finals, where he was defeated, 5-4, by Louis Newell of Seneca Valley.

A number of area wrestlers came up just short of reaching the PIAA tournament with losses in the consolation semifinals. They included Waynesburg’s Cole Rush (120), Shaun Wilson (138), Shane Piper (152) and Colin McCracken (182), Trinity’s Michael Kalosky (113) and Cam Reynolds (132); and Canon-McMillan’s Camden Fontenot (126).

Franklin Regional won the team title behind the efforts of individual champions Devin Brown, Spencer Lee, Michael Kemerer and Josh Shields.