Jan 7, 2015 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – One the most impressive streaks in WPIAL history was on the line when Jared Hladycz walked onto the mat for Canon-McMillan in the last bout of Wednesday night’s dual meet with Waynesburg.

The Big Macs had not lost a section dual meet since West Allegheny defeated them in 2001. That’s 14 seasons of consecutive section wins for this illustrious program.

But Waynesburg had a chance to snap that streak, holding a 24-23 lead with Brad Arnold taking on Hladycz at 220 pounds in the last remaining bout.

Incredibly, the streak would ride on a match between two wrestlers who began their careers two months ago. Neither Hladycz nor Arnold had ever wrestled before this season but came out to help their respective teams.

Hladycz took an early 4-1 lead, then turned Arnold to his back and pinned him with 1:14 gone in the first period. That win gave the Big Macs a 29-24 victory over the Raiders in this Section 4-A meet in Waynesburg’s gym.

The victory also means the Big Macs will be the No. 1 team in the subsection tournament and Waynesburg can finish as the No. 2 team by defeating Trinity tonight in a makeup bout.

“I ran the half,” said Hladycz, whose father, John, wrestled at Canon-McMillan and Thiel. “It’s the one and only move I have.”

Hladycz’s pin was the fifth and final lead change in the dual meet and pushed the Big Macs to 3-0 in the section and 5-1 overall. Canon-McMillan lost a dual meet to Kiski two weeks ago for its only loss.

“I was very nervous,” Hladycz said. “I wanted to come out for wrestling because I wanted a chance to prove myself and win something.”

Canon-McMillan had two pins in the match, the one from Hladycz and one from his workout partner, Brendan Furman, at heavyweight.

“It didn’t go exactly as I thought,” said C-M head coach Jason Cardillo. “I knew it would be a close match and that it would come down to the wire.”

Waynesburg got two key wins – one at 106 and the other at 113 – in weights that were toss-ups. Caleb Morris stopped Logan Macri 4-2 at 106 and Ryan Braun edged Dimitri Pihiou 3-2 to tie the dual meet at 6-6.

“We needed some upperclassmen to win,” said Waynesburg head coach Joe Throckmorton. “We needed some bonus points and to stay off our backs.”

The Raiders also needed a win at 120, but Tim Hritsko came through with a 9-4 decision over Cole Rush that made it 9-6. And Cam Fontenot made it 13-6 with a 13-4 major decision over Logan Henderson at 126.

“Morris lost to Macri (for seventh place) at Powerade,” Throckmorton said. “That was a big win. And 113 went in our favor. That helped.”

Canon-mcMillan came through the teeth of Waynesburg’s lineup in decent shape. A.C. Headlee managed a 5-1 decision over C-M’s Matt Oblock at 132, Shane Piper decisioned Blaze Kansco 3-1 at 152 and Colin McCracken shut out Tommy James, 5-0, at 182. The Raiders were expecting bonus points from those weights but didn’t get them. Shaun Wilson won by fall over Ethan Fahey at 138 for Waynesburg’s only pin.

“I told the kids about the streak,” Cardillo said. “So they knew what was at stake.”

Waynesburg led 24-20 with two bouts remaining. James Zeremenko pulled Canon-McMillan to within one, 24-23, with a 5-1 decision over Ryan Keys at 195 and Hladycz put the match away with his pin.

“I’m sure we’re going to see them again,” said Cardillo of Waynesburg. “This was a close match and one little thing going wrong makes a big difference.”