Feb 6, 2016 5 min read

HOUSTON – Rebounding from a disappointing loss is difficult when you have a day or more to do so.

Responding from a disappointing loss in a matter of minutes, well, that takes a special kind of effort.

But that’s exactly what South Fayette wrestling coach Rick Chaussard got from his team on Saturday at Chartiers-Houston High School. The Lions came back after losing a heartbreaking 32-27 decision to defending champion Burrell in the semifinals of the WPIAL Class AA Team Tournament to defeat Derry, 39-26, in the consolation final.

With the victory over Derry, South Fayette (15-7) qualified for the PIAA championships. The Lions will face District 10 runnerup Fort LeBoeuf, a 33-29 loser Saturday to Reynolds, Monday in a preliminary match at a site and time to be determined for the right to advance into a first-round match Thursday against the champion from District 5 in Hershey.

For a while, it looked like the Lions might keep Burrell from winning its 10th-consecutive WPIAL title, something the Bucs accomplished later with a 48-17 demolition of Freedom.

“For them to come back and win this match (against Derry), I think it shows a lot of character,” said Chaussard. “We threw all our eggs into the Burrell basket and we didn’t get what we wanted. But they knew that. They knew going in that we were doing that. We were doing some things that weren’t characteristic for us to do because we knew that was our shot to beat them. We had a shot. We just didn’t finish the job.”

And it made for an interesting day for South Fayette senior Jasper Wolfe.

Wolfe, the Lions’ 120-pound wrestler, knew when he saw the match against Burrell would start at 126 pounds that he could be the deciding factor.

Little did he know, he’d actually get two shots at closing out a win for the Lions.

With South Fayette trailing Burrell, 29-27 entering the final bout, Wolfe came up short against the Bucs, gave up a pair of takedowns in the third period to Trent Bechtold to drop a 5-2 decision.

It would have been easy to mope about the loss. But after a short intermission, the Lions had to face Derry, a 35-34 loser to Freedom in the other semifinal, for a chance to extend their team wrestling season.

Wolfe and the Lions made the most of the situation, with the senior locking up the South Fayette victory with a 7-5 match-clinching victory over Onreey Stewart.

“I was disappointed after the first match,” said Wolfe. “The team was relying on me. I’m a senior. I just couldn’t get it done.”

With Chaussard moving guys in his lineup like chess pieces as he attempted to get matchups that would give South Fayette a chance to knock off Burrell, things looked promising.

The shuffling began at 145 pounds after South Fayette took a 12-0 lead in the match that began at 126 following a 5-4 decision by Jerod Witwicki, a forfeit by Burrell at 132 and an 8-1 decision by Shane Ging at 138.

South Fayette’s Michael Cusick, who weighed in at 134 pounds, bumped up to 145 to take on Dylan Jeffrey. Jeffrey won a 5-1 decision to cut the Lions’ lead to 12-3, but regular 145-pounder Mike Carr, an unbeaten defending PIAA champion, moved up to 152, where he pinned Dean Edwards to give South Fayette an 18-3 advantage.

The shuffling continued as Ben Previte moved up to 160, where he was dealt a major decision by Damon Greenwald, who typically is Burrell’s 152 pounder. That cut the Lions’ lead to 18-7.

But when South Fayette’s Christian Dedi, who typically wrestles at 160 pounds, decisioned Shaun Gates at 170 to put South Fayette ahead, 21-7, it looked like Chaussard’s gambit might pay off.

Even though Burrell would get pins at 182 and 195 and a decision at 220 to take a 22-21 lead, Chaussard knew he had Rasaun Culberson and Colin Dunn, the top-ranked wrestlers in the WPIAL at 220 and 106 pounds, respectively, awaiting.

Chaussard sent Culberson out at heavyweight and he responded with a quick pin to put the Lions back out in front, 27-22.

But Burrell’s Bryan Gaul upset Dunn, 5-4, taking him down in the first period and reversing him in the third to make 27-25, South Fayette.

Daniel McCarthy then scored a 17-7 major decision at 113 over Gary Loeffler to put the Bucs ahead, 29-27, and set the stage for Wolfe’s bout against Bechtold.

“We had the right strategy, we just didn’t get the right results. All we had to do down the stretch was win one out of three,” said Chaussard. “We couldn’t get it done. Hats off to them. That’s why they’re where they’re at and everybody else is trying to be like them.”

Things weren’t nearly as interesting against Derry, as South Fayette got pins from Carr, Joe Bastaroli, Culberson and Dunn and Wolfe’s clinching decision in the next-to-last bout.

“We lost, but we weren’t going to keep our heads down. That’s now who we are,” said Wolfe. “”We wrestled our hearts out. We’ll come out Monday and see what we can do.”