Waynesburg’s Wilson outstanding, Big Macs team champs at Tri-CADA event
YORK RUN – Shaun Wilson knew what to look for, but he just didn’t know when it was coming.
Wilson knew Doug Gudenburr of Ringgold liked to use a special wrestling move, called the Merkel, and it could lead to massive point swings and even pins to the unprepared opponent.
Wilson, a senior from Waynesburg, managed to avoid that and came away with a 7-2 decision and the 138-pound title in the Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association Wrestling Tournament at Albert Gallatin High School Saturday afternoon.
Wilson was one of six wrestlers to win their second title in this event and he was named Outstanding Wrestler for his efforts.
Canon-McMillan, on the strength of four champions, won the team title with 225 points. Waynesburg, the defending champ, was second with 218. Trinity was third with 157.5, followed by McGuffey (135.5) and Peters Township (120).
“The effort was there,” said C-M head coach Jason Cardillo. “We came with a light crew. We were missing some guys but still came out on top with nine guys in the finals.”
Winning their second titles with Wilson were Tim Wallace (160) of Albert Gallatin, Tony Welsh (170) of Beth-Center, Colin McCracken (182) of Waynesburg, Bill Bowlen (195) of Jefferson-Morgan and Brendan Furman (Hvy) of Canon-McMillan. Welsh’s first win was in 2014.
Wilson had a first-round bye before pinning Jacob Housel of Beth-Center in the quarterfinals. He stopped Josh Kuslock of Chartiers-Houston 10-2 in the semifinals before running into Gudenburr.
“I knew (Gudenburr) was tough with the Merkel,” said Wilson of a wrestling move that traps the head and laces the leg in an effort to turn an opponent from a bottom position.
“He almost caught me with that. It was close, but somehow I pulled it out.”
Wilson felt it was a tough weight class and that he simply did not look past anyone.
“Kuslock is tough and so is Dougie,” said Wilson. “I thought the finals (score) would be closer. It turned out pretty good.”
Macri made quick work of Colby Morris of Waynesburg, wrestling from the standing position throughout the match before winning 9-3.
“I’ve been working on getting more shots off,” Macri said. “Last year, I only had a couple shots. I wanted to get more diverse this year during my matches. I’ve been working on getting off bottom. I’ve had some problems with that last year but I’ve improved a lot.”
Macri, who is often compared to his brother, Dalton, a PIAA champion now wrestling at 125 for Cornell, is beginning to look more like him on the mat. The styles are similar and Logan still has two more high school seasons to refine it.
“It’s tough to get out of my brother’s shadow,” said Macri. “He’s actually helped me become my own person, my own wrestler. I don’t have to follow in his footsteps. He’s shown me how to be my own person.”
Welsh cut through the 170 weight class with wins over Trevor Kniha of Jefferson-Morgan and Blaze Kansco of Canon-McMillan, the latter 11-3 in the finals.
“It’s a tough tournament and there is good competition here,” said Welsh. “Justin Ritter (of Trinity) is a tough wrestler, so is Kniha and Kansco. I was a little worried about him coming into the finals.”
McCracken had a struggle in the 182-pound finals, taking a 3-2 decision from James Zeremenko of Canon-McMillan.
“This one is a little more special because it’s my second straight title,” said McCracken. “I figured I would get him in the finals. I never wrestled him before.”
Bowlen wrapped up his second title with a 7-2 decision over Nick Konyk of Canon-McMillan. Bowlen beat Welsh in the finals last season.
Furman won a season rematch over Trinity’s Austin Fife, 7-1 in the heavyweight final. He spent 1:51 of mat time in two pins to reach the finals.
“I wrestled him freshman and sophomore years and this was the first time I lost to him,” said Furman of Fife. “I knew I had to step up my game, and I did. It just comes down to who wants it more.”