Mar 5, 2016 4 min read

PENN HILLS – Derek Verkleeren’s win in the finals of the 152-pound weight class at the WPIAL Individual Wrestling Championships was over so quickly, he barely had time to take in the ambiance at Penn Hills High School.

Verkleeren, a senior from Belle Vernon, wasted no time in pinning David Kelly of Pine Richland in the championship bout, hooking a cradle for a pin in 36 seconds.

Verkleeren was one of two champions from Belle Vernon Saturday night and a school-record six qualified for the Leopards.

It was a bittersweet moment atop the podium for the senior. He had hoped to share the moment with his younger brother, Jarod. But a weigh-in mistake at the PIAA Team Tournament left Jarod out of the postseason.

“I didn’t figure that would happen,” Verkleeren said. “But my sophomore year, he was a freshman and I got hurt. I was there with him and didn’t wrestle. I supported him there, so I guess he’s going to support me there this year.”

Verkleeren was joined by teammate Zach Hartman, who pulled off an upset, beating top-seeded Luke Kemerer in the 132 finals with a pin in 3:30.

“I don’t think we’ve had this many go to states in school history,” Verkleeren said. “We had five guys in the finals and we have a good team. We wrestle hard. We should bring back a lot of medals.”

But it will be the one his brother won’t have that will stick with him – though he’s now focused on winning more medals of his own.

“It went quicker than I thought. I didn’t expect it,” he said of his win in the finals. “As soon as I got him on his back, I knew if I held that hold a long time, my grip would get tired, so I finished it off fast.

“I’m excited. I’ve wrestled a lot of the guys that are going to be in my bracket.”

Verkleeren and Hartman will be joined in Hershey by second-place finishers Michael Hartman (160), Austin Bell (170) and Milton Kobaly (182) and third-place winner Jacob Dunlop (106).

As strong as the Leopards were – they ran away with the team title – Waynesburg was nearly their equal.

The Raiders finished third in the team standings and also will advance six to the state tournament, headed by second-place finisher Shaun Wilson at 138 pounds.

Wilson took two-time PIAA champion Luke Pletcher to the limit before dropping a 5-3 decision.

“I’m a little disappointed,” said Wilson, who had lost earlier this season to Pletcher at the Powerade Tournament.

“Losing is never the goal. I hate losing.”

The Raiders got some memorable performances from Terry Victor, Cole Rush and Colin McCracken in the consolation round.

Victor and Rush clinched a trip to the PIAA championships in style. Both earned their 100th career victory with their wins in the consolation semifinals.

McCracken also picked up his 100th win when he beat Mike Mahon of Fox Chapel, 4-1, in the consolation finals to take third place.

McCracken was joined as a third-place finisher for the Raiders by 160-pounder Kyle Homet. The sophomore defeated Kevin Holman for the second time – they also had met in the quarterfinals – 3-2. Holman is 32-4 this season, with three of his losses coming to Homet (31-8).

The Raiders also had sophomore Caleb Morris, the No. 2 seed at 120 pounds, finish fourth and guarantee his second consecutive trip to Hershey.

Canon-McMillan’s Logan Macri and Peters Township’s Mike McAleavey had solid weekends, finishing second in their respective weight classes. Macri at 113, dropping a tough 3-1 decision to unbeaten Gage Curry of North Hills, and McAleavey was pinned in the 220 finals by Jacob Robb of Armstrong.

Macri’s finish was the lone bright spot for the Big Macs in what turned out to be a difficult tournament.

Heavyweight Brendan Furman, the top seed, lost in the semifinals, 2-1 on a tiebreaker, to Hayden Rice of Norwin, then lost 6-3 to Connellsville’s Luke Mauro in a tiebreaker in the consolation semifinals.

He was one of four Big Macs who came up one match short of reaching the PIAA tournament. Matt Oblock (126), James Zeremenko (182) and Nick Konyk (195) were the others.