Dec 22, 2017 3 min read

CANONSBURG – There is nothing like beating the No. 1 Class AAA high school wrestling team in the WPIAL to make a good first impression.

That’s what Jeff Havelka managed to do in the first major dual meet since he was named head coach at Canon-McMillan this summer.

Behind some pressure-packed wins, the third-ranked Big Macs defeated No. 1 Kiski, 36-27, in a non-section dual meet Friday night.

The victory moved Canon-McMillan to 2-0 on the season and provides a shot of adrenaline for the upcoming Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament, which gets underway Friday in C-M’s gym.

“Our guys came out and stepped up,” said Havelka, who replaced Jason Cardillo after he resigned after last season. “We got some falls where we absolutely needed them and it was a good overall team effort.”

Of all the big wins, none stood out more than the pin Zach Rohaley got at 220 pounds, the fourth bout of the match.

Rohaley, a potential Division I baseball recruit for the Big Macs, came out just a few days ago after injuries left the team hamstrung in that weight.

“He wanted to come out and help the team,” Havelka said. “We were very happy about that news. His pin got our guys going. To see him go out and get the fall, that’s huge momentum for us at the beginning of the match.”

Kiski, which fell to 7-1, has major injuries to deal with. Heavyweight Isaac Reid, who lost to Canon-McMillan’s Brendan Furman in last year’s heavyweight finals of the PIAA Championships in Hershey, has no timetable for a return with a medical condition.

Sammy Starr, the starter at 106, is expected back in early January. Canon-McMillan took advantage of those absences when Giomar Ramos won a 3-1 decision over the Cavaliers’ Zack Insko at heavyweight, and Jimmy Baxter pinned Julian Jones in 3:40 at 106.

If Kiski won by decisions in those two weight classes, the outcome is reversed.

“We were hoping to win the flip and get different matchups,” said Kiski head coach Chris Heater. “We didn’t get a few of the matchups that we needed. We have two starters out. It would have been a game-changer. I knew we would wrestle these guys tough.”

Rohaley’s pin brought C-M to within 11-9 and set off a six-bout winning streak that produced a 33-11 lead. Michael Binni pinned Damian Warnick in 2:51 and Logan Macri stuck Bobby Lawrence in :45 at 126 to fuel the run.

“We believed we were the better team coming in and this just proves our point,” said Binni. “It showed we’re a team to be reckoned with and no one should put us down yet.”

Kiski made a run of its own, winning the next four bouts. When Jack Blumer pinned Tanner Rohaley in 3:13 at 152, the Cavaliers trailed by six, 33-27.

But Gerrit Nijenhuis, a third-place finisher at 152 in Hershey last season, decisioned Nick Delp 9-5 to send Big Mac fans home happy.

Notes

Before the dual meet, the school honored the 2012-13 C-M wrestling team that won a PIAA Team Tournament title. … Logan Macri will be at 120 pounds for the Powerade tournament.