Jan 5, 2017 3 min read

Cody Wiercioch, a three-time PIAA champion and graduate of Canon-McMillan High School, is no longer on Pitt’s wrestling team and has withdrawn from school, a spokesperson from the school confirmed Thursday.

Wiercioch won two Class AAA state titles with the Big Macs and a Class AA title at Charleroi. He also was a PIAA runner-up at Charleroi as a sophomore.

Wiercioch, a redshirt junior who was wrestling at 165 pounds, was reportedly sitting out the first semester of this season and had not wrestled this season. He had a combined 25-23 record in his last two seasons and was redshirted as a freshman. Wiercioch qualified for the NCAA Championships last season out of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

A three-time WPIAL champion, Wiercioch had a 167-5 record in high school, including 44-1 in his senior season. He was part of a Canon-McMillan team that won two WPIAL title and back-to-back PIAA team championships during the individual tournaments. C-M also won the PIAA team tournament twice.

The Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association Wresting Tournament is a good opportunity to see all the local wrestling programs under one roof, in this case, Albert Gallatin’s.

The list of area teams competing include Avella, Bentworth, Beth-Center, Burgettstown, Canon-McMillan, Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry, Frazier, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown, McGuffey, Peters Township, Ringgold, South Fayette, Trinity, Washington, Waynesburg and West Greene.

The first round gets under way at 4:30 today and quarterfinals will immediately follow. Semifinals are 10:30 a.m. Saturday followed by the finals at 2:30 p.m.

Canon-McMillan, fresh off a victory over Waynesburg Wednesday, is the defending team champion but some wrestlers might be held out to heal from nagging injuries.

“I entered the guys in and we’ll evaluate what we need to do going forward,” said C-M head coach Jason Cardillo. “The goal is the end of the season and we want to keep our eye on that. … Our schedule is a grind. Every weekend we have something going on.”

Waynesburg and Canon-McMillan are sure to have matchups in the finals.

“I like the tournament because it’s all the local schools together,” said Waynesburg head coach Joe Throckmorton. “We (added South Fayette this year and that’s nice. After Powerade until the regionals, we’re looking to improve. That’s how we judge our season.”

Dom Fundy is off to a strong start to the season. The 182-pound sophomore from Beth-Center won his weight class in the Southmoreland Tournament last week. Fundy is 11-0 and ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL in his weight class by the Observer-Reporter.

Fundy decisioned Teegan Hahn of Greensburg Salem, 4-2, in the finals. Fundy entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and won four bouts.

Josh Kuslock (138) and R.J. Hall (170) of Chartiers-Houston each took third place in their weight classes and Austin Riffle (132) and Darrell Bails (145) of Burgettstown finished fourth.