Observer-Reporter Athlete of the Week
Name: Gerrit Nijenhuis
School: Canon-McMillan
Class: Freshman
Sport: Wrestling
Nijenhuis’ week: Coming off a fifth-place finish at 152 pounds in the Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament, Nijenhuis pinned Challen Spitznogle to help the Big Macs defeat Waynesburg, 50-19, in a Section 4-A dual meet in Class AAA.
Nijenhuis was the top seed at 152 in the Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association Wrestling Tournament and put on quite a show. He opened with a pin in :51 over Austin Walters of Burgettstown, the pinned Jake Ognibene of Chartiers-Houston in 1:52 in the quarterfinals. Nijenhuis won by 23-6 technical fall over Seth Shubert of Mapletown and capped the tournament with a pin of Luke Mary of Peters Township in 3:02.
Nijenhuis, who raised his record to 20-4 with the four wins, was named Outstanding Wrestler for his efforts.
“My mentality is just score, score, score,” said Nijenhuis said. “Even if it’s a 1-0 match or 14-2, I just want to keep scoring.”
Nijenhuis has steadily improved. He failed to place at this year’s Super 32 tournament but took eighth in the prestigious Beast of the East.
“He’s very composed on the mat and impresses me every time he steps out there,” said C-M head coach Jason Cardillo. “We’ve had some talented guys come through this program. When you get that type of mat time, you get more composed and it becomes another step in the journey.”
Heralded freshman: Nijenhuis came on the varsity scene with some impressive credentials. He was 50-1 in his final middle school season and won the Junior High Super 32, another Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling title, and took first place at the Tulsa Nationals.
“There are high expectations but I feel I’ve done pretty good fitting in,” Nijenhuis said. “Jake Herbert has been my inspiration. I’ve tried to model my wrestling after him.”
What makes Nijenhuis’ accomplishments so impressive is that he is large for a freshman, wrestling at a weight class (152) that is much higher than normal for freshmen in the sport. He is usually competing against juniors and seniors.
“I still know a lot of these kids from PJWs,” Nijenhuis said. “I’ve always been a bigger kid (for my age) so that’s nothing new.”
Nijenhuis moved to the Canonsburg area after attending elementary school in the Fort Cherry school district.
To get away from wrestling, Nijenhuis plays lacrosse and is a midfielder. He has not decided whether to go out for the Big Macs’ varsity team, yet.
“A couple of my friends got me to play,” he said. “It’s kind of a fun thing for me.”
Compiled by Joe Tuscano