Jan 25, 2017 4 min read

BURGETTSTOWN – With some members of his team under the weather, Burgettstown first-year wrestling coach Joe Vigliotti had to get creative with his lineup in the WPIAL Section 1-AA Championship match against Freedom.

That included bumping 145-pounder Darrell Bails to 160 pounds.

Bails, a senior, had won his 99th career bout earlier in the evening in the Blue Devils’ 42-22 semifinal win over Ellwood City and would be moving up 15 pounds in an effort to help Burgettstown.

Bails won his 100th career bout, but it wasn’t enough to send the Blue Devils get past Freedom, as they fell, 45-27.

“We had a couple of kids who were sick that manned up and came,” said Vigliotti. “They competed their hardest. A lot of people didn’t give us much of a chance to compete this season and we might not have a lot of big names, but we’ve got kids who work hard every single day. And (former head coach) Terry Havelka used to say, ‘When you step out on that mat with Burgettstown across your chest, they know they’re in for a fight.’ Even though we lost that last match, I can’t be mad one bit.”

The Blue Devils nearly pulled out the victory despite their issues. And it was because of efforts by Bails at 160 pounds, Riley Kemper at 220, Billy Brown at 106, and others, that they had a chance.

Kemper got the Blue Devils rolling with a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over Randy Simmons to give Burgettstown a 3-0 lead.

Burgettstown forfeited to top-rated heavyweight Evan Sweesy but Brown overcame a 7-4 third-period deficit to pin Thomas Young, escaping and then taking him down to his back to record the fall early in the period.

A pin by Zach Ward at 113 put Freedom ahead, 12-9, but Burgettstown then got back-to-back pins from Ryan Burg at 120 and P.J. Smith at 126 to grab a 21-12 lead.

With Freedom having solid middle weights Jacob Pail, Chase Komara, Brett Johnston and Kody Komara waiting, the Blue Devils gave up that lead as the Bulldogs breezed through those bouts to grab a 33-21 advantage.

Bails stopped the run with a 3-1 decision at 160 pounds over Dean Ward in a hard-fought battle in which Bails nearly turned Ward several times and rode him the entire second period, but it wasn’t enough, even with the Blue Devils getting a pin by Ethan Brothers at 170 pounds.

“Coach told me he was going to weigh me in a little over 145 so I could bump up to (152) and then wrestle at 160,” Bails said. “I think I’m going to stick at 45 for the postseason. But it’s nothing I wasn’t used to.”

Bails said the bump up 15 pounds wasn’t a big deal because he typically works out with the wrestlers on the team who are heavier than him.

“There’s some strategy there. He’s had some tough luck with Kody Komara in the past,” Vigliotti said. “We thought our best shot was for him to bump up. It would have been nice to get six there, but he wrestled hard and everyone else did, too.”

The win by Bails was as close as the Blue Devils would get, as Freedom closed the match with a pin by Bryson Miller and a forfeit.

With next week’s team tournament looming, Burgettstown will get an opportunity to get in more work before the individual tournament begins.

That’s fine with Bails.

“Come postseason, 100 wins is nice, but (making) states is the top goal,” Bails said.

Freedom had advanced to the final with an impressive 58-12 win over Chartiers-Houston.

The Bucs rebounded, however, in the third-place match, beating Ellwood City, 51-30.

The top five teams from each section advance to next week’s team tournament. All four teams that wrestled at Burgettstown Wednesday night advance.

Fort Cherry defeated Laurel, 37-36, in the fifth-place match and also advances.