Jan 15, 2018 4 min read

The way Mark Powell figures it, this week can’t be much worse than the last, and hopefully not as painful.

The head wrestling coach at Trinity High School spent a weekend with his wrestlers at the Top Gun Tournament in Alliance, Ohio.

His wrestlers came out fine.

Powell?

Well, he battled a dental problem that made his face swell to unusual proportions. Upon his return, he spent time in a dentist chair, having the problem tended to.

“I had two teeth infected,” he said Monday. “I looked like I was jaundiced, on my death bed, with a migraine. I just had four hours of dental work.”

So a date against rival Canon-McMillan Wednesday night at Hiller Hall with a 7:30 p.m. start should be a breeze.

A win by Trinity would force a tie for the Sub-Section 4A title at 4-1 in Class AAA. Waynesburg could make it a three-way tie with a victory over Central Catholic Wednesday.

“We had the pipe burst (in the wrestling room) for Waynesburg and McGuffey, and I think the kids got a little over-focused,” said Powell. “The fun went out of the sport for them. . . . We really haven’t talked about it. We haven’t over-hyped it and the kids seemed to respond to that.”

Canon-McMillan (4-0), with a win over Trinity (3-1), would finish first in the sub-section and wrestle either West Allegheny or Moon in the Section 4 Tournament next week. Trinity would wrestle for fifth place if it loses to C-M. Waynesburg (3-1) would get either West Allegheny or Moon.

“There are a lot of tossup matches,” said Powell. “It’ll be a grind. There will be blowouts on both sides. What it’s going to come down to is which kids will step up.”

Canon-McMillan has won each section title since 2001.

In Sub-Section 2A, Belle Vernon hosts Connellsville in a battle for first place between a pair of 4-0 teams.

Peters Township (4-0) can wrap up first place in the Sub-Section 2B with a win over Ringgold.

In Class AA, Burgettstown (4-0) can clinch the Sub-Section 1A title with a win over Chartiers-Houston (3-1). Fort Cherry (3-1) could finish second with a win over Washington (0-4) and a loss by C-H.

In Sub-section 2A, McGuffey travels to Beth-Center in a match that will determine first place between these two 4-0 teams.

In another dual meet between 4-0 teams, South Fayette hosts Quaker Valley in Sub-Section 3A.

Caffrey going for 400

Mark Caffrey can reach his 400th coaching victory if McGuffey defeats Beth-Center Wednesday.

Caffrey, in his 35th season, entered the season needing 13 wins to reach the milestone. The Highlanders are 12-4. Caffrey is at 399-92.

Only three other coaches in WPIAL history have reached 400 victories: Chuck Tursky (Burrell, Kiski) at 505-143-2, Tom Dolde Sr. (Connellsville) at 448-137-6 and Ron Frank (Fox Chapel) 405-77-7.

Carl Schnellenbach of Ridley leads the PIAA at 767-224-7. He coached Ridley for 54 years.

Tournaments

Belle Vernon’s Zach Hartman took first place at 160 pounds and Scott Joll was third at 170 at the Escape The Rock tournament at Council Rock South High School.

Hartman shut out Gerrit Nijenhuis of Canon-McMillan, 5-0, in the finals. The Big Macs’ Logan Macri lost to Patrick Glory of Delbarton, N.J., by technical fall, 18-2, in the 126-pound finals. C-M’s Jimmy Baxter took fifth at 106 and Tim Hritsko was seventh at 138.

Nick Candelore (132) of Fort Cherry and John Vargo (182) won their weight classes at the Burgettstown Tournament.

At Top Gun, Trinity’s Jonathan Walters (106) was eighth, Giani Martin (113) was fourth and Jared Rice (195) was eighth.