Jan 18, 2018 3 min read

When Gary Welsh took over the wrestling program at Beth-Center High School four years ago, the Bulldogs were in difficult straits.

Only six wrestlers were on the previous roster and some were questioning whether it made sense to keep the program going.

No one is questioning the program now as Welsh has filled the weight classes with wrestlers and filled their hearts with hope.

The Bulldogs have a tall order in the first round of the WPIAL Section 2 Team Tournament Wednesday. Derry, the No. 4 team in the Observer-Reporter Class AA Wrestling Rankings, is their opponent.

The tournament is mostly a seeding process for the WPIAL Team Tournament. The top five teams in the section team tourney advance to the WPIAL event.

Pairings for the section team tournament can be found in the Scoreboard section of the Observer-Reporter on Page C2.

Twelve area teams, including No. 1 Canon-McMillan in Class AAA, are competing in one of the two classes.

Derry is coming off a 43-31 win over Mt. Pleasant that clinched the Sub-Section 2B title. Beth-Center finished second in Sub-Section 2A after falling to McGuffey, 40-27, Wednesday.

“When I took over four years ago, we started to emphasize the team aspect of the sport,” said Welsh. “It was tough getting the kids to buy in at first, but we’re there now. We’re still trying to climb the ladder. That first year, we were just happy to be in (the fifth-place match). We’re just going to go out now and wrestle to the best of our ability.”

Last season, the Bulldogs surprised Chartiers-Houston, 39-30, in the first round before running into powerful South Fayette in a 52-22 quarterfinal loss.

Two years ago, Beth-Center knocked off South Allegheny, 55-18, in Round 1, then fell to Freedom, 46-24, in the quarterfinals.

Those performances had a positive affect on Welsh’s recruiting process.

“My first year, I was just trying to get kids out, to try it and see if they liked it,” said Welsh. “Through that, and with the boosters helping to promote it by doing all kinds of things, it seems the more success we had with kids getting to the states and Dom (Fundy) making it to the state finals, all the stuff, the youth kids see that and say, ‘That could be me.'”

Beth-Center has advanced this far with only two ranked wrestlers: Jimmy Gwyer, who is third at 120, and Dom Fundy, who is first at 182. Fundy was a state runner-up at 170 last season.

Like Beth-Center in Double-A, Peters Township has its hands full in Class AAA with a first-round matchup against Belle Vernon.

“The ultimate goal is to win a section title,” said Peters Township head coach Jason Carpetta. “Connellsville and Belle Vernon are ranked teams, so it’s going to be a challenge.”

The Indians will rely on lightweights Bryce Wilkes at 113, Will Kail at 120 and Donovan McMillon at 132, and the 1-2 punch of Brandon Matthews (160) and Luke Mary at 170 in the upper weights.

Belle Vernon has been forfeiting lower weights but has a strong lineup that includes Zach Hartman, a Powerade and Escape The Rock champion.

One advantage for PT is wrestling at home.

“It means a lot,” said Carpetta. “The kids are comfortable there because it’s their home gym. Hopefully, there will be a big crowd.”