Clutter, Shingle stay calm, push McGuffey to semifinals
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
McGuffey's wreslters reacts as Luke Shingle gets the win in the 182-pound bout to win the final match of the night for the Highlanders against South Fayette’s Joe Basteroli.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
McGuffey’s Rocco Ferraro gets the fall against South Side Beaver’s Roger PIeto in a 106-pound bout.
Fort Cherry’s Jake Tkach gets hold of South Fayette’s Luke Finestone in the 132 first round bout
McGuffey’s Marshall Mounts pins South Fayette’s Jake Walker during the 220-pound bout.
South Fayette’s Salton Hirt wins 10-0 over McGuffey’s Tyler Maxwell.
CANONSBURG – The venue changed, but it had very little impact on the performance of the McGuffey High School wrestling team.
A water main break forced the WPIAL Class AA Team Tournament to be moved from McGuffey to Canon-McMillan, but it didn’t stop the Highlanders from advancing to the semifinal round as the Highlanders defeated South Fayette 38-31 in the quarterfinals.
The semifinals and finals will be held Saturday at Chartiers-Houston High School.
“It was an extremely good night considering we were minus two guys,” McGuffey head coach Mark Caffrey said. “We didn’t have anyone at 160 pounds, but I thought we rose to the occasion and wrestled hard.”
It wasn’t easy for the Highlanders as they trailed South Fayette 31-28 with two bouts remaining.
Christian Clutter stepped up with a 16-3 major decision over Michael Dedi at 170 pounds to give McGuffey a 32-31 advantage.
Luke Shingle followed with a pin at 182 to seal the win for the Highlanders.
“I was very confident,” Caffrey said. “Christian and Luke have been two of my mainstays all year. They are calm and collected out there. I knew they would get the job done.”
It was a big night for Clutter, who not only got the big major decision victory, but also picked up his 100th career victory earlier in the night.
“It’s big,” Clutter said of 100 wins. “It’s something I have been working for since I was a freshman. I had to put that out of my mind though and just go out and get a win for us in the second bout. I wanted to get the pin it just didn’t happen. I knew with Luke behind me I just needed to get a win though, so I wrestled a solid match.”
McGuffey got off to a good start when Marshall Mounts (220) rallied late in the third period to pin SF’s Jake Walker to give the Highlanders a 9-0 lead.
“Marshall got the late pin, but he put the guy in the pinning combination,” Caffrey said. “He put it on him. He did a nice job.”
Mounts’ victory was followed by a major decision from Nathan Yagle (106) and a pin from Rocco Ferraro (113) to put McGuffey up 19-3.
Trailing 28-9, the Lions made a charge behind a pin from Eli Brinsky (138), a major decision from Dalton Hirt (145) and a pin by Michael Cusick (152) that pulled South Fayette to within 28-25. A forfeit at 160 gave the Lions a brief 31-28 lead before Clutter regained the lead for McGuffey.
The Highlanders advanced to the quarterfinals by making quick work of South Side Beaver, defeating the Rams, 56-21.
McGuffey received pins from Ferraro (106), Yagle (113), Jett Pattison (126), Mason Burgdolt (138) and Shingle (182). The Highlanders also got had a technical fall victory from Jake Garrety (132).
“We came out and wrestled real strong early,” Caffrey said. It set the tone for the night.”
South Side Beaver got pins from Joe Demor (145) and Bishop McCoy (heavyweight).
South Fayette advanced with a 54-15 victory over Fort Cherry.
The Lions had pins from Michael Cusick (145) and Eamon Horowitz (170). Fort Cherry had pins from Nasier Sutton (106) and Jacob Merriman (113).