Macri good as gold for Canon-McMillan
A referee raises the hand of Logan Macri of Canon-McMillan after he won the PIAA Class AAA title in Hershey in 2018.
Marc Billett/For the Observer-Reporter
Logan Macri of Canon-McMillan has Doug Zaph of Downingtown West in trouble during their 126-pound bout in the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships in Hershey Saturday. Macri won a 3-2 decision.
HERSHEY – Logan Macri had the perfect motivation to win a PIAA gold medal Saturday night.
His brother, Dalton.
Dalton Macri won his gold medal in his senior season and this was Logan’s final opportunity.
So all Logan did was cap a magnificent run through the 120-pound weight class with a 3-2 decision over Doug Zapf of Downingtown West at the Giant Center in Hershey.
The win also made first-year head coach Jeff Havelka one-for-one in state finals for the Big Macs.
“We pretty much had the same path,” Logan said. “So I did think about it … all the time, every night. I used it as motivation.”
Logan Macri got a crucial takedown in the second period for a 3-0 lead. He gave up an escape then a penalty point for stalling with seven seconds to go.
“All I was thinking about was avoid getting called for stalling,” he said.
Dalton Macri was part of the large C-M contingent to make the trip and watching from the seats.
“I was pulling for him to have a similar senior season as mine,” Dalton said. “He’s got a lot more to go. We work out together when we can at Quest.”
Dalton said it was agonizing to watch the finals.
“I’d rather wrestle 100 finals than watch my brother wrestle one,” he said. “It’s nerve-wracking.”
Local wrestlers who joined Macri on the medals stand were Gerrit Nijenhuis at 160 pounds, Wyatt Henson (120) and Caleb Morris (126) of Waynesburg, and Scott Joll (170) of Belle Vernon.
Macri earned his spot in the finals with some outstanding wrestling. He won a 10-4 decision over Brandon Meredith of Spring Ford and followed it up with a 23-8 technicall fall over Rafael Portilla of Carlisle.
In the semis, Macri avenged an early-season loss to Sean Pierson of Nazareth by taking a 5-2 decision in a match he controlled.
The most controversial bout of the Class AAA semis came at 160 pounds, where Carter Starocci of Erie Cathedral Prep was awarded a takedown in the final seconds that most did not believe he had to defeat Nijenhuis, 3-1.
Starocci locked a cradle but Nijenhuis rolled through, breaking the hold and actually emerging in a takedown position as the buzzer sounded.
Boos rained down and the C-M coaches leaped out of their chairs in the corner to protest the call. The referee met briefly with the mat judged, then raised Starocci’s hand, drawing more boos and more yells from the C-M coaches.
“They gave two so it is what it is,” said C-M head coach Jeff Havelka about 25 minutes after the call. “I asked him, ‘How is that two? How is that control?’ I didn’t get much of an explanation. He said he conferred with his partner and said both felt it was a takedown. There wasn’t much we could do after that.”
Nijenhuis pinned his next opponent in the wrestlebacks, then won a 3-0 decision over Luke Stout of Mt. Lebanon for third place.
Henson won a 3-1 decision over Cameron Eniquez of Stroudsburg to take fifth place at 120.
Morris took seventh place at 126 with a 5-3 decision in overtime of Gunnar Fuss of Harry S. Truman.
Joll took fifth place at 170 with an 8-5 decision over Max Hale of Downingtown West.