Apr 15, 2019 3 min read

It was another successful season for high school wrestling in the area.

A state champion was crowned, other placement medals were won and teams enjoyed some unexpected and unprecedented moments.

At the center of these accomplishments were three coaches in particular: Jeff Havelka of Canon-McMillan, Joey Vigliotti of Burgettstown and Gary Welsh of Beth-Center.

These three coaches will be honored and a winner chosen at the Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association’s Coach of the Year Banquet, which will be held at 6 p.m. April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Southpointe.

Tickets for the banquet are $35 each and are on sale at Washington High School, 201 Allison Avenue, Washington, PA 15301. Reservations can be made by calling Washington athletic director Mike Bosnic at 724-223-5085, ext. 2091.

All proceeds from the banquet benefit Special Olympics.

Havelka was in the corner when Gerrit Nijenhuis won the Class AAA 170-pound title by defeating two-time state champion Edmond Ruth of Susquehanna Township in the finals. The win was so impressive that Nijenhuis was named Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament by a vote of the wrestling writers covering the event. Ken Hayman finished in third place at 126 pounds and Tanner Rohaley was a state qualifier at 145 pounds.

Canon-McMillan defeated Waynesburg for the Section 4-AAA title to earn one of the top seeds in in the WPIAL Team Tournament. The Big Macs defeated Franklin Regional and Thomas Jefferson to reach the semifinals, where Kiski defeated C-M. In the PIAA Team Tournament, Canon-McMillan routed Carrick then fell to Cedar Cliff. C-M defeated Dallastown and Selinsgrove before losing to Kiski.

Vigliotti led the Blue Devils to the Section 1-AA title but they were upended by Freedom in the second round of the WPIAL Team Tournament after a win over Hopewell.

Brothers Shane and Riley Kemper qualified for the PIAA Championships, the latter as WPIAL champion at heavyweight and the former as WPIAL runner-up at 145 pounds. Both won bouts at the state tournament but did not place.

Welsh led Beth-Center to the PIAA Class AA Team Tournament for the first time in the program’s history. A trip to Hershey was missed when Conneaut Area edged the Bulldogs in the preliminary round. B-C was second to Burgettstown in Section 1 and earned the PIAA berth with a third-place finish in the WPIAL Team Tournament.

For the second season in a row, Welsh lost Dom Fundy for the individual postseason with an injury. Fundy was a state runner-up as a sophomore. Jimmy Gwyer qualified for the state tournament with a fourth-place finish at 120 pounds in the regional tournament.