Nijenhuis unstoppable in winning first Powerade title
Eleanor Bailey/Almanac
Gerrit Nijenhuis works over Cole Rees. The Canon-McMillan senior defeated the Wyoming Seminary junior to win the 182-pound weight class Saturday during the Powerade Wrestling Tournament.
Eleanor Bailey
Gerrit Nijenhuis, right, works on escaping from a leg hold placed on him by Cole Rees. The Canon-McMillan senior succeeded and defeated the Wyoming Seminary junior to claim the 182-pound weight class during the Powerade Wrestling Tournament.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township’s Donovan McMillon is one of the local wrestlers expected to compete at Powerade in December.
CANONSBURG – This time, there were no fireworks at the end of the match or angry stares or harsh words.
There was just outstanding wrestling that made Gerrit Nijenhuis a Powerade wrestling champion for the first time.
Nijenhuis, a returning PIAA Class AAA champion, tore up the 182-pound weight class, capping it with a 10-0 major decision over Cole Rees of Wyoming Seminary on Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School.
“It’s a great feeling,” Nijenhuis said. “I’ve come up short in the past but now I can check this off my bucket list.”
Nijenhuis was one of two local champions as Mac Church of Waynesburg won the 106-pound title with a dominating 9-1 major decision over Briar Priest of Hempfield.
The top eight wrestlers in each weight class received medals.
For the fourth time in the last five years, Wyoming Seminary won the team title. The school did not participate in last year’s tournament. Malvern Prep was a distance second, followed by Waynesburg and the Big Macs.
Heavyweight Gio Ramos placed third with a default victory against Stone Joseph of Kiski.
Nijenhuis’ final was quite a turnaround from last year, when he and Carter Starocci of Erie Cathedral Prep nearly came to blows at the end of their 170-pound match that closed the tournament.
“You have to have the right mindset and go out there and execute to the best of your ability,” Nijenhuis said. “Last year was a series of unfortunate events (in the Starocci match). I came back a better wrestler. I feel like that made a lot of things click for me.”
C-M head coach Jeff Havelka agrees with Nijenhuis’ assessment.
“The two of them have bad blood and it got a little chippy at the end,” Havelka said. “We talked to him about it and told him don’t let others get in your head. You learn and you grow from that. It’s still showing this year.”
So what’s on Nijenhuis’ bucket list this year?
“Win that second state title and finish the season undefeated,” he said.
Nijenhuis pinned his way to the semifinals, where Nathan Warden of Christiansburg, Va., waited. Nijenhuis started fast but stalled in the third period, earning an 8-5 decision. It would be his closest match in this event.
Time ran out for Ramos in the heavyweight semifinals, when he was turned and pinned in 1:13 by Cole Deery of Malvern Prep. His win over Joseph came when the Kiski heavyweight could not continue after injuring his elbow.
“I’m happy that I won,” he said, “but I didn’t want to win that way.”
Peters Township’s Donovan McMillon lost in the quarterfinals but battled back through the consolations to take third place at 182 pounds.
“I went 4-0 today and 2-1 (Friday),” he said. “When I lost in the quarterfinals, my coaches told me the goal was third-place so let’s go 1-0 each time.”
Cole Rees of Wyoming Seminary sent McMillon into the consolation round with a 4-2 decision but McMillon rallied, winning three straight bouts to get into the third-place bout.
Evan Miller of Canon-Mac finished seventh at 220 and teammate Jacob Houpt was seventh at 106 pounds.
After losing in the 195 semis, Trinity’s Cole Whitmer dropped into the consolation round, where he was pinned by Brayden Herbster of Reynolds in 4:12.