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C-M survives scare from Thomas Jefferson

3 min read
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CANONSBURG – On this day, nothing could stop Canon-McMillan’s wrestling team.

Not the bitter cold weather.

Not Franklin Regional.

Not Thomas Jefferson.

Canon-McMillan cut a path the way a plow moves through snow in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAA Wrestling Team Tournament Wednesday night. Then they ground out a win, one snow shovel at a time, in the quarterfinals.

The Big Macs, champions of Section 4, wiped away Franklin Regional in the first round, 54-16, then disposed of a pesky Thomas Jefferson, 27-25, in the quarterfinals.

Those two wins advance the fourth-seeded Big Macs into Saturday’s semifinals against top-seeded Kiski at Norwin High School. First whistle is at 4 p.m.

A win against the Cavaliers will assure a spot in next week’s PIAA Team Tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey.

If the Big Macs don’t defeat Kiski, then they will wrestle for third place and, if successful, still earn a berth in the state event with a victory.

None of that seemed to matter as Thomas Jefferson gave the Big Macs all it could handle.

“We figured it would be a pretty tight match,” said Canon-McMillan head coach Jeff Havelka. “TJ has a pretty solid team and tough wrestlers from top to bottom. … I’m proud of our guys for finding a way to get it done. There were a lot of guys who had gutsy wins out there.”

The big bout in the second match came at 195, where Gerrit Nijenhuis dropped a 2-1 decision in three overtimes to Max Shaw. Both were ranked No. 1 in their respective weight class, Shaw at 195 and Nijenhuis at 182.

Nijenhuis was giving up 24 pounds, wrestling up a weight class. Both managed an escape in regulation. Shaw escaped in the second OT and held Nijenhuis in the next 30 second period. Nijenhuis limped off with an apparent left knee injury.

Shaw’s win brought TJ to within two points of the lead, 24-22.

Alec Hendal gutted out a 2-1 decision, again in three overtimes, against Austin Sobeck to make it 27-22.

Heavyweight Gio Ramos then had the best 3-0 loss of his career, to Dom Serapiglia, that secured the two-point win.

“That’s the kind of match this program has been looking to have,” said Thomas Jefferson head coach Mike Ladick. “Those were tight matches all the way through. Canon-McMillan won tonight and they deserve to be commended. But we have a heck of a team on our hands and we’re looking forward to the individual tournaments now.”

Six first-period pins in a row propelled the Big Macs to a 54-16 win over Franklin Regional in first-round action.

Franklin Regional took a 16-12 lead after Mason Spears won by 18-3 technical fall over Ryan Clendaniel at 138 pounds.

Tanner Rohaley (145), Blake Joseph (152), Johnathan Shanahan (160), Tyler Rohaley (170), Gerrit Nijenhuis (182), Evan Miller (195) and Alec Hendal (220) ripped off pins to put the match in the win column.

In one of the better matchups, Colton Camacho won a hard-fought 1-0 decision over Kenn Hayman at 126 pounds.

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