Upsets, injury mark Day 1 of Tri-CADA tourney
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Luke Finestone, right, of South Fayette keeps his eyes on Luca Sciulli of Chartiers-Houston at 152 pounds Friday in the Tri-CADA Wrestling Tournament at South Fayette High School.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Conlan O’Donoghue of Canon-McMillan, background, tries to lock up a cradle during his 113-pound bout with Joey Holmes of Beth-Center Friday in the Tri-CADA Wrestling Tournament at South Fayette High School.
Nate Jones of Waynesburg (right) tries to slip out of the hold of Brandon Dami of Canon-McMillan at 113 pounds Friday in the Tri-CADA Wrestling Tournament at South Fayette High School.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
James Porter of Trinity tries to balance himself on top of Dalton Heath of Jefferson-Morgan at 152 pounds Friday in the Tri-CADA Wrestling Tournament at South Fayette High School.
Rocco Ferraro of McGuffey tries to earn backpoints against Landen Simms of Canon-McMillan at 145 pounds Friday in the Tri-CADA Wrestling Tournament at South Fayette High School.
McDONALD – The 113-pound weight class in the Tri-CADA Wrestling Tournament was like a jungle Friday night, complete with unforeseen occurrences and unexpected outcomes.
The result? Two of the top three seeds in the weight class were designated to the consolation round and left wondering exactly what happened.
The two wrestlers who were not seeded pulled the upsets and made the bus trip back from South Fayette High School wondering how to keep the momentum going today.
Conlan O’Donoghue, a junior from Canon-McMillan, stunned top-seeded Joey Holmes of Beth-Center, 4-0, to get things started in the weight class.
“This is a huge win in my career,” said O’Donoghue, “and I think it could be the turning point to my season. I just knew I could beat him, and once you get past the top seed it gets easier after that. I never wrestled him before and as I was wrestling, I got a feel for the match. I knew I was going to take it to him and see what happens.”
O’Donoghue hit a cradle early in the bout for critical points.
“I can work the crossface really well,” said O’Donoghue, who raised his record to 8-6. “Once I work the cradle in, I know I’m going to get backpoints. This is the first time I wrestled in this tournament. When I got the lead, I just got on my defensive game and not let him score anything on me. This is huge for me. I’m excited to see where this goes.”
Just a few minutes later, Nate Jones, a freshman from Waynesburg, stopped third-seeded Brandon Dami of Canon-McMillan, 8-7.
Jones had a nail-biter with Dami, and nearly gave up a takedown late. But he managed to hold on.
“This is the biggest win of my varsity career,” said Jones. “I don’t look at seeds. My coaches tell me to focus on who you are wrestling, take it one match at a time. They tell me that if you look too far into the bracket, then you won’t make it there. That’s what I try to do. People don’t see the work we put in the room. They don’t see the schedule we go through. They just look at the records.”
And just as everyone was about to call it a night, another crazy event took place.
Gio Ramos, a senior from Canon-McMillan and the third seed in the heavyweight class, stumbled awkwardly and injured his knee during his bout with Washington’s Cameron Carter-Green.
Ramos yelled as he fell to the mat and was forced to default at the 5:02 mark. Ramos needed help to make it to the corner chair and left the gymnasium helped by a set of crutches.
Returning state champion Gerrit Nijenhuis had none of the bad luck that seemed to be infiltrating this tournament. The top-seeded 182-pound senior from Canon-McMillan needed just 1:04 to pin Trinity’s Brian Boyd.
Nijenhuis remains undefeated and moves on to today’s semifinals, which get underway at 10:30 a.m.
Consolation finals and finals will begin at 2:30 p.m.
Canon-McMillan holds the team lead after one day with 117 points, just one-half point more than Waynesburg. Burgettstown is a distant third place and South Fayette is fourth.