Waynesburg knocks off Canon-McMillan by criteria
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg coaches and wrestlers celebrate a win against Canon-McMillan Wednesday.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Rocco Welsh of Waynesburg (bottom) looks for a way out of the hold of C-M’s Jacob Gardner at 126 pounds.
Waynesburg’s Nate Jones (left) tangles with Brandon Dami of Canon-McMillan at 113 pounds.
WAYNESBURG – Snap.
That was the sound of Canon-McMillan’s streak of winning 18 consecutive section team tournaments coming to an end.
For the first time in 18 years, Waynesburg High School defeated the long-time rival Big Macs, 31-30, to win the Section 4-AAA team title in front of a packed home crowd Wednesday.
Everyone knew it would not be easy, and they were right.
The dual meet ended in a 30-30 tie. And for about 10 agonizing minutes, the large crowd and wrestlers waited in the middle of the gym as the criteria for victory was checked.
When it was announced that Waynesburg had won by the 10th criteria, nearfall points, the Raiders and their fans erupted.
“We’ve had some tight ones, but that was very important to us and the program,” said Waynesburg head coach Joe Throckmorton. “We were way overdue. I’m happy for the kids, their families, the community, everything. It’s just great.”
Throckmorton said this dual meet was “the best ever between the two teams.
“Whoever was going to win it, will remember this one,” he said.
All the bouts were big but the biggest victory came from Noah Tustin, who was caught in a cradle but somehow managed to pin C-M’s Tyler Rohaley at 195 pounds.
“I knew the cradle was coming,” Tustin said. “He’s known for that cross-face cradle. I knew his back was open, so I just took him back and pinned him. I knew he was stuck. He knew he wasn’t getting out.”
“That’s not the technique I teach for that,” Throckmorton said with a laugh, “but it worked.”
It was a bitter loss for the Big Macs but head coach Jeff Havelka believes his team will rally next week in the team tournament.
“I think they stepped up and did a heck of a job,” he said. “We believed in ourselves. I’m not sure how many other people believed we could win this match. They believed and it showed in the way they went out there and fought. Give credit to Waynesburg. They have a great team.”
In the third-place bout, South Fayette got past Trinity, 40-33.
All four teams advance to the WPIAL Class AAA Team Tournament, that gets underway next week. Waynesburg will no doubt have one of the top four seeds for that tournament. It’s possible, because of Canon-McMillan’s regular-season wins over Kiski and Hempfield in the Super Quad in December, that the Big Macs could secure a fourth seed.
Brackets for the team tournament will be released this afternoon.
The Raiders, the No. 2 team in the Observer-Reporter Wrestling Rankings, moved their record to 7-0 in dual meets this season.
Canon-McMillan was without heavyweight, Gio Ramos, who suffered a knee injury three weeks ago and has not wrestled since that time.
Waynesburg got big victories from Mac Church at 106 pounds, Rocco Welsh at 126 pounds, Cole Homet at 132 and Wyatt Henson at 138.
The first-round bouts were blowouts.
Trinity forfeited the first four bouts on the way to a 54-24 loss to rival Canon-McMillan. Jimmy Baxter (132), Tanner Rohaley (152), Matthew Furman (170), Tyler Rohaley (182) and Gerrit Nijenhuis (195) had pins for the Big Macs.
Waynesburg had nine first-period pins on the way to a 71-12 rout of Southe Fayette. Mac Church (106), Nate Jones (113), Hunter Shriver (120), Rocco Welsh (126), Cole Homet (132), Wyatt Henson (138), Colton Stoneking (145), Nate Stephenson (152), Noah Tustin (170) and Ryan Howard (220) won by fall for the Raiders.