Waynesburg prepared for next hurdle
The idea came with the first victory, a thrilling 2-1 overtime win by Ky Szewczyk over Canon-McMillan’s Andrew Binni in the 106-pound final of the Section 4 Tournament.
Joe Throckmorton, the Waynesburg head coach, shouted “One!”
He shouted “Two!” after Joseph Simon won the 113-pound weight class and “Three!” when Mac Church took first place at 120.
Throckmorton made it to 12 before the finals ended. It is believed that no other WPIAL team has won 12 section titles in one season.
“I think they thought I was half nuts when I told them we could win 12 section titles,” said Throckmorton. “As soon as Ky won, I said that was one of 12. I kept doing that and I think it helped us bond together. That’s one of the things they learned at the state team tournament. Our guys bonded. Even though they wrestled at Waynesburg, they wresled at different clubs. They learned last year that even the best of the best needed everyone on the team.”
So can the Raiders get 12 champions in Saturday’s WPIAL Class AAA Championships at Canon-McMillan High School?
Well, it’s unlikely but the Raiders will need all the qualifiers it can get in order to make a run at the team title at the PIAA Championships in March.
“Our goal is 12 out of 12,” said Throckmorton. “I know people will think that’s hard to do. But we saw coming out of sections there is more pressure on these kids because they aren’t taking as many (to Hershey).
“You can’t have a lot of mistakes. You have to cut weight the right way, make weight and then in an hour or so go out wrestle a really good guy. This is the quarterfinals. You have only eight guys left in each weight to reach our goals.”
First-round matches, the quarterfinals, get underway at 10 a.m. Semifinals and first-round consolations will be held at 12:15 p.m. Championship finals will be held at 6 p.m.
Each weight class will wrestle to four places with the top three moving on to the West Super Region March 6 at Altoona.
“We have a lot of goals. We want to win the regional title and get as many to regionals as possible,” said Throckmorton. “If they are off their game, then they can’t achieve what they want.”
The other nine wrestlers to win section titles were Zander Phaturos (126), Colton Stoneking (132), Cole Homet (138), returning PIAA champion Wyatt Henson (145), Rocco Welsh (152), Nate Stephenson (160), Luca Augustine (172), Eli Makel (189) and Ryan Howard (Hvy).
Class AA
The PIAA Class AA Southwest Region Tournamennt gets underway Saturday at Indiana University. The Super-Region will be held the following Saturday, again at Indiana University.
First-round action tomorrow begins 8 a.m. and the finals are at 8:30 p.m.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to the PIAA Championships in Hershey March 12.
PA Power Wrestling will stream the Class AA tournament Saturday.