Three-peat: Waynesburg wins third straight WPIAL team title; Homet makes surprise start
McMURRRAY – The Waynesburg High School wrestling team hit the trifecta Saturday afternoon by winning its third consecutive WPIAL Class 3A Team Tournament title with a pair of victories at Peters Township High School.
But the story of the day was the surprising appearance of senior Cole Homet, who has spent most of the season as an inspirational leader for the Raiders while recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident that almost took his life.
Waynesburg coach Kyle Szewczyk surprised the large crowd by inserting Homet into the championship match against Connellsville.
“I told Cole that he would be wrestling at 145 pounds in the title match against whoever was there, regardless of which team we faced,” Szewczyk said. “I told Cole that he needed to be a part of this, not just on the bench.”
Homet had made only one appearance during the 2021-22 season prior to his bout against Connellsville’s Chad Jesko. Homet recorded a takedown in the first period and finished with a 5-4 victory leading the way to Waynesburg’s 35-18 win over the Falcons.
“That first takedown was a big confidence booster,” Homet said. “I always want to get the first points on the scoreboard. It’s a challenge. Every step is a challenge. Wrestling with one arm, there’s a lot of things I had to change. I had to change my stance and my lead hand.”
Waynesburg had a 12-3 lead when Homet stepped on the mat. Some Waynesburg fans were wondering if this was a smart move in a match of such significance.
“It could have blown up in my face,” Szewczyk admitted. “Even if he would have lost, I wanted Cole to have that opportunity. It didn’t surprise me that he figured out how to win with one arm over a high-level quality opponent.”
It was no surprise that this title had special meaning for Homet.
“This title absolutely means more to me,” Homet said. “In our first title, I had a bad taste in my mouth losing to the No. 1 kid in the country. I threw my headgear and we lost a team point. Seven months ago, I almost died and now I was able to help my team win a third WPIAL title. It’s awesome. It’s incredible.”
Waynesburg fans may have been skeptical when Homet began wrestling, but were cheering with delight as the third period came to its conclusion.
“The whole Waynesburg community has rallied behind me,” said Homet, a three-time PIAA placewinner. “It’s incredible to see the support from everybody. I’ve been talking to a lot of people after our matches and they tell me I’m an inspiration to them. That means a lot to me. That means more than I can put in to words.”
By winning its third title, Waynesburg became the fourth team in the 44-year history of the WPIAL Team Tournament to win three or more consecutive Class 3A titles. The Raiders will enter the 2022-23 season with a chance to tie Canon-McMillan (2010-13), the only Class 3A team to win four consecutive titles. The other two schools who have won three consecutive Class 3A titles are: North Allegheny (1986-88) and Kiski Area (2017-19).
It’s the seventh overall team tournament title for Waynesburg. The Raiders won Class AA titles in 1979, 1980, and 1988. They also won a Class 3A title in 1989.
Waynesburg went into the match knowing it would have to outscore Connellsville by at least seven points to win the match, since the Raiders do not have an entry at 106 pounds. That was not a factor in either match.
The title match began at 113 pounds and Waynesburg opened with four consecutive victories. Ky Szewczyk posted a 6-2 win over Evan Petrovich. Joseph Simon recorded a 5-2 win over Jacob Layton at 120. Zanger Phaturos registered a 9-3 win over Gabriel Ruggieri at 126. Mac Church capped the 12-0 run with a 7-3 win over Chad Ozias, in a matchup of ranked wrestlers.
Connellsville posted its first win with freshman Lonzy Vielma posting a 7-5 upset of Coleton Stoneking at at 138. Homet followed with his victory, but Connellsville responded with a 5-0 win by Ethan Ansell over Nate Jones at 152, and Jared Keslar’s pin of Nate Kirby at 160. That cut Waynesburg’s lead to 15-12.
That is the closest Connellsville would get and the Falcons last victory, other than the forfeit picked up at 106 at the end of the match.
Rocco Welsh posted a 22-5 technical fall of Zach Bigam at 172. Brody Evans took a 5-1 win over George Shultz at 189. Then came pins by Eli Makel and Noah Tustin at 215 and 285 that clinched the title for Waynesburg.
“This title is more special than the others because we started out the season slow,” Welsh said. “We keep getting better every week. We are putting it together just in time for states. I think we are going to win states. We still have a little more coming together as a taem. We are going to peak at the right time.”
Waynesburg (16-0), the top seed, earned title berth with a 36-22 semifinal win over Canon-McMillan (11-5). It was the third time in 17 days the two teams faced off and the Raiders won all three times. Back-to-back pins by Church (132) and Stoneking (138) was the key to victory.
Connellsville (18-2), the No. 3 seed, showed more emotion in its semifinal win over No. 2 seed Latrobe (12-1). The Falcons rallied from a 21-18 deficit with four consecutive victories to pull out a 37-27 win. It avenged a 38-19 loss to the Wildcats in the Section 2 final on Jan. 26.
In the consolation for third place, Canon-McMillan dropped a 40-25 decision to Latrobe. Brandon Dami (113) and Andrew Binni (132) had pins for the Big Macs.
All four finalists qualify for the PIAA Team Tournament, which begins Monday. Canon-McMillan and Latrobe have preliminary round matches on Monday, while Waynesburg and Connellsville have a bye until Thursday’s quarterfinals, which will be held in Hershey at the Giant Center.
Canon-McMillan will be on the road for its prelim match with District 3 third-place finisher Cumberland Valley. Latrobe is also on the road in its prelim against City League champion Carrick.
“We need to have a good week of practice and keep our weight under control,” said Szewczyk, when asked about the state tournament. “There are always ways to get better. However the bracket breaks down, we have to be ready to wrestle.”