Waynesburg takes third in state team tourney
Waynesburg High School, the third-place team in the WPIAL Class AAA Team Tournament.
Noah Tustin, right, of Waynesburg liftsCharles Crews of Williamsport during their heavyweight bout in the third-place bout of the WPIAL Class AAA Team Tournament Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
HERSHEY – They overcame a lot but and managed a respectable showing in the PIAA Class 3A Team Tournament.
Waynesburg High School might have lost the title of defending team champion but probably gained some respect for what this team had to overcome in the last seven months.
First, there was the loss of Cole Homet, a state runner-up last year, after the senior was in a horrible automobile accident that nearly killed him and left his left arm severely damaged.
Then there was the changing of the head coach. Kyle Szewczyk replaced Joe Throckmorton when the latter was charged in a bizarre incident at the Greene Cove Yacht Club.
This weekend, Joe Simon, normally a starter at 120, didn’t wrestle at all because of what was described first as a back problem, then a growth spurt.
But Waynesburg knocked off Connellsville, 27-25, in the consolation semifinals, then got past Williamsort, 31-30, in the third-place match of the tournament Saturday in the Giant Center.
“We’re not happy with third place but I am happy with the effort,” said Zander Phaturos, the starter at 126 pounds. “Everyone on the team fought hard and we came together. The cards we were dealt, we overcame. We didn’t get what we wanted. We wanted first but that’s just going to make us fight harder in the individuals.”
Efforts like the win Xavier Harmon got against Williamsport was special. It was Harmon’s second varsity victory and it came against a Williamsport team that met and lost to Waynesburg in last year’s team semifinals.
“We’ll settle for third. Third place shows you can handle adversity,” said Waynesburg head coach Kyle Szewczyk. “I couldn’t be prouder of my guys. We battled hard all weekend. Certain guys step up in these circumstances. You don’t always know who.”
Szewczyk said he felt the team might have overachieved in this tournament, which the Raiders finished as runner-up two years ago.
“I think we overachieved, not having Simon all weekend, the Homet situation and not having a 106-pounder until this weekend,” said Szewczyk. “When we asked the backups to do a job, they were ready. They were ready to step up.”
Mac Church, a returning PIAA individual champion, and Rocco Welsh, a two-time state runner-up, were counted on all weekend to provide team points. And the two came through, not losing one bout.
“I didn’t think I wrestled well all weekend,” said Church, who has high expectations for himself this year. “I think we responded well to everything that happened to us. I have some things I have to fix in my wrestling. The team overall did well.”
“We’re happy with third but we’re not satisfied,” said Rocco Welsh, the starter at 172 pounds. “Hopefully, this carries over to the individual states and we can take home some gold medals.”
Waynesburg is the defending team champion at the individual tournament and now the focus is on that tournament.
“I think that everything that has happpened to us has pulled us together,” said Phaturos. “A lot of things went wrong the past six or seven months. All we did was get the next best thing in this tournament. I think all the boys were disappointed when we lost (to Nazareth) Friday. But it really showed our character coming back and getting third.”