First blood: Tri-CADA winners led the entire match
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Rune Lawrence (left) of Frazier tries to keep a hold of Rocco Welsh of Waynesburg during the 172-pound finals of the Tri-CADA Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School. Welsh won a 6-2 decision.
Chris Vargo (right) of Bentworth goes face first into Joseph Simon of Waynesburg during the 126-pound finals of the Tri-CADA Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School. Simon won a 1-0 decision.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Jacob Houpt (left) tries to untangle himself from Luke Dunlap of South Fayette Saturday during the 120-pound finals of the Tri-CADA Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School. Houpt won by a 25-10 technical fall.
By Joe Tuscano/Staff writer/jtuscano@observer-reporter.com
TJ Allison (right) of Trinity is trying to keep his balance with Ky Szewczyk of Waynesburg during the 113-pound finals of the Tri-CADA Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School. Szewczyk won a 5-3 decision.
Vitali Daniels (left) of Bentworth tries to keep his balance against Phillip Nave of Peters Township during the 215-pound semifinals at the Tri-CADA Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School last season.
By Joe Tuscano/Staff writer/jtuscano@observer-reporter.com
DJ Slovick (left) of Burgettstown has Aaron Slizak om his shoulder for a moment on a roll through during the 160-pound semifinals Saturday at the Tri-CADA Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School. Slovick got a pin in 2:11.
CANONSBURG – It can’t be coincidence or luck or just the way the body tumbled in the finals of Saturday’s Tri-County Director’s Association Wrestling Tournament.
In every final, from 106 to heavyweight, all 13 of them, the wrestler who scored first won the bout and took home the gold medal. Take from it what you will, but being the aggressor has its advantages.
Just ask Parker Sentipal of Burgettstown and Joseph Simon of Waynesburg, who each scored the only point of the bout over Tanner Mizenko of Canon-McMillan at 106 pounds and Chris Vargo of Bentworth at 126, respectively. The latter two were the victims of the only point scored in the match.
Or take Rocco Welsh of Waynesburg, who jumped out to a 2-1 lead after one period and 4-2 after two on the way to a 6-2 victory over Rune Lawrence of Frazier, a returning PIAA Class AA Champion who was 30-1 last year.
Welsh, a two-time state runner-up in Class AAA, so impressed the tournament organizers, they named him the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.
Welsh was one of six champions for the Raiders, who won the team title with 202.5 points. Burgettstown was second with 197 followed by Beth-Center (170.5), Canon-McMillan (142.5) and Peters Township (104).
“I knew he was a tough wrestler and I knew it would be a good match,” said Welsh. “I wasn’t really worried about him. I definitely have a lot to be proud of because he is a state champion. It was a pretty dominant win and I did feel good about that. It shows me what I need to work on when I wrestle kids like this.”
These wrestlers not only did not give up the first point, they didn’t give up any points. Joining Sentipal and Simon on that list were Chase Frameli of Jeffferson-Morgan, who shut out Ryan Celashi of Fraier, 5-0, in the 145-pound finals; Jake Conroy of Ringgold, who was leading Broxon Dean of Canon-McMilln 2-0 when he pinned him at 189 pounds; and Trevor Pettit of Beth-Center, who was up 4-0 when he pinned Braedon Welsh of Fort Cherry to win the 160-pound title.
“I was a little worried he might get away but I felt I could take him down,” said Simon. “I definitely don’t like being in 1-0 matches but I got to do what I have to do.”
Vargo was a section, district and region champion before finishing third in the Class AA portion of the state tournament last season
“Most times, you learn more in a loss than coming away with a win,” said Bentworth head coach Mike Shrader. “When you win, you don’t look as closely at the things you could have gotten better at. We’ll go back and start working.”
Sentipal escaped with four seconds remaining in the match to win it. Simon made an escape at the midpoint of his bout stand.
“I’ve been in a few (1-0 matches),” said Sentipal. “I just keep my composure. You can’t make a mistake.”
Ky Szewczyk (113), Colton Stoneking (138), Eli Makel (215) and Noah Tustin (Hvy) also won titles for Waynesburg.
Jacob Houpt (120) of Canon-McMillan, Joey Sentipal (132) of Burgettstown, and Tyler Berish (152) of Beth-Center also came away with gold medals.