Vargo takes care of business
Chris vargo, right, of Bentworth has Alex Gladfelter of Huntington in trouble during their 120-pound weight class at the PIAA Class AA Southwest Region championships at Peters Township High School Friday
Dylan Slovick, right, and Burgettstown gets backpoints against Cam Stewart of Marion Center during their 120-pound bout in the PIAA Class AA Southwest Region championships at Peters Township High School Friday.
McMURRAY – You don’t have to tell Chris Vargo what one loss can do to your dreams of winning a state wrestling title.
Vargo lost only once last year and it turned a possible gold medal in the PIAA Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey to bronze.
That’s why Vargo is serious when he talks about taking it “one match at a time.”
The sophomore from Bentworth High School did that twice Friday, disposing of Alex Gladfelter of Huntington by fall and Tyler Clark of Frazier in the same manner in the first two rounds of the PIAA Class AA Southwest Region championships at Peters Township High School Friday.
The top six wrestlers in each weight class advance to the PIAA Class AA tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Vargo, a 120-pound sophomore, finished in third place in Hershey last year. He hit the weight room hard, building his body and slightly changed the way he wrestled.
“I’ve got a stricter diet, not up and down but nice and steady,” said Vargo, who raised his record to 25-2 with the two wins. “I’ve been working hard. I wanted more offense. I think I was on defense too much last year and couldn’t score.”
Bentworth head coach Mike Shrader is pleased with the changes in Vargo’s wrestling.
“It was a good start, got a couple takedowns, and something we’ve been working on in practice, a nice pinning combination,” said Shrader.
“He’s more mature. His nutrition is better. His training has always been good. He’s put in the time (in the weight room).”
Shrader said he’s taking it – you guessed it – one match at a time.
“I know it’s a cliche but you could see (Gladfelter) torqued out on him,” he said. “You’ve got to be careful. You keep pressure on him so he doesn’t turn you over.”
Which is exactly what Vitali Daniels did. The 215-pound sophomore for the Bearcats made it to the semifinals with two pins that ate up just 3:34 of mat time. The first came against Britton Spangle of Glendale; the second against Zane Hagans of Somerset.
“I was looking for (the pin) yes,” said Daniels, who raised his record to 31-7 with the two wins. “I didn’t make it here last year so I have a lot to make up for.”
Daniels hit the weight room more often and attended his wrestling club, Quest, more often. He also dropped from heavyweight to 215.
“I was a small heavyweight,” said Daniels.
Burgettstown’s Joe Baronick, the third seed at heavyweight, put on a show in the quarterfinals. With the scored tied in the third period, Baronick turned and pinned Cooper Lingenfelter in 5:40 to advance to the semifinals.
Baronick, who upended Cameron Carter-Green of Washington two weeks ago to become a WPIAL champion, was one of four Burgettstown wrestlers to make it to the finals. The Blue Devils have six in the consolations.
Beth-Center has eight wrestlers remaining.