Big Macs stop top-seeded Waynesburg in team tourney
Krenzelak
Mark Marietta / For the Observer-Reporter
Brian Krenzelak sports the loud suit made famous by Manuel Pihakis.
Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter Canon McMillan's Josiah Gardner lunges into Waynesburg's Daniel Huffman late in the 139 pound bout of the WPIAL 3A team finals at Peters Township on February 4. Gardner won the bout with a 15-11 decision, propelling the Big Macs to a 29-28 team victory.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg’s Brock Evans, right, pulls against Canon-McMillan’s Giuseppe Juliani during their 152-pound bout of the WPIAL Class 3A team championships. Both Canon-McMillan and Waynesburg are in the Class 3A field at the PIAA Team Tournament that begins today in Hershey while Burgettstown will compete in Class 2A.
Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter Big Mac Geno Calgaro leans into Raider Brody Evans in the 215 pound bout of the WPIAL 3A team final at Peters Township on February 4. Calgaro won a 9-4 decision, giving Canon Mac an early lead in the match.
Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter Brandon Demi launches into Waynesburg's Albert Medlin, winning a 14-1 major decision for the Big Macs in the 121 pound bout of the WPIAL 3A final at Peters Township on February 4.
Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter Big Mac Andrew Binni shoulders Waynesburg's Joseph Simon, winning the 133 pound bout with a 4-2 decision at the WPIAL 3A team final at Peters Township on February 4.
Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter The Big Mac bench erutpts as Canon McMillan earns the WPIAL 3A wrestling team title, edging Waynesburg in the final round at Peters Township on February 4.
Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter Waynesburg's Nate Jones hoists Connelsville's Chad Jesko in the 152 pound bout of the WPIAL 3A wrestling team semi final at Peters Township on February 4. Jones' win by fall sealed the team victory for Waynesburg.
Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter Canon McMillan Athletic Director Frank Vulcano hands the WPIAL 3A team trophy to the Big Macs' head wrestling coach, Brian Krenzelak, as the team celebrates their victory in the final round at Peters Township on February 4.
McMURRAY – Manuel Pihakis might not have been in attendance at Saturday’s WPIAL Class 3A team tournament finals, but the Canonsburg icon was there in spirit. His famous blue and gold suit was there too.
“This suit – the shirt, pants, jacket, and tie – belonged to Manuel Pihakis,” said Canon-McMillan coach Brian Krenzelak, who donned the stylish suit worn so many times by Pihakis, a lifelong Canonsburg resident who passed away on Nov. 5. “I wore this suit in his memory.”
Canon-McMillan captured the WPIAL Class 3A title with a pair of victories at the AHN Arena at Peters Township High School.
“This season is dedicated to uncle Buns,” said Krenzelak, who married into the Pihakis family, as his wife Angel (Kusturiss) is Manuel’s neice. “This title was for uncle Buns and the Canonsburg community that he loved so much.”
The Big Macs posted a 29-28 tiebreaker victory over Waynesburg, thus ending the Raiders’ three-year reign in Class 3A.
Canon-McMillan, Waynesburg, and Hempfield qualified for the PIAA team tournament, which begins Monday. The Big Macs and Raiders receive a bye into Thursday’s first round.
“They were going for their fourth (consecutive) title. We are the only (Class 3A) team to win four (consecutive) titles,” Krenzelak said. “I would be lying if I told you that didn’t mean something to me. We didn’t want Waynesburg to tie our record.”
It was the 10th overall title for Canon-McMillan, since the WPIAL adopted the team tournament format in 1979, and includes a run of four consecutive titles from 2010 to 2013. The Big Macs also were making their 19th appearance in the finals. Canon-McMillan ranks first among Class 3A schools in all three categories.
“I’m super proud of these kids and our coaches,” Krenzelak said. “They have worked so hard with practices at 5:30 in the morning, then after school every day, their weight training and nutrition. It all paid off today. It was a total team effort.”
The title match actually ended in a 28-28 tie. After applying the PIAA’s tiebreaker procedure, Canon-McMillan was awarded an additional point for having the most bout victories, as the Big Macs won seven of the 13 bouts.
“It feels great,” said Big Macs senior Gabriel Stafford, who posted a 10-5 victory in the 189-pound bout against Waynesburg’s Roan Tustin. “I knew coming into this event that we were going to win. I’ve seen all the work our guys and coaches have put in this season with this title as one of our goals. I knew there would be ups and downs, but I knew we would prevail.”
The title match started at 172 pounds with Waynesburg’s Rocco Welsh and Canon-McMillan’s Matthew Furman, the top two wrestlers in the state at that weight class, facing off. Welsh posted 14-8 victory.
Canon-McMillan posted victories in the next two bouts. After Stafford’s win at 189, Geno Calgaro recorded a 9-4 win over Brody Evans at 215.
“I thought I would be facing (Eli) Makel again,” said Calgaro referring to a non-section match against Waynesburg held Dec. 14, in which the Raiders posted a 30-27 victory. “I just had to stick to my shots and got the job done. We always knew this day would come. It’s great to finally the title.”
Waynesburg moved Makel up to heavyweight, where he disposed of Noah Livesay with a 22-second pin. Canon-McMillan’s Collier Hartman matched Makel with a pin at 107 of the Raiders’ Floyd Huff.
Waynesburg responded with a 4-2 win by Ky Szewczyk over Tanner Mizenko at 114, which tied the match at 12-12.
At that point, Canon-McMillan posted four consecutive wins to take a commanding 28-12 lead. Brandon Dami began the rally with a 14-1 major decision of Albert Medlen at 121. Ryder Joseph followed with a pin of Luke Rush at 127.
Then came a key bout between Canon-McMillan’s Andrew Binni and Waynesburg’s Joseph Simon, who has been battling a knee injury all season, at 133. Simon was in pain throughout the bout and had to take injury time twice. Binni pulled out a 4-2 victory, but it could have been much worse if Simon would have defaulted.
“(Simon) has been dealing with that knee injury all year long,” Waynesburg coach Kyle Szewczyk said. “It kept him out a lot in the early part of the season. He really gutted it out for the team to stay away from giving up bonus points.”
The Big Macs’ Josiah Gardner capped the 16-point rally with a 15-11 win over Daniel Huffman at 139 pounds.
“I had to do a lot of scrambling in that bout,” Gardner said. “I worked a lot on that with (teammate) Andrew Binni in practice. That extra work paid off.”
Canon-McMillan forfeited at 145 to Mac Church, which closed the gap to 28-18. That meant Waynesburg would have to score 11 points in the final two bouts to pull out the victory. Raiders’ sophomore Brock Evans followed with a 17-8 major decision of Giuseppe Juliani at 152, but it wasn’t enough.
With the Big Macs holding a 28-22 lead and a 7-5 advantage in bout victories, Krenzelak forfeited the final bout since his squad had clinched the match victory.
“It’s been a long-time coming,” said Dami. “Gabe (Stafford), Matt (Furman) and I have been starting since our freshman year. Our coaches told us when we were in sixth grade that we would win a WPIAL title. It’s great to finally win the title.”
Szewczyk was obviously disappointed with the loss.
“We knew it would be close with four good teams here today,” Szewczyk said. “Hats off to Canon-McMillan. They got bonus points and won a couple swing matches. They wrestled well. We wrestled well too. I am very proud of my boys.”
Canon-McMillan, the No. 2 seed, earned its title berth with a 37-36 semifinal win over No. 11 seed Hempfield, but the match was not as close as the score indicated. The Big Macs built a 37-6 lead, then forfeited the last five bouts.
“We didn’t want to take a chance on getting anybody hurt,” Krenzelak said. “It also gave us some time to get ready for the title match.”
Waynesburg, the top seed, advanced to the finals with a 45-25 semifinal win against No. 4 seed Connellsville. The Falcons then dropped a 32-31 decision to Hempfield in the consolation for third place.