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Decision pays off for C-H wrestling

3 min read

Patrick Jennings admits he wasn’t too sure it was the best idea for the Chartiers-Houston wrestling program.

The head coach of Chartiers-Houston, who has constantly battled low roster numbers, Jennings decided to take advantage of a new program offered by the WPIAL this season.

Any program could drop out of section action and become a tournament-only team for the season. That meant that the Bucs would not be eligible to participate in the WPIAL Team Tournament, but with eight wrestlers on the roster their chances of winning were zero.

Starting with its own tournament, Chartiers-Houston participated in seven weekend tournaments and one non-section dual meet against West Greene so that the program could have Senior Night.

Now, the Bucs are preparing to compete in the WPIAL Class 2A Championships, which get underway at 5 p.m. tonight at Chartiers Valley.

More important, Jennings realizes it was the right decision for the program.

“Honestly, I think it went very well for us,” said Jennings, who wrestled at Trinity. “Since we didn’t have enough for a dual team, we thought that going out there and not getting the matches we hoped for and dealing with the team’s morale, which would be low from losing all these dual meets, that we could go to all these different places and get different competitions.”

The main difference was that there would not be a dual meet during the week, traditionally held on a Wednesday.

“On the weekends, we would travel wherever we needed to,” Jennings said, “and compete on Friday night and Saturday.”

Jennings admitted that the wrestlers were a little concerned about the change but overall, the reaction was positive.

“At first, I think they were worried because it was something new and different,” said Jennings. “But after we explained to them that they were going to get just as many matches and that we couldn’t compete for a team title, when over the years we haven’t been close to contention, they were on board. They were excited to try something new.”

Chartiers-Houston will have two wrestlers, Jorden Williams and Jessie Orbin, still remaining to compete in the WPIAL championship.

Orbin, a 172-pound senior, has a 32-8 record and, like Williams, a 114-pound junior with a 23-8 record, was a runnerup in his respective weight class at last week’s Southern Sectional at Burgettstown.

“Jessie has been very aggressive this year,” Jennings said. “He really has a good attitude going into each match and he has no fear. He’s willing to compete.

“Jorden wrestles hard each time he goes out there. He has a goal in mind each time he goes out and tries to accomplish that.”

The top eight wrestlers in each weight class advance to the Southwest Regional Tournament March 3 and 4 in Altoona.

{span}In other tournament news, Bentworth’s Chris Vargo is looking for his third WPIAL title. The 127-pound junior is 32-1, according to PA-Wrestling.com, and is one of three wrestlers who can reach that feat. The other two are Rune Lawrence of Frazier and Laurel’s Grant Mckay.{/span}

Class 3A

The Class 3A section tournaments will be held Saturday at three sites: South Fayette for Sections 5 and 6; Norwin for Sections 3 and 4; and North Allegheny for Sections 1 and 2.

The top six finishers in each weight class will qualify for the WPIAL Class 3A tournament March 3 and 4 at Canon-McMillan High School.

The PIAA tournament in both classes is March 9 through 11 at the Giant Center in Hershey.

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