Feb 28, 2025 3 min read

By Joe Tuscano

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

CANONSBURG – There is nothing more satisfying than opening a wrestling tournament with a victory.

Two in a row? Why that’s just living in the tall grass.

Nick McGarrity, a 107-pound sophomore from Peters Township, and Dom Canali, a 127-pound junior from Trinity, know how good it feels to get a good start in a tournament.

The two wrestlers led a strong effort by local wrestlers in Friday night’s first two rounds of the PIAA Class 3A West Region Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School’s gym. The two wrestlers joined a large group of area wrestlers in today’s semifinals (10:30 a.m.). Finals are set for 3 p.m. The top five wrestlers in each weight class advance to the PIAA Class 3A Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey.

McGarrity ran his season record to 38-4 with the two wins that put him in the semifinals. He credits his brother A.J., who spent four years on varsity, for keeping his mind sharp and his technique close to perfection.

“He’s helped me so much.” the younger McGarrity said. “He’d run me to practices and has been my best friend. I don’t practice with him at home. He’s a lot heavier than I am.”

McGarrity registered two consecutive shutouts. The opener was a 13-0 major decision over Bennett Ferraro of Pine-Richland and followed it up with a first-period pin after building a 7-0 lead.

“I’m trying to repeat what I did last week,” McGarrity said. “Same kids, same format, same time. I’m going to try to do the same thing.”

That would suit Peters Township head coach Derrick Evanovich just fine.

“He went out there, first period, a little slow, got in on a good shot and went out of bounds,” Evanovich said. “Then he turned it on and scored the way we thought he was going to score.”

McGarrity, the top seed in the weight class, gets third-seeded Zach Rehak of Thomas Jefferson in the semifinals.

Canali came into the tournament with 39 wins and went home with 41. He opened the tournament with a 23-2 technical fall over Layton Bowersox of Mifflin County and followed it up with a 9-4 decision over Deklan Barr of Altoona. Canali will face Dalton Wenner of Cranberry High School.

“It’s been a tough season,” Canali said. “Probably the second match was toughest. I wasn’t in the right mindset. The second match I was a little lazy. I had to fight back.”

Canali finished fifth in the past two WPIAL championships.