Canon-Mac beats Trinity for section title
Canon-Mac beats Trinity for section title
If there’s any question of where the Trinity and Canon-McMillan wrestling rivalry has been rekindled it was answered Wednesday.
A packed house and two teams that wrestled with a fire and dislike for one another made for a raucous environment.
For Canon-McMillan, it was personal, because Trinity walked into its gym and won a section title last year.
The Big Macs returned the favor, winning 36-23 at Hiller Hall to secure the Class 3A Section 2 championship.
“Obviously we wanted to get that one back,” Big Macs coach Jurdon Maier said. “Canon-Mac and Trinity is one of the oldest rivalries in WPIAL wrestling and there was about a 15-year period that it didn’t exist and now it’s back. I love being part of it and I love that these are tough matches.”
Brayden Collins secured the match for the Big Macs with a 16-1 tech. fall against Ian Holub in the 215-pound bout.
After the official raised Collins’ arm, he gave a couple points to the Trinity faithful before celebrating with his teammates.
“They took this from us last year, so it feels good to come to their house and take it from them,” Collins said. “I had to show them who the top dogs are in the section.”
It is Canon-McMillan’s first section title since the 2022-23 season.
Trinity led 16-9 after four bouts, but the match turned when Canon-McMillan’s John Emma scored a tech. fall with nine seconds remaining in the third period of the 139-pound bout. It secured a huge five points for the Big Macs. It was an entertaining match with Trinity’s Jacob Wright that saw both wrestlers spinning on the mat. Emma scored a late takedown to secure five points.
“We kind of knew how it was going to play out to that point and we wanted that matchup,” Maier said. “John’s a dog man. We expected it, but it really hyped the boys up.”
Collier Hartman followed that up by pinning Brooks Bruckner in 53 seconds at 145, which gave the Big Macs a 20-16 lead.
Aiden Finnegan secured three more points for Canon-McMillan by winning a tight 7-6 decision against Devin Junko. Finnegan trailed 6-4 entering the third period, but got a takedown and held on from there.
Mason Calgaro recorded a tech. fall early in the second period against Carson Gerba at 160 for Canon-McMillan’s fourth win in a row. Calgaro had five takedowns in the first period and two more in the second to win 21-4.
Trinity’s Behr Bruckner ended the Big Macs’ winning streak by getting a late third period take down to defeat John Hunter, 9-7 at 172. That cut the Big Macs’ lead to 28-19.
Teegan Barr secured four more points for Trinity at 189 with a 15-4 major decision against Bryce Collins, but that was as close as the Hillers would get.
“They came out and earned it,” Trinity coach Ron Tarquino said of Canon-McMillan. “They kicked our butts and it gives us something to get back into the room and try to fix some things to get ready for the postseason.”
Lee Dreshman got the night started by earning a tech fall against Parker Jennings in the third period at 107. He scored 14 points in the second, including a pair of take downs. He finished it off with a takedown in the third period.
Jackson Hoy got four points for Trinity with an 8-0 decision against Parker Kolarcik.
Canon-McMillan’s Giono Gardner scored a 14-3 major decision in the 121 pound match.
Then, Trinity got a quick 12 points. Landon Ault secured a pin in 31 seconds at the 127-pound bout and Dominick Canali received a forfeit at 133 to give the Hillers a 16-9 lead.