McGuffey shows up, moves on

Highlanders rack up wins, points in 2 victories

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Mark Marietta McGuffey junior Lane Ealy works for back points on Burgettstown's Daniel Smith.

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Mark Marietta Burgettstown's Shannon Archie tumbles McGuffey's Kash Main on the way to a win by fall in the 215-pound bout of the WPIAL Class 2A team team quarterfinals.

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Mark Marietta McGuffey's Emmett Wolfe works the leg on Burgettstown's Carter Katus in the 145-pound bout of the WPIAL Class 2A team tournament quarterfinals. Wolfe won the bout by major decision, spurring the Highlanders to a 51-24 victory.

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Mark Marietta McGuffey's Victor Bonus reacts to his win by fall over Burgettstown's Logan Noyes in the 160-pound bout of the WPIAL Class 2A team tournament quarterfinals.

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By Joe Tuscano

Contributing writer

CLAYSVILLE – After two hours of wrestling, we find that it will be McGuffey that will live to wrestle another day.

The Highlanders easily disposed of Burgettstown, 51-24, to advance to the semifinals of the WPIAL Class 2A team tournament Saturday at Peters Township High School.

The Highlanders built a 45-6 lead on the strength of pins by Lucas Barr (139), Clayton Ealy (127) and Lane Ealy (133) to name just a few.

“Our boys battled hard,” said McGuffey head coach Jared Roberts. “On paper, I thought we were the better team but you have to show up. I was a little intimidated after seeing them against Chartiers-Houston.”

McGuffey scored 95 bout points, pretty good for the Highlanders.

“There’s a couple matches I thought we could get away with a win but McGuffey is a tough team,” said Burgettstown head coach Joe Vigliotti. “I can’t complain about the effort. That’s a solid team there. That’s one of the top three teams in the WPIAL. We knew it was going to be a battle. I guess they wanted it more than us.”

Burgettstown, 58-13

Burgettstown strung together eight straight bout wins on the way to a 58-13 rout of Chartiers-Houston in the first round.

After Burgettstown built a 4-0 lead by winning the first bout 10-2, Burgettstown roared back, winning the next eight bouts to grab a 40-4 lead. Gage Bradley (121), Daniel Smith (127), Jeremy Tkach (127), and Carters Katus (139) each won by fall in the Blue Devils’ run.

Brady Reitweiseralso had a pin.

McGuffey, 45-29

McGuffey stretched its muscles in the first round with a 45-29 victory over Bentworth. The Highlanders got pins from Tucker Main at 121 pounds, Victor Bonus (152), and Aaron Supler (172),

Bobby Lemley (114) and Brayden Taggart (189) had pins for the Bearcats. McGuffey had three bouts won by forfeit while Bentworth had two.

In a highlight bout, McGuffey’s Lucas Barr took a 6-2 win over Bentworth’s Drake McClure.

Bentworth, 46-27

Bentworth won three bouts by forfeit on the way to a 46-27 victory over Keystone Oaks in the preliminary round.

Brian Matthews (107), Brock McClure (139), Paxton Thomas (172) and heavyweight Tristan Rush each won by fall for the Bearcats.

Dylan Skoncey (114) and Domingo Lux-Tojim (152) won by fall for Keystone Oaks.