Jan 5, 2018 2 min read

Just six days after his first varsity loss in four seasons, Gavin Teasdale was back on the wrestling mat.

And it appears the three-time state champion from Jefferson-Morgan High School has added something to his wrestling.

A bit of magic.

Teasdale needed only 40 seconds to pin Ty Mazutis of Chartiers-Houston in the 126-pound quarterfinals of the Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association Tournament Friday night at Trinity High School.

Just as quickly, he slipped off the mat, went through a door that leads to a back hallway and disappeared.

Teasdale moved into today’s semifinals, which begins 10:30 this morning. Teasdale will wrestle Austin Ryan of Burgettstown in the semifinals.

Finals are at 2:30 p.m.

Teasdale was making his second appearance – both wins – since his 134-bout undefeated streak was stopped by a 4-3 loss to Beau Bartlett of Wyoming Seminary in the 126-pound finals of the Powerade Christmas Tournament at Canon-McMillan last week.

Teasdale was trying to become the sixth wrestler in PIAA history to become a four-time undefeated champion. He can still be the 13th four-time champion in PIAA history.

“We talked and he said 10 years from now, no one is going to remember four-time Powerade champion,” said Lesko. “They’ll remember me when there is a 4 by my name. That dug deep when he said that. That’s exactly how you’re supposed to act when you’re a champion. We vowed to him that we would never bring that match up again. That’s why we don’t even want to talk about it.”

Bartlett won’t be competing in the PIAA postseason because Wyoming Seminary is a national collegiate prep school and not a member of the state system.

“We just told him the pressure is off now and and we have to get back to work because there is someone out there better than him on that day and we never had that before,” said Lesko. “He went to three different practices the next day. Lifting, running and power wrestling.”