Feb 15, 2014 4 min read

CHARLEROI – John Demaske accomplished something at the Section 2 wrestling tournament that will send Jefferson-Morgan head coach Mike Lesko into the record books.

Demaske, a senior at J-M, won his fourth section title with a 10-0 rout of Stone Kepple of Derry Saturday night at Charleroi High School.

No one on the J-M team could remember the last four-time section champion from Jefferson-Morgan.

“Cary Kolat?” someone asked.

Not bad company, if that is the case.

Even if it is not, the Rockets certainly enjoyed a great night, with five champions, three runners-up and a fourth and fifth place.

Teammates joining Demaske at the top of the awards stand were Jason Miller at 138, Ryan Zalar at 160, Bill Bowlen at 170 and Anthony Patterson at 195. Runners-up were Brendan Howard at 113, Trevor Kniha at 152 and Ian Wolfe at heavyweight.

“I’m pleased,” said Jefferson-Morgan head coach Mike Lesko. “We came to wrestle, and they did what we expected them to do.”

The top five wrestlers from each weight class advanced to next weekend’s WPIAL Class AA championships at Chartiers Valley High School. From there, the top seven advance to the regional tournament at the War Memorial in Johnstown. And from there, the top five advance to the PIAA Championships in Hershey March 6-8.

Other local winners were Hunter Neely of Bentworth at 106 pounds, Anthony Welsh (145) and Jason Stay (152) of Beth-Center and Dalton Wildman (182) of West Greene.

Demaske won his first section title as a freshman with a 4-2 decision over No. 2 seed Zach Swarrow of Beth-Center at 106 pounds. Demaske followed that up by beating Swarrow again, this time 7-0 at 113 pounds, as No. 1 stopped No. 2 in the bracket again.

Last year, it was a different opponent but a similar result as Demaske shut out Vince Vahaly, 4-0, at 120 pounds. The one difference was that Vahaly was the top seed in the bracket and Demaske was second. Demaske has not allowed a point in his last three finals in this event.

“I really wasn’t thinking about (winning four),” said Demaske, who raised his record to 34-0. “I worked harder over the summer and it’s paying off more.”

Demaske won by 23-8 technical fall over Zach Bixler of Southmoreland in the first round, then pinned Donte Botti of Yough in 1:59. That set up the final against Kepple, who took third at 120 last year.

“I beat some pretty tough kids,” said Demaske.

Miller looked completely healed from a lower body injury with a 6-1 decision over Gio Von Sanders of Jeannette in the finals. Miller is 21-1 now.

“I’ve wrestled seven times since the injury,” Miller said. “It was tough not being with the team. But (the postseason tournaments) are important, and that’s why I waited. Every day, Coach Lesko has me work harder to get back.”

Welsh knocked off top-seeded Austin Mears of Mount Pleasant with a 4-2 decision in the finals. Welsh, who was second seeded, is 29-3.

“I wrestled him at the Southmoreland Tournament, and he beat me 4-2,” said Welsh. “I like being the underdog, because I feel like I have nothing to lose. I’ve improved on the bottom. Last year, I got rode a lot. I’m getting out easier now.”

Wildman’s 5-4 win over Clay Waldron of Yough gave the West Greene senior his first section title.

“I didn’t even make it out my sophomore year,” he said. “I was second last year behind (J-M’s Dustin Conti). I’ve never wrestled Waldron before. We don’t get a chance to wrestle Yough kids much.”

Wildman was the top seed and opened the tournament with a pin in 17 seconds of Sage Zider of Mount Pleasant, then made it into the finals with a 9-1 decision over Jason Perkins of Jefferson-Morgan.

“I tried to score more points, but I didn’t get into my offense enough,” said Wildman. “I have to work on that.”

George Phillippi, a defending state champion from Derry, won his second straight title with a 16-0 technical fall over Jake Rothka of Bentworth at 120 pounds.