McCracken after more at Powerade
Whether he likes it or not, Colin McCracken won’t have the same experience at this year’s Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament.
It has everything to do with what he did in last year’s tournament, which is a good thing.
McCracken came in as a talented but little-known 182-pounder from Waynesburg High School and left with a third-place medal as well as the respect of most in his weight class. McCracken knows there will be no sneaking up on anyone this year.
“It was a pretty special tournament, doing well in a big tournament like that,” said McCracken. “I did well, but I could have done better.”
Action gets under way at Canon-McMillan High School Tuesday with the preliminary round at 8:30 a.m. Quarterfinals are at 7:30 p.m. Semifinals will be held 10 a.m. Wednesday and the finals are at 7:30 p.m.
Forty-eight teams, including last year’s champion Franklin Regional, will return. Fourteen new teams, including favorite and top-ranked Wyoming Seminary, are included. The local teams include Canon-McMillan, Jefferson-Morgan, Peters Township, Trinity and Waynesburg.
Last year, McCracken came in as a No. 5 seed and knocked off No. 4 Milt Kobaly of Belle Vernon to reach the semifinals. He fell 8-0 to Mt. Lebanon’s Kellan Stout, who went on to win the state title in that weight class in Hershey. In the consolation semifinals, McCracken stopped second-seeded Josh Colella of Cedar Cliff and pinned Tommy Provance of Connellsville in 2:23 to take third place.
“It’s a really tough tournament,” said McCracken. “It always is, so that’s why you have to give it your all.”
This year, McCracken is a third seed behind Greg Bulsak, a defending PIAA champion from South Park, and Kyle Gentile of Pennridge, a fifth-place finisher at 170 in Hershey last season.
McCracken has been ranked as high as No. 3 in his weight class, but he doesn’t get caught up in those type of numbers.
“We are going to try to start where we left off and try to improve on it,” said Waynesburg head coach Joe Throckmorton. “Some of this is ‘been there, done that.’ But you have to start that way mentally. That’s what Colin has to do.”
Waynesburg competed in last week’s Beast of the East Tournament in Newark, Del., where McCracken finished eighth.
“I wrestled pretty well, but I could have done better,” McCracken said. “That tournament warmed me up for Powerade.”
Waynesburg finished 37th in the 104-team tournament, considered one of the best in the country. McCracken was unseeded and fell to No. 4 Drew Peck of Chambersburg in the second round. He ripped off five straight wins in the consolation round before losing to J.T. Brown of Elyria in the bout for seventh place.
“We knew the talent was there last year,” said Throckmorton. “We just had to bring it out of him. He’s a great kid. It’s amazing how well he’s adapted. At the Beast, he started to figure it out. That’s why we wrestle the tough tournaments. We wrestle them to expose what you need to work on. If you wrestle kids not (as good) as you, you don’t see your weaknesses. When you are wrestling the top guys in your weight class, it shows what your weaknesses are.”
McCracken worked on speed training in the offseason and put more work in at his Young Guns club with the likes of Drew Phipps of Norwin and Jacob Robb of Kittanning.
“Powerade is one of the top tournaments, but I think I have a chance to win,” he said. “It will be tough to do, but I believe I can.”
Gavin Teasdale of Jefferson-Morgan is top seed at 113 pounds and is one of two returning champions. Luke Pletcher of Latrobe is the other. Spencer Lee of Franklin Regional will miss the tournament with a shoulder injury but is expected back in January. … Wyoming Seminary is the No.1-ranked team in the nation in the Intermat rankings. Belle Vernon is 15th. Teasdale is No. 1 at 113 and Pletcher and George Phillippi of Derry are No. 2 at their respective weight class, 132 and 138.