Headlee, Morris remain focused
Waynesburg’s A.C. Headlee was so locked into what awaited him following last weekend’s WPIAL Class AAA Wrestling Championships he had to be reminded to smile following his victory over Latrobe’s Luke Pletcher in the 132-pound final.
“No smiling until next week,” Headlee said, with a slight grin, moments after his 2-1 victory via ultimate tiebreaker gave Pletcher, a two-time WPIAL and PIAA champion, his first loss in two years.
Point made and taken.
Headlee won a WPIAL title before, doing so as a sophomore in 2013. But a PIAA title has eluded him. He finished sixth at the state tournament in 2013 and third last season.
The North Carolina recruit will get once last shot to stand atop the awards podium in Hershey when the PIAA Class AAA tournament begins Thursday at the Giant Center.
Headlee, who is 163-16 in his career, including a 41-1 record this season, received a first-round bye and awaits the winner of Bryce Reddington of Methacton and Brady Meals of Carlisle in the second round.
Looming as a possible opponent in the final is a rematch with Pletcher, who fell to 120-3 for his career and 36-1 this year with his loss to Headlee last weekend. Pletcher is on the opposite side of the bracket and faces Levi Whitmer of Spring Grove in a second-round bout after also receiving a first-round bye.
“It’s going to be fun,” Headlee said of facing Pletcher again. “Definitely. State finals. I’m planning on it.”
Headlee is one of just four area wrestlers in the Class AAA brackets, a number that’s the lowest in years despite the PIAA expanding the field to 20 competitors per weight class this year.
One of those will be freshman Caleb Morris, Headlee’s teammate at Waynesburg.
Morris won the 106-pound championship at the WPIAL tournament, which doubles as the Southwest Regional, and awaits the winner of a bout between Sean Redington of Bethlehem Catholic and Antonio Marticcio of Pennsbury in the second round,
With a WPIAL title already in hand in his first season of high school wrestling, Morris has his sights set on a PIAA championship to go along with it.
That would set him up for the possibility of being a four-time WPIAL and PIAA champion, a very select group.
“A.C. has been there helping me out a lot,” said the soft-spoken Morris. “He’s really given me somebody to look up to.”
Morris also will give Headlee something he hasn’t had in his previous trips to Hershey.
“I’ve been to states by myself the last three years,” Headlee said. “Now, I get a roommate. It’s awesome.”
The Raiders could have taken a larger contingent, but teammates Cole Rush, Shaun Wilson, Shane Piper and Colin McCracken all lost in the consolation semifinals at the WPIAL tournament.
“We should have had five guys,” Headlee said. “We lost four heartbreakers back-to-back. When me and Caleb watched our teammates lose, we were like, ‘Dang, we’ve got to pick it up.’ So we did. We redeemed our team.”
The other two area qualifiers, like Wilson, also will be making their first trip to the Giant Center, something Canon-McMillan head coach Jason Cardillo hoped to take care of in the team portion of the tournament.
But the Big Macs didn’t qualify for the PIAA team tournament, so freshman Logan Macri and sophomore Micah Kusturiss will have to learn quickly.
“It’s the first time for both of those guys up there,” Cardillo said. “It’s important to remind them that they belong there. They should be there. You don’t want them to be overwhelmed.”
Kusturiss fought back from a semifinal loss to finish third in the 145-pound weight class last weekend at the WPIAL tournament. He was one of just 12 semifinal losers – out of 28 – to come back and win in the consolation round.
Kusturiss (29-7) faces East Pennsboro’s Alex Klicker (34-5) in a first-round bout. Awaiting the winner will be unbeaten Southeast Region champion Riley Barth of Central Bucks West.
“It’s a nice boost for him to head to the state tournament coming off a win,” Cardillo said.
Macri, meanwhile, had to win three bouts in the consolation bracket after being upset in the 106-pound quarterfinals. He dropped a hard-fought 5-4 decision to Louis Newell of Seneca Valley in the consolation finals.
In previous years, that would have meant Macri, who entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, would have seen his season end. But with the expanded tournament, he gets another opportunity to wrestle.
Macri (29-10) will face William Kaldes of Cumberland Valley (34-12) in the first round, with the winner advancing to wrestle Altoona’s Cole Manley, the Northwest Region champion.
“I was excited to get that fourth-place finisher added,” Cardillo said. “Any given day the fourth-place finisher, you run a tournament again, and he could end up winning the weight. It gives them another week to fight.
“It’s a new tournament. You live to fight another day.”