Headlee learns from past, dominates present
Hard work and determination earned A.C. Headlee his first state title when he defeated Latrobe’s Luke Pletcher in the Class AAA 132-pound final in Hershey.
Waynesburg’s A.C. Headlee, right, works on the left leg of Latrobe’s Luke Pletcher in the Class AAA 132-pound final March 7 in Hershey.
For A.C. Headlee, the seeds of his success were planted three years ago in a defeat that was as bitter as it was emotionally devastating.
Headlee, a freshman at Waynesburg High School at the time, saw his chance to reach the PIAA Championships in Hershey dashed when Dom Forys of North Allegheny won a 3-1 decision and the third and final qualfying spot in the 106-pound weight class.
“That match is always in the back of my mind,” said Headlee. “I would wake up in the middle of the night and wonder how that could happen to me.”
That pain stayed with Headlee, motivating him to be a stronger wrestler. And he needed to be because he was wrestling in the same weight class of wrestlers who were arguably the best group in the WPIAL.
That’s why, perched from the top space on the awards stand, Headlee reveled in winning the 132-pound state title in Class AAA. He had just defeated Luke Pletcher, a two-time state champion from Latrobe who was ranked No. 1 in the country, for the second straight week.
Not only did Headlee derail Pletcher’s chances of becoming a four-time state champion, he probably gave the junior cause to lay awake at night.
Headlee won a 7-2 decision in ultimate tiebreaker at the PIAA Championships in Hershey, and was later named Outstanding Wrestler in Class AAA.
For his accomplishemnt, Headlee is this year’s Outstanding Wrestler on the O-R’s All-District Team.
Headlee joins 27 other wrestlers on the two teams.
Included with Headlee on the first team are fellow Class AA state champions Gavin Teasdale of Jefferson-Morgan and Mike Carr of South Fayette. Teasdale won the 106-pound title as a freshman and Carr the 138-pound title as a junior.
Other first-teamers included Brendan Howard (120), Bill Bowlen (182) and Ian Wolfe (Hvy) of Jefferson-Morgan; Brett Beltz (182) and Jared Walker (160) of South Fayette; Nico Brown (182), Jason Stay (160) and Anthony Welsh (170) of Beth-Center; Caleb Morris (106) of Waynesburg; Austin McDermitt (120) of Burgettstown; and Logan Macri (106) of Canon-McMillan.
The second team includes Shane Piper (152), Shaun Wilson (138) and Cole Rush (120) of Waynesburg; Camden Fontenot (126), Brendan Furman (Hvy) and Micah Kusturiss (145) of Canon-McMillan; Manny Dovshek (106), Hunter Neely (126) and Tyler Mitchell (138) of Bentworth; Mike Kolosky (113) and Cam Reynolds (132) of Trinity; Shane Ging (132) of South Fayette; Nick Kusich (145) of Avella; and Gage Nicolella (113) of McGuffey.
Mike Lesko of Jefferson-Morgan is the Coach of the Year.
As usual, inclusion in the all-district teams was determined by the accomplishments of each wrestler within his respective weight class.
Headlee’s victory over Pletcher moved his season record to 45-1. The lone loss came in the semifinals of the Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament against Micky Phillippi of Derry. Phillippi would go on to win the second PIAA Class AA title of his scholastic career with a 1-0 decision over Korbin Myers of Boiling Springs in the 132-pound finals.
Not only did Phillippi upend a defending state champion, but he also received the Outstanding Wrestler trophy in Class AA for his effort. Phillippi had three losses this season, each one to Pletcher.
“In his freshman year, I told A.C. that I knew he was going to be a state champion,” said Waynesburg head coach Joe Throckmorton. “I told him that I knew he was the best wrestler in the state. He was distraught after losing to Forys. There is nothing like the present to make you forget the past. I told him back then to remember the feeling you have right now. For the next three years, remember that feeling when you are thinking about taking a day off. When you want to skip a workout or a practice.”
Headlee might have won mutliple state titles if it were not for the talented group of wrestlers who moved through the weights with him. They included Canon-McMillan’s Dalton Macri, who won the PIAA title in 2014, Michael Kemerer of Franklin Regional, a three-time state runner-up who also broke through for the gold in his final season; Vincenzo Joseph of Pittsburgh Central Catholic, who won two state titles; Dom Forys of North Allegheny; Sam Krivus of Hempfield, who won a state title two years ago; and Pletcher.
“We’ve wrestled like 100 times since I was 5-years-old,” Headlee said of that esteemed group. “That prepared me for this.”
Headlee became the 31st state champion in Waynesburg’s illustrious history. The last wrestler to win a state title for the Raiders was Corbin Semple, who took gold at 171 pounds in 2005.
“I’ve been around great athletes and great wrestlers,” said Throckmorton. “I know how much talent someone has simply be watching them for five or 10 minutes on the mat. I haven’t seen all the great ones naturally, but A.C. is as talented as any wrestler I’ve seen at Waynesburg. He has always had the talent. He just had to put it all together.”
The coaches at the University of North Carolina saw it. They offered a scholarship to Headlee and that is where his next challenge will come.
“He’s my first state champion and that’s pretty cool to me,” said Throckmorton, who took over the program in 2008. “This win puts him up there with some of the great wrestlers in the program.”