Belle Vernon takes third at PIAA team tourney
Michael Binni of Canon-McMillan holds onto the leg of Darren Miller in the 106-pound bout of the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Team Tournament Saturday in Hershey. Binni lost a 12-6 decision.
Belle Vernon’s wrestling team took third place in the PIAA Class AAA Team Tournament in Hershey Saturday afternoon.
HERSHEY – Only one team was good enough to stop Belle Vernon in the PIAA Team Tournament this weekend.
That team – Bethlehem Catholic – went on to win the Class AAA title.
While Belle Vernon wrestlers joined Boyertown, Bethlehem Catholic’s victim in the final, in a chant of “Home Grown” during the medal ceremony that was directed at perceived recruiting efforts of the Catholic institution, there was no denying Bethlehem Catholic’s dominance.
In Class AA, Brookville defeated Saucon Valley, 33-24.
Belle Vernon (19-2) capped an outstanding season with an impressive 30-28 victory over Nazareth for third-place in Class AAA after Billy Korber’s 1-0 decision over Antonio Noviello in the heavyweight bout, the last of the dual meet. That erased a 28-12 deficit in the final four bouts. Jubilant teammates lifted Korber in the air for just a few seconds because, well, he does weigh 261 pounds.
“This team fought through adversity,” said Belle Vernon head coach Mike Doppelheuer. “We were missing two key guys in the last two matches. It shows the type of depth that we have.”
Derek Verkleeren (knee) and Michael Fine (ankle) missed the win over Nazareth and the 36-26 victory over Kiski in the consolation semifinals Saturday morning. Neiko Kuntz picked up a win against Kiski replacing Verkleeren at 145 and Hunter Ferrara, subbing for Fine, got a huge victory at 220 against Nazareth.
“These guys gut-checked their way to the semis,” Doppelheuer. “We lost a tough one to Bethlehem Catholic but that’s what happens when you wrestle schools that get to hand-pick their wrestlers. They don’t have any holes. Most public schools have a hole or two but recruited schools don’t.”
When Brock Wilson decisioned Mitchell Hartman, 3-1, in the 170-pound final, Nazareth had a 28-12 lead.
But Austin Bell pinned Ryan Herceg in 2:00 at 182 to cut the lead to 28-18 and Milt Kobaly followed with a pin of Zach Kiefer in 2:25. Ferrara decisioned A.J. Vlasaty in the pivotal bout at 220 to cut Nazareth’s lead to 28-27. Korber had a typical heavyweight win, 1-0, over Novielli, who weighed in at 223.
Against Kiski, Belle Vernon won seven of eight bouts near the end to carve out a 10-point win. Tyler Seliga (126) and Brock Godzin (138) had key pins. Bell had a pin and Jarod Verkleeren a technical fall.
Canon-McMillan got its third match this season with Kiski earlier in the day and fell to 1-2 against the Cavaliers, who eliminated the Big Macs, 32-22, in the consolation quarterfinals. Kiski won eight of the 14 bouts and had two falls, one by Chad Kuhn to start the dual meet at 220 and the other by Tyler Worthing, who avenged a previous loss to James Zeremenko in the WPIAL semifinals last week, by pinning the C-M senior at 182 in 29 seconds.
Canon-McMillan lost five of seven bouts through the middle, and never got closer than four points past the halfway point of the match.
“(Kiski) had some motivation, I don’t know about more,” said C-M head coach Jason Cardillo. “We had a little adversity with (Micah) Kusturiss out of the lineup. He won for us last time. The pin at 220 was huge for them and they got a pin at 220 with Zeremenko. I thought overall the effort was there. They got their points where they needed and we didn’t.”
Much of this Big Macs team returns next season. Declan Lewis (145), Kusturiss (152), Tommy James (170), Zeremenko (182) and Nick Konyk (195) will be significant losses. But a good core returns, led by Logan Macri (113), Matt Oblock (126), Blaze Kansco (160) and Brendan Furman (Hvy).
“The high point (of the team season) was making it to the WPIAL finals last week,” said Cardillo. “There are always highs and lows during the season. Getting here was certainly a high point.”
Cardillo said participating in this tournament is plus for those advancing to the individual championships.
“It makes a huge difference,” Cardillo said. “They know the area, they know the routine, they have wrestled in front of a big crowd. They won’t be star-struck when they come up for individuals.”