Carr’s knee injury no problem at section wrestling
Mike Carr of South Fayette rides Kody Komara during the 145-pound final in the WPIAL Section 1-AA Tournament at Ellwood City Saturday. Carr won a 4-0 decision.
Jake Pail of Freedom holds the leg of Nick Candelore of Fort Cherry during their 120-pound bout in the WPIAL Section 1-AA Tournament at Ellwood City Saturday. Candelore won a 1-0 decision.
ELLWOOD CITY – The WPIAL section wrestling tournaments can be tedious affairs, especially for the more talented athletes. They are targets for the sub-.500 wrestlers looking for a signature victory and tend to meet the same opponents from the regular season.
For Mike Carr, a defending state champion from South Fayette, the Section 1-AA Tournament at Ellwood City Saturday was not only important but a critical step in gauging his chances to repeat his undefeated season.
Five days before the tournament, Carr suffered a slight tear of the meniscus in his left leg, a freak injury during a routine drill in practice. If the knee was a problem, it would have showed up in the 145-pound finals, where rival Kody Komara of Freedom was waiting.
Carr wrestled hard and aggressive, taking a 4-0 decision from Komara. The two had a slight exchange at the end of the match but quickly parted ways. On the awards stand, the two barely looked at each other and Komara quickly hopped off and made his was into the crowd at Lincoln High School.
“You watched my finals match. I just have to push through,” said Carr after raising his record to 33-0 and 77-0 over the past two seasons. “I’m not going to push anything until I feel some things out.”
Carr’s victory over Komara gave him three section titles after a runner-up spot in four years.
“I’m not going to many high level things right now,” said Carr, a senior. “I’m not shooting as much because if the knee locks up then you have to stop the match. This tournament was going to be the hardest to adapt to because it came up so quickly after it happened. It’s shaving down and that means it’s less likely to lock up on me. These next two weeks will probably be the hardest to get through.”
Carr allowed only three bout points in the tournament and, if not for a slight limp, looked like the Mike Carr who went 44-0 and won the 138-pound championship in Hershey.
“It hasn’t been a problem at practice all week,” said South Fayette head coach Rick Chaussard. “We had a rough week. Christian Dedi broke his fibula in practice Monday. On Tuesday, Mike got hurt during a constant movement drill. He had it looked at by the doctor, who said the damage is done, no pain. It didn’t affect him the last two days of practice. The last two days he was full go. The doctor said it will get better with time.”
The top five wrestlers in each weight class advanced to the WPIAL Class AA Championships, which begin Friday at South Fayette. Carr probably will have just one bout Friday and, possibly, only three for the tournament.
The two other defending state champions in the Section 1 tournament – South Park’s Greg Bulsak (138) and Jake Wentzel (160) – also chalked up their third title in four seasons.
Four wrestlers – Nick Candelore of Fort Cherry, Tyler Alberts of Ellwood City, Dallas Bulsak of South Park and Rasaun Culberson of South Fayette – each won their second titles. Candelore’s might be the most impressive because he has already doubled his win total. Candelore was 12-6 last season before being eliminated in the Southwest Region Tournament. His 1-0 win over Jake Pail of Freedom in the 120-pound final moved the sophomore’s record to 26-3.
“I thought I could do good here, but it was still a tough bracket,” said Candelore.
Candelore credits his offseason work with the Gladiators, a wrestling club in Imperial, for his improvement.
“I worked out a lot with Tyler Alberts and he was at 126,” said Candelore. “We’re good friends. I moved up a lot to 126 during the regular season and it helped a lot.”