New move works for B-C’s Fundy
McGuffey’s Gage Nicolella controls Burrell’s Trent Bechtold in a 120-pound bout. Nicolella won with a pin in 5:31.
Washington’s Kurt Adkins tries to control Burgettstown’s Darrell Bails in the 145-pound weight class in the WPIAL Class AA quarterfinals Friday at South Fayette High School. Bails won by a 5-1 decision.
Bentworth’s Hunter Neely goes in low on Central Valley’s Pasqualino Mastrangelo in a 145-pound bout. Neely won by a 17-4 major decision.
McDONALD – The wrestling postseason is not the best place to try a new move, but don’t tell that to Dominic Fundy.
The 160-pound freshman from Beth-Center High School had not used a cradle all season, until he saw an opening in his quarterfinal bout with Phillip Petit, a senior from Valley.
Fundy threw it in, locked it up, turned Petit to his back and pinned him in 39 seconds. The victory sent Fundy into today’s semifinals (11:30 a.m.) of the WPIAL Class AA Wrestling Championships at South Fayette High School.
Even better news for Fundy is this: because District 7 advances seven wrestlers from this event to the Southwest Region, Fundy has a spot in that tournament, which will take place at Canon-McMillan High School next weekend.
“That’s the first time I used it this year,” said Fundy, who moved his record to 30-7 with the two wins Friday. “It was there, and I had it locked up pretty good.”
Fundy will have his hands full in the semifinals, where defending state champion Jake Wentzel of South Park is waiting. If Fundy pulls an upset, he will make it to the finals, which begin at 7 p.m.
“Last week, I had a tough match in the finals,” said Fundy of his 3-2 loss to Jefferson-Morgan’s Trevor Kniha in the Section 2-AA Tournament at McGuffey. “I thought I had a decent spot in the bracket (for this tournament). I get a little nervous before my matches, so I just go out there and try my best.”
It was a relatively quiet first night for this event. The five defending state champions in the tournament – Gavin Teasdale (113) of Jefferson-Morgan, Mike Carr (145) of South Fayette, Micky Phillippi (138) of Derry Area and Greg Bulsak (182) of South Park and Wentzel won by either pin or technical fall. South Fayette sent six to the semifinals, while Burrell, Derry and Freedom each sent five.
Burgettstown’s Darrell Bails made his way into the semifinals by avenging a loss to Washington’s Kurt Adkins in the 145-pound weight class. Adkins decisioned Bails, 4-2, in the consolations of the Section 1 Tournament last week, forcing Bails to win the fifth-place bout to advance.
“I wrestled him for fourth place in sections last week, but that was no excuse for my performance,” said Bails. “I just watched film and kept the pace up so he would get tired. This win just makes me hungry for more.”
Bails will run into Carr, who disposed of Chris O’Sullivan of Valley in the quarterfinals after receiving a first-round bye. Carr suffered a slight tear to his meniscus two weeks ago and was wearing a brace on his left knee against O’Sullivan, but he looked strong on the mat and moved well.
Joe Bastaroli, a 182-pound sophomore from South Fayette, pulled off one of only two upsets on Day 1 of the tournament when he knocked off No. 2 seed Tyler McConaha of Elizabeth Forward. Bastaroli hit a headlock for a three-point move that gave him a 4-3 decision.
“You really can’t base how good a kid is off his record,” said Bastaroli, who is 18-16. “I figured if I wrestled smart, I can get there.”
Bastaroli has an unusual explanation to describe his wrestling style.
“I do a lot of garbage out there,” he said with grin. “I have a lot of weird moves that people don’t do that often. I never heard of (McConaha) before so I just went out and used my stuff. I use the headlock a lot. I’ve used it in the past, and it’s a good move when they aren’t expecting it.”
Trevor Kniha of Jefferson-Morgan had two strong matches at 160, a pin of Devon English of Riverside in 2:54 in the first round and an 11-2 decision over Mike Cusick of South Fayette in the quarterfinals. Kniha draws No. 2 seed Cody Jenkins of South Allegheny in the semifinals.
“I thought I could make the semifinals,” Kniha said. “Everyone is tough and I take it one match at a time. But I thought I could get to the semifinals. I want to make it to the finals now.”
That’s where Wentzel is expected to be.
Bentworth’s Manny Dovshek had the other upset, stopping second-seeded P.J. Smith of Burgettstown 11-2 in the 113-pound quarterfinals.
Rasaun Culberson of South Fayette had two impressive pins to mark his effort. He had the fastest pin in the first round when he stuck Ty Hackinson of Bentworth in nine seconds, then followed with a pin of Jack Harris of Yough in 25 seconds.