Kiski’s Starr power defeats C-M in Triple-A team finals
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Gerrit Nijenhuis will be one of the key figures on Canon-McMillan High School’s wrestling team.
Tim Hritsko of Canon-McMillan looks for an escape route from Kiski’s Cam Connor during their 138-pound bout in the finals of the WPIAL Class AAA Wrestling Team Tournament at Penn Hills Saturday. Kiski won the dual meet, 41-21.
Matt Oblock of Canon-McMillan is tangled up with Noah Levett of Kiski during their 132-pound bout in the finals of the WPIAL Class AAA Wrestling Team Tournament at Penn Hills Saturday. Oblock dropped a 3-1 decision and Kiski won the dual meet, 41-21.
PENN HILLS – The Starrs came out for Kiski Saturday afternoon, leaving Canon-McMillan’s wrestling team in the dark.
Danny Starr and his brother, Tommy, had two crucial pins in back-to-back weight classes, 195 and 220, to propel Kiski to a 41-21 victory and the Cavaliers’ first WPIAL Class AAA Team Tournament title in 14 years.
Kiski, Canon-McMillan and North Allegheny, which lost to the Big Macs in the semifinals but beat Franklin Regional in the third-place bout, qualified for the PIAA Team Tournament, which gets under way Monday with preliminary-round matches. Canon-McMillan (10-2) and Kiski will next wrestle Thursday in the Giant Center in Hershey. North Allegheny wrestles City League champion Carrick Monday with the winner going to Hershey.
Kiski, now 18-0 and the No. 3-ranked team in the state, snapped that 14-year drought thanks in part to its Starr power.
There was more than one moment, though, in Danny Starr’s bout, where it looked like it might all fall apart. Alec Hendal, a sophomore with a 1-3 record and a decided underdog in the match against the 24-5 junior, hit a headlock seconds into the match and put Danny Starr on his back as the crowd inside Penn Hills High School roared. Danny Starr twisted and turned for a good 12 seconds before freeing himself, then pinned Hendal in :53 seconds.
“It was scary. I was freaking out,” Starr said. “I was doing everything I could to stay off my back.”
Hendal’s start was reminiscent of the Kiski-C-M bout in last year’s semifinals in this tournament, when James Zeremenko pinned Tyler Worthing in 45 seconds – a huge upset – and that proved to be the difference in a 27-25 victory by Canon-McMillan.
“If we get that pin there, the match might end up different,” said C-M head coach Jason Cardillo. “We might see these guys again and it might be different. They were the better team today.”
“Their kid came out and dumped him to his back and he had him close a couple times,” said Kiski head coach Chris Heater. “It just showed you his will and desire to get off his back. Then, for him to put (Hendal) on his back, that lit our bench a little bit and put a fire under these guys. I think we controlled the match after that.”
Tommy Starr had no such nightmares. He pinned Zach Rohaley in 1:36 to give Kiski a 21-9 lead and the Big Macs never recovered.
“We’ve been in the final four many times but in Triple-A, it’s so hard to win it,” said Heater. “There is so much talent. It’s very special for me.”
The Cavaliers got two other big wins by the same decision score, 3-1. Noah Levett stopped Matt Oblock in the 132-pound bout and Cam Connor got a takedown early in overtime. Reverse those outcomes and the Big Macs trail by two with one bout remaining. Instead, Kiski had a 35-21 lead and fans were putting on their coats.
“I’m proud of my guys,” Cardillo said. “They wrestled hard. They work hard in the room and it shows on the mat. This match, I wish we could have done more. They got their bonus points when the needed them and we didn’t.”
Another key move by Kiski was moving Matt Siszka up a weight to 126, where he rolled past Anthony Mastrangelo with a 19-6 major decision. Logan Macri, who might have wrestled Siszka if it were C-M’s choice at 120, instead got a forfeit victory to move his record to 29-5.
Oblock proved the hero in the semifinals when he pinned Will Baierl in 3:19 to sew up a 34-28 victory over North Allegheny. Oblock’s pin gave the Big Macs a nine-point lead with one bout remaining.
“I just had to get a little bit more motivated,” said Oblock. “I knew I had to do what I could and let it fall together.”
Macri and Brendan Furman had pins for Canon-McMillan against North Allegheny. Gerrit Nijenhuis had the only C-M pin against Kiski.