Feb 8, 2017 3 min read

The importance of participating in two early season wrestling tournaments jumped twofold for Canon-McMillan.

The Big Macs are heading into the first round of the PIAA Class AAA Team Tournament against Council Rock South at tonight (6 p.m.) at the Giant Center in Hershey.

That’s the same Council Rock South team the Big Macs competed against in the Cumberland Valley Kickoff Classic in December and the Escape The Rock event in January.

The Big Macs took some detailed notes on Council Rock South’s better wrestlers during the two events. But there was a catch.

“We got to see some of their guys at those tournaments, which is nice because you see what you’re going against. But they also know what we have, so it works both ways,” said Canon-McMillan head coach Jason Cardillo. “I think we match up pretty well with them but it’s going to be a tough match, just like any other in this tournament. They could always move their lineup around but if they don’t, we match up pretty well.”

CRS had five wrestlers finish in the top four in the Kickoff Classic and two in the Escape The Rock. That gave C-M coaches a good idea of the strength of the District 1 champion.

Max Mendez is a strong 106-pounder, who decisioned C-M’s Jacob Gardner at the CV event by major decision on the way to a third-place finish. Zach Trampe, a sixth-place finisher at 132 pounds in the state individual tournament, won the 138 title at Cumberland Valley.

Riley Palmer, a state qualifier last season, won the 152-pound title at King of the Mountain in December, possibly setting up a rematch against Gerrit Nijenhuis, C-M’s emerging freshman. Nijenhuis won an 8-3 decision over Palmer in the Cumberland Valley tournament, and the two were entered in the Escape The Rock but didn’t meet.

“Nijenhuis had Palmer in the semifinals at Cumberland Valley,” said Cardillo. “He’s a tough kid. If he can beat him again, it would be nice to take out one of their big guns. That will be a key matchup there.”

Another strong wrestler for Council Rock South is Joe Doyle, a 220-pounder who won his weight class at Cumberland Valley and Escape The Rock. But Doyle is most likely stuck at the weight for this match because the Big Macs have Brendan Furman at heavyweight. It’s highly unlikely CRS would move Doyle up a weight and risk taking a loss to Furman, who would have a weight advantage. Furman won his weight class in both tournaments.

“They have bumped Doyle up but I don’t believe they would do that with Furman waiting for him,” Cardillo said. “If they did, that would help us. I don’t think they are in the business of helping us.”

If the Big Macs are to win this dual meet, they need strong efforts from Logan Macri (120), Anthony Mastrangelo (126), Matt Oblock (132) and Tim Hritsko (138).

Council Rock South won the district title with a 38-24 win over Boyertown, the 14th consecutive victory since the season began. Canon-McMillan fell to top-seeded Kiski, 41-21, in the WPIAL finals and has a 10-2 record.

“It’s been business as usual for us,” Cardillo said. “Our kids are bumped out a little because we got to the finals for the second year in a row and fell short. They’ll bounce back. We’ll have a short-term memory.”