Freshmen trio leads Raiders to victory over Bulldogs
Jonathan Guth/For the Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg Central’s Colby Morris controls Beth-Center’s Makiah Bayus during their match in the 160-pound weight class on Tuesday at Waynesburg Central High School. Morris won the match by fall in 1:27.
Stoneking picks up back points
Jonathan Guth | Herald-Standard
Waynesburg Central freshman Colton Stoneking picks up back points during his match against Beth-Center’s Jimmy Gwyer in the 126-pound weight class on Tuesday at Waynesburg Central High School. Stoneking edged Gwyer, 7-5.
Waynesburg Central freshman Noah Tustin drives through Beth-Center’s Joseph Berish to pick up a takedown during Tuesday’s match at Waynesburg Central High School. Tustin won by fall in 1:53.
Jonathan Guth/For the Observer-Reporter
Jonathan Guth/For the Observer-Reporter
Beth-Center’s Dominic Fundy works a power half on Waynesburg Central’s Darnell Johnson during their match in the 195-pound weight class on Tuesday at Waynesburg Central High School. Fundy won by fall in 1:12.
Waynesburg Central's Trey Howard is about to pin Beth-Center's Tyler Fisher during their match in the 145-pound weight class on Tuesday at Waynesburg Central High School. Howard won by fall in 36 seconds.
WAYNESBURG – Cole Homet, Colton Stoneking and Noah Tustin may be freshmen at Waynesburg, but they don’t wrestle like it.
The trio all picked up wins to help lead the Raiders to a 44-27 non-section victory over Beth-Center on Tuesday at Waynesburg Central High School.
“They were all in the top three in JOs last year,” Waynesburg head coach Joe Throckmorton said. “You just got to keep getting better till the end of the season. Hershey’s our goal, but you got Beast of the East and Powerade coming up real quick. It’s going to be here before you know it.
“This is our first year wrestling Beth-Center. We work together to train for the postseason. He (Bulldogs head coach Gary Welsh) asked and we had a point, so I decided to make it as local as we could. It was a good test for the kids.”
Stoneking earned a 7-5 victory over senior Jimmy Gwyer at 126 pounds. Gwyer qualified for the state tournament as a sophomore.
Homet pinned Kyle McCollum in 3:08 at 120 and Tustin won by fall over Joseph Berish in 1:53 at 182.
Stoneking picked up a takedown in the first period to take a 2-0 advantage into the second. He deferred choice in the second period and Gwyer escaped and picked up a takedown of his own for a 3-2 lead. Stoneking escaped to send the match into the third tied at 3.
Stoneking picked up a reversal and two nearfall points before Gwyer picked up a reversal to cut the deficit to two. Gwyer worked hard to turn Stoneking as time ran out, but the talented freshman fought off Gwyer’s attempts.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match for Jimmy, even though he’s a senior,” Welsh said. “They could possibly see each other at Tri-CADA, and I think they gave the crowd a show tonight. We were well aware of their trio of freshmen.”
Tustin’s fall at 182 pounds gave the home team an early lead before the Bulldogs’ Dominic Fundy tied things with a fall over Darnell Johnson in 1:12 at 195.
Fundy, a senior who was the state runner-up as a sophomore, missed last season’s postseason action to an injury, but is back and healthy for his last chance to become Beth-Center’s first state wrestling champion.
“He (Fundy) is progressing very well coming off his injury,” Welsh said. “It’s probably mentally more than anything. A lot of times when you suffer an injury like that and the sky’s the limit, and you are probably one of the top guys in the state, a lot of kids don’t handle it as well as he did. I think he has a little sense of urgency. He’s grinding in the room and I’m very proud of how he’s handled the whole situation.”
Jacob Baker gutted out a 6-1 decision over Ryan Howard at 220 to give the Bulldogs a 9-6 lead before Spencer Lesinski tied the match for the home team with a 7-2 win over Evan Dreucci at 285 pounds.
Beth-Center went up 12 points when Joseph Holmes and Philip Wisniewski picked up forfeits at 106 and 113.
Homet’s fall cut the deficit to 21-15 and Stoneking’s decision pulled the Raiders (7-0) within three.
Trevor Pettit’s fall over Nate Kirby in 4:30 at 132 pounds extended the Bulldogs’ advantage to 27-18, but Waynesburg Central won the dual meet’s last five bouts.
Nate Stephenson edged Todd Fisher, 5-4, at 138 and Trey Howard pinned Tyler Fisher in 36 seconds at 145 to tie the meet at 27-27.
Luca Augustine won by forfeit at 152 and Colby Morris clinched the match for the Raiders with a fall over Makiah Bayus in 1:27 at 160.
Caleb Stephenson capped the night for the home team with a 16-1 technical fall in 5:25 over Dylan Dingle at 170.
Waynesburg Central started its season with a win over 12-time defending WPIAL Class AA team champion Burrell by criteria and won the Greenville Duals with a 46-21 victory over Brookville.
“We wrestled Brookville up there at the Greenville Duals in the last match. They were probably the best team up there. Burrell was ranked fourth in the state in Class AA, and Brookville was ranked fifth, and we beat both.”
The Raiders, who are a Class AA school but wrestle up in Class AAA, open section play tonight against Montour at 7:30 p.m. at Waynesburg Central High School.
Beth-Center competed in the Chartiers-Houston Tournament, but wrestled its first dual meet this year on Tuesday.