Canon-McMillan finishes 4th in PIAA Team Tournament
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Canon-McMillan’s Michael Binni works against Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell in the 113-pounds consolation round match of the PIAA Class AAA Team Tournament Saturday in Hershey. Binni lost a 9-6 decision but C-M won the match.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Tanner Rohaley of Canon-McMillan walks to the center of the mat after pinning Hunter Bentz of Central Dauphin in the 145-pound consolation round match of the PIAA Class AAA Team Tournament Saturday in Hershey.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Canon-McMillan’s wrestling team celebrates a fourth-place finish in the PIAA Class AAA Team Tournament Saturday in Hershey.
HERSHEY – Twice the Canon-McMillan Big Macs wrestling team battled back from the precipice Saturday and was rewarded for the effort.
That dogged persistence paid off in the form of a fourth-place trophy in the PIAA Class AAA Team Tournament at the Giant Center.
The Big Macs finished the final day of this three-day event with a 42-22 loss to Erie Cathedral Prep in the battle for third place.
“I’m very happy. And I’m proud of these kids’ efforts,” said Canon-McMillan first-year head coach Jeff Havelka.
“We have a group of kids who are willing to work and fight for each other. These guys have been through a lot of tough matches together and watched each other battle through tournaments. I think that helps them jell.”
Canon-McMillan went 4-2 in this tournament with both losses coming against Erie Cathedral Prep. The first came in the quarterfinals, 40-18.
To reach the third-place bout, Canon-McMillan won two nail-biters Saturday morning. The first was a 29-28 victory over Central Dauphin, the big rival when Canon-McMillan was winning five state team titles under Chris Mary. The victory wasn’t sealed until Logan Macri won a 25-10 technical fall over Mitchell Arch in the final bout of the match.
The second was a 27-23 stomach-churner that the Big Macs did a lot of things wrong. Macri again came to the rescue when he won a 5-2 decision over Louis Newell, a state runner-up last season.
“I was ready to get the job done, widen the gap from the last time (we wrestled),” said Macri. “I wrestled a little tight. It was a big stage. It was the first time I wrestled him in a while. I just wanted to open up my offense and win my match.”
Macri said Seneca Valley had upset in mind against the WPIAL runner-up Big Macs.
“Seneca put up a really good fight, put some guys where they needed to, but we still got the job done,” he said.
But it was Jacob Gardner who wore the hero hat in this match. Gardner won a gut-twisting 2-1 decision over Ronan O’Shea, after Macri’s win, that sealed the victory.
“I was really nervous but I wanted to win this for my team,” said Gardner. “I never saw him before, didn’t even know who he was. I just stuck to my technique and wrestled hard. This was the biggest win for me because I did it for my team.”
Gardner said nerves were just as potent an opponent as O’Shea appeared to be.
“When I started wrestling, the butterflies went away,” Gardner said. “I was very happy with my performance, and we did well as a team.”
Erie Cathedral Prep simply had too much firepower for the Big Macs. The District 10 champion Ramblers won nine of the 14 bouts, including five by fall.
“The first match, against Central Dauphin, some things didn’t go our way,” said Havelka. “These kids kept battling and ended up winning by a point.
“Against Seneca Valley, we were confident. We won the flip so we were able to get Macri on Newell and Gardner on the other boy. Macri wrestled well against a kid who was really tough. The match was on the line so I give a lot of credit to him.”
Bethlehem Catholic regained the Class AAA title it lost here last year to Nazareth. Bethlehem Catholic downed WPIAL champion Kiski, 38-22.
Reynolds won the Class AA title, 30-25 over Southern Columbia.