C-M delivers knockout punch to Waynesburg
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Canon-McMillan’s Evan Miller tries to take down Waynesburg’s Caleb Blair in a 182-pound bout at Canon-McMillan Wednesday night.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg’s Luke Robinson, right, tries to get leverage on Canon-McMillan’s Alex Hendal in the 195-pound bout.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Canon-McMillan wrestling coach Jeff Havelka, squatting, enters his second season with the Big Macs.
CANONSBURG – The wrestling team at Canon-McMillan High School delivered a 1-2 punch over the last two weeks.
The Big Macs knocked off No. 1-ranked Kiski three days before Christmas.
Then, in front of a large crowd Wednesday night, Canon-McMillan disposed of No. 2-ranked Waynesburg, 37-21, in a Section 4A match in Class AAA.
The win moved the Big Macs to 3-0 in the section and 4-0 overall. Waynesburg fell to 2-1 in the section and 3-1 overall.
The Big Macs, No. 1 in the Observer-Reporter Wrestling Rankings, have won the section title each season since 2001. They knocked off the Raiders by winning nearly all the close bouts and holding the losses to a minimum.
“It took every kid going out and doing their job, whatever that might be,” said C-M head coach Jeff Havelka. “I’m very proud of our kids. They went out and fought hard.
“We were looking at all the way up the line when we did our lineups (for wins). … All of them were big.”
Waynesburg led for only three of the 14 bouts. Kyle Homet pinned Mahonri Wolfgramm to start the dual meet at 170 and Luke Robinson’s 3-2 decision over Alec Hendal made it 9-3 after the 195-pound bout.
As he did in the Kiski win, Zach Rohaley sparked a winning streak – this one lasted six bouts – with a pin at 220 as the Big Macs built a 28-9 lead with just five matches remaining.
“We’re all working hard in the room and everyone is pushing each other,” said Rohaley. “We all have a common goal to go as far as we can and get the best out of ourselves. We know that if we work hard and give our best, we can achieve that goal.”
Jimmy Baxter also had a pin in that run, sticking Hunter Shriver in 44 seconds at 106 pounds.
Heavyweight Gio Ramos got an escape with 1:36 to go to beat Waynesburg’s Ryan Howard, 1-0, at heavyweight, one of seven bouts decided by three points or fewer.
Maybe the biggest win came at 145, where Tanner Rohaley stopped the Raiders’ Colby Morris, 4-2, in a bout where all the points were scored in the third period.
“A lot of those were 50-50 matches and we just got outwrestled in all of them,” said Waynesburg head coach Joe Throckmorton. “We’ve been at Beast, Powerade, Seneca Valley, Burrell, a lot of good competition. We might be worn down. We’ll probably see (Canon-McMillan) at least three more times this year.”
Logan Macri, fresh from a gold medal effort in the Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament, won a hard-fought 5-3 decision over Wyatt Henson in a physical bout at 120.
Reliable Gerrit Nijenhuis finished the dual meet with a pin of Waynesburg’s Caleb Stephenson in 36 seconds at 160.
“If we keep working and stay focused, we’re right in the mix with anybody,” said Havelka.
Caleb Morris had a pin for Waynesburg at 132 and Michael Binni gave the Big Macs a lift with a major decision at 113.