Wallace goes 4-for-4 at Tri-CADA
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Beth-Center’s Dominic Fundy, right, tries to take control against Albert Gallatin’s Tim Wallace during the 182-pound match of the Tri-Cada Wrestling Tournament finals Saturday at Trinity High School.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
McGuffey’s Christian Clutter, right, puts a hold on Waynesburg’s Kyle Homet in the 170-pound finals of the Tri-Cada Wrestling Tournament Saturday at Trinity High School.
While this fact might seem self-evident, winning four gold medals in the same high school wrestling tournament is not easy.
That’s why Tim Wallace had a little more reason to celebrate after Saturday afternoon’s finals of the Tri-County Athletic Director’s Association Wrestling Tournament at Trinity High School.
Wallace, a senior from Albert Gallatin, became only the second wrestler in the tournament’s history to win four titles. The other wrestler was Waynesburg’s A.C. Headlee, who won from 2012 to 2015.
Gavin Teasdale, a three-time PIAA Class AA champion from Jefferson-Morgan, would have been a four-timer but the flu kept him from wrestling in this event during his sophomore season. Teasdale won his third straight with a 20-5 technical fall over Jett Pattison of McGuffey in the 126-pound finals.
Wallace, the top seed at 182 pounds, sealed his fourth title with a 5-1 decision over Dominick Fundy of Beth-Center in the marquee bout of the tournament.
Last season, Wallace was a third-place finisher in the PIAA Class AAA 170-pound weight class and Fundy was a Class AA runner-up at the same weight.
“I knew it was going to be a tough one,” said Wallace. “I wrestled him two years ago in the same tournament. It didn’t teach me anything (for this bout) because it was so long ago.”
Wallace handed Fundy only his second loss of the season by taking him down twice in the first period. Wallace’s only loss came against defending state champion Trent Hidlay of Mifflin County in the 182 finals at the Powerade Christmas Tournament at Canon-McMillan. Fundy’s first loss came to Christian Sequete of Butler, 2-0, in the semifinals of the Southmoreland Tournament.
“I think I wrestled good,” said Fundy. “I love wrestling him because he makes me better. I knew I had to win the neutral position and got taken down twice. He’s really good on the mat so I knew if I got down on the mat, there was a good chance I wasn’t getting out.”
What made this an even more interesting scenario is that Wallace and Fundy are workout partners at the Young Guns Club.
“I’m kind of used to wrestling him. He’s a practice partner,” said Wallace said. “It’s way harder to wrestle someone like that. You wrestle in practice and it gets harder and harder to win.”
Just one bout before the 182 final, Christian Clutter of McGuffey used a first-period takedown to cement a 3-1 decision over Kyle Homet of Waynesburg. It was Clutter’s second title in as many seasons and it relegated Homet to a silver medal for the second straight tournament. Homet was a runner-up at Powerade.
“I was expecting this. I knew it was coming,” said Clutter. “It didn’t turn out as good as I wanted it to but it turned out for the best because I won. Kyle is a very good wrestler and if I have to wrestle someone in the finals, I’d rather it be him.”
Waynesburg had three champions, which allowed the Raiders to repeat as team champions with 194 points, 25 more than Canon-McMillan.
Wyatt Henson rode a second-period takedown to a 2-1 decision over Kenny Hayman in the 120 finals; Caleb Morris stopped Donovon McMillan of Peters Township, 12-3, at 132; and Jackson Henson pinned PJ Smith of Burgettstown in 33 seconds.
“I think this is one of the toughest states and how that’s reflect through the NCAAs,” said Jackson Henson, a two-time West Virginia champion. “My expectations were to win, to get my shots off. I was more offensive than I usually am, and that was pretty much the goal.”
Canon-McMillan also had three champions: Jimmy Baxter at 106, Tanner Rohaley at 145 and Gerrit Nijenhuis. It was the second title for Nijenhuis, who pinned his way through the 160 weight class, and the first for Baxter and Rohaley.
Nijenhuis said winning four titles is on his radar. The sophomore has two now.
“I’m not big into skipping tournaments,” said Nijenhuis. “I definitely will wrestle here every year.
“I didn’t get to wrestle a lot of matches, three, and there wasn’t a lot of mat time. I think I did pretty good.”
Gianni Martin of Trinity, the third seed at 113, stopped Peters Township’s Bryce Wilkes from repeating with a 15-8 major decision. Martini took Wilkes down six times.
Dalton Lough gave McGuffey its second title when he pinned Jacob Baker of Beth-Center in 1:18 and Quentin Franklin eked out a 2-1 decision over Corey Dodson of Albert Gallatin at heavyweight for South Fayette’s lone champion.
Frazier’s Thayne Lawrence (152) and Ian Edenfield (220) of Laurel Highlands were the other winners.