Comedy snaps WHS drought in Tri-CADA tournament
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Jimmy Baxter of Canon-McMillan, back, has Nate Yagle of McGuffey twisted up in the 113-pound final of the Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association Tournament Saturday afternoon at Trinity High School.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Cole Homet of Waynesburg tries to get Jacob Gardner of Canon-McMillan off his back in the 120-pound final of the Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association Tournament Saturday afternoon at Trinity High School. Homet won 8-5.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Todd Fisher of Beth-Center tries to break the hold of Waynesburg’s Nate Stephenson in the 138-pound final of the Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association Tournament Saturday afternoon at Trinity High School. Stephenson won by 10-5 decision.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Austin Ryan of Burgettstown, back, is tangled with Trinity’s Danny Boardley in the 132-pound final of the Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association Tournament Saturday afternoon at Trinity High School. Ryan won by fall in 1:34.
Over the holiday week, Gerald Comedy Jr. ended a drought of more than a decade for Washington High School’s wrestling program when he won his weight class at the West Mifflin Tournament.
So how do you top an accomplishment like that?
Easy.
Comedy became the first Washington wrestler to win his weight class in the Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association Tournament Saturday afternoon at Trinity High School. The tournament has been running since 2006.
The junior heavyweight raised his season record to 11-0 when he won an 8-2 decision over Riley Kemper of Burgettstown in the finals. Comedy, a standout football player for the Prexies, punctuated the win with a quick muscle pose.
“I was just happy. I knew that was something that hadn’t been done in our school history,” said Comedy. “We’ve been achieving milestones throughout the whole year.”
Comedy entered the tournament as the fourth seed and quickly advanced. He pinned Spencer Lesinski of Waynesburg in 2:00 then disposed of Quentin Franklin of South Fayette, 6-2, in the semifinals.
Against Kemper, Comedy scored six of his eight points on a reversal and two takedowns in the second period.
“None of my coaches told me (about the drought),” Comedy said. “One of the coaches from McGuffey told me. It was later in the day.”
Canon-McMillan won the team title on the strength of four first-place finishers and 13 placewinners. That produced 247.5 points. Waynesburg, with a tournament-best five champions, was second with 206 points. Trinity had a champion and third-place finish with 157 points.
Burgettstown was the top Class AA team, finishing in fifth place with one champion.
Christian Clutter of McGuffey was named Outstanding Wrestler after his 4-2 decision over Jeff Markert of Peters Township at 170 pounds.
Comedy was not the only fourth seed to win a weight class. Austin Ryan, a senior at Burgettstown, won the 132-pound title when he pinned second-seeded Danny Boardley of Trinity in 1:34.
“When I looked at (my seed), I thought it was reasonable because this was my first time coming down from 138,” Ryan said. “I was a little bit disappointed because I thought I was a little bit better than some of the kids ranked above me. But it was OK. I thought I was seeded where I wanted to be.”
Despite receiving just a third seed, Nate Stephenson, a sophomore at Waynesburg, roared through the 138-pound weight class, winning the title with a 10-5 decision over fourth-seeded Todd Fisher of Beth-Center.
“I respected (my seed),” said Stephenson, who is 11-6. “I have a lot of losses because we went to Powerade and Beast of the East. That gives me a lot of losses. But I don’t worry about seeds. I just go out and wrestle.”
Stephenson missed last year’s tournament with a torn shoulder muscle.
“I felt confident,” he said. “A lot of it for me is getting that first match in. After I get my first match in, I can keep it on a roll, sort of like a snowball (effect).”
Stephenson’s teammate, Colby Morris, will remember his 5-2 decision over Coltin Jezioro of Peters Township. Not only did it give him the 160-pound title but it also was his 100th career victory.
“I wasn’t counting it down. I was just waiting for it, I guess,” said Morris. “I just wanted to come in and wrestle.”
Morris is the second Waynesburg wrestler to reach the Century Club this season. Trey Howard did it last month in the Beast of the East.
Colby Morris’ brother, Caleb, graduated last year after compiling a 148-33 record.
“Hopefully, I can get 120,” he said. “That would be nice.”
Luca Augustine, a sophomore at Waynesburg who was unseeded, knocked off three seeded wrestlers to win the 152-pound title. Augustine opened with a pin in 2:24 of Jacob Loudin of Burgettstown in a preliminary-round match and followed it with an 11-3 major decision over third-seeded Ethan Barr of McGuffey. A hard-fought 5-3 decision over second-seeded Eli Brinski of South Fayette put Augustine in the finals, where he decisioned top-seeded Donovan McMillon of Peters Township by the same 5-3 score.
“I wrestled (McMillon) a lot in junior high,” said Augustine. “They were all close matches, one-point, two-point. I wrestled him enough to know I can beat him. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if I win or lose, as long as I get better. I know I’ll see him again.”
Jacob Baker of Beth-Center had the fastest pin in the finals, 24 seconds over Alec Hendal of Canon-McMillan at 220 pounds.
“I think I’ve had faster but that one felt pretty good,” said Baker, a senior who won his first Tri-CADA title. “It feels good because you don’t have to wrestle (six minutes). He’s a good kid. He beat me my freshman year.”
Gerrit Nijenhuis was back on the mat after a controversial bout against Carter Starocci of Erie Cathedral Prep at Powerade. Nijenhuis, a junior at Canon-McMillan, sewed up the 182-pound Tri-CADA title with a 13-3 major decision over second-seeded Brandon Mathews of Peters Township.
“Our coaches stressed for us to go out and wrestle and have fun with it,” said Nijenhuis. “That’s what we did.”
Other C-M winners were Jacob Haupt at 106, Jimmy Baxter at 113 and Ken Hayman at 126. Waynesburg’s Trey Howard won at 145. Trinity’s Cole Whitmer won at 195.