Boone has blast, Kemper upset in WPIAL finals
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Garrett Boone from McGuffey puts Ethan Cain of Elizabeth Forward on his back for a pin and the win in the 195-pound weight class during the WPIAL Class AA Championships.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Riley Kemper of Burgettstown tries to get Mitch Miles of Laurel off his back in the heavyweight class during the WPIAL Class AA Championships.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Thayne Lawrence of Frazier, background, works for backpoints against Ethan Barr of McGuffey in the 160-pound weight class during the WPIAL Class AA Championships.
By Eleanor Bailey/Almanac Sports Editor/ebailey@thealmanac.net
Riley Kemper of Burgettstown, left, triees to fight off Mitch Miles of Laurel in the heavyweight class during the WPIAL Class AA championships.
CANONSBURG – Garrett Boone and Riley Kemper each left the mat at about the same speed.
Rapidly.
But the two had very different emotions after their wrestling matches Saturday night at Canon-McMillan High School.
Boone, a 195-pounder from McGuffey High School, had just gotten the biggest victory of his varsity career.
And he was willing to jump into anyone’s arms who dared make the catch.
Kemper, the senior heavyweight from Burgettstown High School and Robert Morris football recruit, just suffered one of the more painful losses of his varsity career.
And he was not about to jump into anyone’s arms.
That’s how the finals of the WPIAL Class AA Championships went for some of the local wrestlers.
There was good to be found, such as the great comeback of Boone from two years of lost wrestling because of injury and a concussion.
And there was deep hurt to be felt for someone such as Kemper, who not only lost his chance to win a second straight WPIAL championship but was pinned in 3:59 in the process.
It should be an interesting week of practice before the qualifiers head to Indiana University for the regional tournament.
The top seven wrestlers in each weight class will make the trip. Some of them happily, some of them not as happy.
Boone won his first title with a dominating performance, pinning Ethan Cain of Elizabeth Forward in 2:35.
“I came in expecting to finish in the top three,” said Boone. “I never wrestled him before. I didn’t know what I was going into. I was just going to use my offense and try to tire him out. Over half of my win record (73-40) are pins. I have 47.”
Kemper was one of five local finalists. Joining him were Kyle McCollum of Beth-Center at 120 pounds and Rocco Ferraro (145), Ethan Barr (160) and Boone from McGuffey. Only Boone and Ferraro came away with gold medals. Ferraro rallied from a 5-0 deficit for a 6-5 win over Anthony Weil of South Park.
“We need to learn from these mistakes,” said Burgettstown head coach Joey Vigliotti. “I think he’ll recover and be fine. You learn more from a loss. Riley is a calm wrestler.”
Kemper came into the tournament as the top seed and was on the mat for a combined 1:45 before heading into the finals. He pinned Frank Cortzao of South Allegheny in 1:34 in the quarterfinals then stuck Jeremiah Nelson of Highlands in 31 seconds.
“I have 36 pins this season and somewhere between 80 and 82 pins in my career,” said Kemper. “Pins are really important in the team season, They give you six points. But here, you are just happy to get the win and move on.”
Barr’s run through the 160-pound weight class came to an end in the finals, courtesy of two-time state champion Thayne Lawrence of Frazier. The senior became the 29th wrestler in the history of WPIAL wrestling to win four titles with a 9-0 major decision over Barr.
The last wrestler to accomplish that feat was Gavin Teasdale of Jefferson-Morgan two years ago.
“I tried at least,” said Barr. “I just went out to have some fun.”
Ferraro trailed 5-0 after one, then scored three points each in the second and third periods.
“That was scary,” said Ferraro. “I just tried not to think what happened and try to think what I have to do.”
McCollum dropped a 15-1 major decision to Ryan Michaels of Elizabeth-Forward.
Shane Kemper of Burgettstown got his 100th career win in the 152-pound consolation semifinals, pinning Joe Boughton of Avonworth in 2:48.
“I knew coming in I had 96, then after sections I had 98,” said Shane Kemper. “It felt pretty good.”