B-C ready to make play for team title
Normally, it would take two seasons to wrack up the number of wins Beth-Center has accumulated this year.
The Bulldogs have won 13 matches, an incredible amount considering six weeks of the season was lost because of the pandemic.
Beth-Center is 13-1, the one loss coming to Class 3A Butler in the Southmoreland Duals. On Wednesday night, the Bulldogs rolled past McGuffey, 51-24, to win the subsection and take one of the two top seeds in the Section 1 Tournament that begins Monday.
And the Bulldogs have made it this far with strength up and down the lineup. In an era of forfeits, Beth-Center has managed to fill nearly all the weights all the time.
“We’ve never won 13 in a year, even when we went to the state tournament two years ago,” said Beth-Center head coach Gary Welsh. “The team that took third in the WPIAL with Fundy, Gwyer and Baker was pretty deep. What made that team so special was that they got better as the year went on. This team reminds me of that team.”
Albert Medlen and Davis Stepp provide stability in the lightweights. Stepp was 22-12 last year and finished eighth in the district tournament.
If you somehow survive the early shots, there is the threesome of Tyler Fisher, Kyle McCollum and Tyler Debnar to deal with from 126 to 138 pounds. McCollum came the closest of qualifying for the state tournament, taking seventh in the regional tournament. More is expected from this junior who was 30-12 last year.
“We’re coming together in our lows and middles pretty good,” said Welsh. “I know what to expect from that trio.”
Tyler Berish, tied for second-most wins on the team last year with 31, is a blossoming middleweight. Only a sophomore, Berish was third in the WPIAL tournament and went 1-2 in the regional.
Trevor Pettit, who was 31-13 last season and went 0-2 in the regional tournament, has been a pinning machine for the Bulldogs.
“We have things stacked up against us in the section tournament,” said Welsh. “Burgettstown is very deep and very good in the lower weights. They are well-coached. We have to take care of things in the section tournament and we have to know how the cards play. I think our body of work puts us up there near the top. Burrell is Burrell. The only team that beat us was Butler and they are a pretty solid Class AAA team. So I hope our body of work impresses somebody.”
Beth-Center finishes up with Alex Lang, a strong 215-pounder and Josh Deems at heavyweight.
Beth-Center will wrestle Fort Cherry in the first round of the section tournament. The Bulldogs already own a win over the Rangers.
“We match up with them well,” said Welsh. “Fort Cherry is not where they are by accident. We have to bring it every night.