Feb 14, 2022 3 min read

HERSHEY – The trip to the PIAA Team Tournament turned out quite different from last year for Waynesburg High School’s wrestling team.

For one, there were many more fans in the stands.

There were not enough stunning wins, leaving the defending Class 3A team champions relegated to a place somewhere other than the top.

What does this show?

To win a team title, you have to have talent and some luck.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, the luck they had was mostly bad. Too many interruptions and distractions to repeat.

First, the Raiders lost Cole Homet for most of the season. Homet was a key piece to Waynesburg’s PIAA Class 3A team championship last year but the accident robbed him of the use of his left arm.

Homet was driving to St. Louis to take part in Sammie Henson’s wrestling camp and to attend a celebration party thrown by Wyatt Henson. Homet lost control of the car and the crash severely mangled the left arm.

To his credit, Homet worked hard to come back. But the hug he received after being defeated by Nicholas Foster of Nazareth, 3-2, in the semifinals of the team tournament told you all you needed to know. Their hearts went out to Homet.

Then, the team lost its head coach, Joe Throckmorton, to a bizarre incident at the Green Cove Yacht Club.

Throckmorton was charged with conspiracy to commit theft by unlawful taking, criminal mischief and receiving stolen property at the yacht club by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

Then there was the curious case of Joe Simon, who at varying times this season had a back injury or hit a growth spurt. Either way, he could have helped the Raiders in Hershey but didn’t wrestle a second.

Wrestling most of the season without a 106-pounder didn’t hurt that much during the regular season but up here, a full lineup wins close bouts. That was one of the strengths of last year’s team, a full Class AAA roster from a Class 2A-enrollment eligible school.

The coaching staff did a magnificent job. Kyle Szewczyk, who had been with the program for more than a decade, was the perfect choice to replace Throckmorton, smart and knowledgeable. Bringing up Scott Rhodes from the junior high team, who cut his teeth with Ron Headlee on Jefferson-Morgan’s championship teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s, has paid big dividends.

And Jimmy Howard is invaluable as a volunteer assistant coach. Besides, who else is going to practice with Noah Tustin and Eli Makel, the Raiders’ heavyweights?

It’s easy to play the, “What if?,” game. What if Homet had not had his accident, what if Simon had wrestled, what if Wyatt Henson and Luca Augustine had one more year of eligibility?

Third place is a commendable finish in this grueling tournament and this Waynesburg team will go down as one of the best.

But it takes a little more than that to be champion.