O-R Athlete of the Week: Joe Baronick, Burgettstown
Name: Joe Baronick
School: Burgettstown
Sport: Wrestling
Class: Sophomore
Baronick’s week: The Blue Devils’ heavyweight won his first WPIAL championship at the Class 2A tournament held at Canon-McMillan High School.
Baronick defeated top-seeded and top-ranked Cameron Carter-Green of Washington, 4-1. Baronick, who came into the tournament as the second seed in the weight class, opened the tournament with a pin in 47 seconds against Henry Hess of McGuffey, then followed it with a first-round pin of Joseph Semelka of Mount Pleasant in :32.
In the quarterfinals, Baronick pinned Lance Crawley of Central Valley in 4:49 before disposing of Coltin Hill of Laurel in 3:26 in the semifinals.
Pep talk: “Early in the season, I wasn’t as well-conditioned as I am now,” said Baronick. “I didn’t have as much belief in myself as I do now. It’s hard to explain. I didn’t believe in myself. I always thought that person in front of me, no matter if they were worse than me, I was afraid of them.”
Baronick credits a 20-minute talk with Burgettstown assistant coach Louie Vigliotti at midseason for turning things around.
“We talked about how I should believe in myself,” Baronick said. “He said I shouldn’t doubt myself and that I was greater than I thought I was.”
Baronick has played varsity football the past two years but it has shown him that his love for wrestling is greater than his love for football.
“I’ve been wrestling since age 6,” Baronick said. “This is my 10th year of wrestling.”
Not a surprise: Burgettstown head coach Joey Vigliotti says he always felt the talent was there for Baronick.
“We knew he had it in him,” said Joey Vigliotti. “We game planned a little. The same way we never on a flip (to start a dual meet). That’s what’s big in a heavyweight match. You score first and you go into overtime, you’re good.”
Vigliotti said Baronick struggles early in the season was because of a lack of confidence.
“We had to give him a kick in the butt about halfway through the season and told him to put it in gear,” said Vigliotti. “It paid of that he is a WPIAL champ. So that’s good.”
Compiled by Joe Tuscano