Homet set to return; Raiders handle Trinity
It was a long wait for a return to the mat for Waynesburg’s Cole Homet.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg’s Mac Church wraps up Trinity’s Blake Reihner in the 132-pound match. Church won by pin.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Trinity’s Ty Banco, bottom, looks for a landing as Waynesburg’s Noah Tustin lunges forward. Banco turned the tables and came away with a 6-1 decision in overtime.
Mark Marietta
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg’s Nate Kirby, right, scores a takedown against Trinity’s Adan Gill, winning his match 3-2 as Waynesburg rolled to a 54-9 victory at home over the Hillers.
Brody Evans
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg’s Brody Evans finishes the evening for the Raiders by working Trinity’s Nick Ferdorchack into a pin, topping off the Raiders’ 54-9 victory at home over the Hillers.
WAYNESBURG – The opponent was rival Trinity but the under current that ran through Waynesburg’s gymnasium at a fever pitch was about a different issue.
Cole Homet is coming back to the mats.
Homet tore up his left arm in an automobile accident last summer and has been working for the day the doctors would release him to wrestle.
That came Tuesday afternoon, hours before Waynesburg clobbered Trinity 54-9 at Waynesburg’s gymnasium in a subsection 4A dual meet in Class 3A.
So Homet will be in the lineup tonight when the school celebrates Senior Night against South Fayette.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” said Homet, a senior who was a PIAA runner-up in Hershey last year.
Homet was a key piece to Waynesburg’s PIAA Class 3A team championship but the accident robbed him of half the season.
“My hand is paralyzed,” Homet said. “My arm is getting stronger. It was completely destroyed. Only rehab brought it back, seven days a week.”
Homet was driving out 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.
“I don’t know what happened,” said Homet. “After the crash, I was in a coma for two days.”
Homet is slowly recovering. Feeling has returned to about mid-forearm. It’s been a long, slow process but now the wait is over.
“Therapy is the toughest thing I ever did,” said Homet. “I’m building back muscle that wasn’t there (after the crash). In the beginning, I was certainly frustrated. I kept thinking why did this have to happen to me. After that, I had to come to a decision. Would I let it bring me down or would I let it bring me up. I saw this day coming for a long time.”
And Waynesburg head coach Kyle Szewczyk couldn’t be more happy because of how hard Homet has worked to return.
“We’re excited, fingers crossed the whole time,” Szewczyk said. “We didn’t want to get our hopes up too high. About two weeks after it happened, he was running and working out the way he used to. We were hoping this day would come 6-8 months ago and we’re here.”
Szewczyk said he will take it one match at a time because no one is quite sure how it’s going to go.
“It is what it is, a work in progress,” said Szewczyk “We’ll see what it looks like (against South Fayette).”
Xavier Harmon (120), Zander Phatorus (126), Mac Church (132), Jake Stephenson (152) and Brody Evans (189) had falls for the Raiders, who are two wins away from taking the subsection title.
Ty Banco was the lone winner for the Hilllers (2-1) with a 6-1 decision over Noah Tustin in overtime. Trinity won by forfeit at 106.
“The guys who wrestled competed to their level,” said Trinity head coach Ron Tarquinio. “We have to get better, plain and simple.”