Waynesburg has challenging start to season
Waynesburg High School’s wrestling team is jumping feet first into the season.
The Raiders, three-time winners of the WPIAL Team Tournament, will open the season Dec. 14 at Canon-McMillan.
The match with the Big Macs will go a long way in determining who has the best team in the area, especially since Canon-McMillan was moved to the opposite subsection this season.
“It probably happened about eight months ago,” said Waynesburg head coach Kyle Szewczyk, entering his second season after replacing Joe Throckmorton. “Even though they aren’t in our subsection, it’s good to have them right out of the gate. I think the last six, seven years, we had Burrell right out of the gate. So we have to take care of business and you don’t look ahead.”
Waynesburg gets two returning state champions in their lineup in Mac Church and Rocco Welsh. The two seniors are favored to win their weight classes. Church will settle in at 145 pounds this year and Welsh at 172. Welsh totally dominated his weight class in Hershey, registering three technical falls and a pin. But he was bypassed for the Outstanding Wrestler award.
“I thought he deserved it,” Szewczyk said. “From the first whistle to the last, and from the first match to the last, he dominated. I do understand, they gave it to (Pierson Manville of State College). He beat two returning state champions in back-to-back matches. If it went to most dominating wrestler, Rocco would have won that.”
Szewczyk feels Waynesburg’s strength lies from 145 pounds to 215, where Church, Nate Jones or Brody Evans (152), Jake Stephenson (160), Welsh (172), Roan Tustin (189) and Eli Makel (215) will be wrestling.
The rest of the lineup should include Floyd Huff (107), Ky Szewczyk (114), the coach’s son, Albert Medlen or Luke Rush (121), Xavier Harman (127), Joe Simone (133) and Daniel Huffman (139).
“There’s going to be an important stretch from Daniel Huffman at 139,” said Szewczyk. “It’s going to be important to get him going and get him some momentum early in the season. He definitely has some potential.
“Nate Jones is another one. He had a great year last year. He’s a senior and has been in a lot of matches, and another one is Jake Stephenson. I would say those three weights will be key. That’s for sure.”
Jones is coming off shoulder surgery and Ky Szewczyk is recovering from knee surgery. Kyle Szewczyk said the two were given releases from their doctors on the same day.
The two wrestlers who will draw the most attention are Welsh, who finished runner-up in Hershey twice before dominating last year, and Church, who is looking for his third straight gold medal.
“You have to keep them motivated in the room,” Szewczyk said. “Mac has gotten big enough to work out with Rocco. They understand how dual meets work. Other teams are there to win, not impress the crowd.
“If they get a backup, it is what it is. You do your part and get as many points as you can. Sometimes that’s a forfeit. That comes with the territory of the dual meet structure. Being returning state champions and No. 1 in the country, those things happen.”