Mar 5, 2023 4 min read

Mac Church and Rocco Welsh joined an exclusive group of Waynesburg High School wrestlers Saturday at the WPIAL Class 3A Tournament, held at Canon-McMillan High School.

The dynamic duo became the sixth and seventh wrestlers in Waynesburg’s rich history to wrestle in the WPIAL finals four consecutive years.

The other five Waynesburg wrestlers to reach that milestone are: James Conklin (1940-43), Matt Gusic (1941-44), Dale Murdock (1965-68), Gary McClure (1966-69) and Coleman Scott (2001-04).

Church, a 145-pound senior, won his third title in four years with an 8-3 win over West Allegheny’s Nico Taddy in the 160-pound final.

“It means a lot to be a three-time champ, but I’m never satisfied with what I do,” Church said. “I’m really looking forward to the state tournament.”

Church won his first title as a 106-pound freshman, placed second as a 120-pound sophomore, then won again as a 132-pound junior.

Welsh, a 172-pound senior, won by default when his title bout with Canon-McMillan’s Matthew Furman ended midway through the second period. Welsh was dominating and had a 12-3 lead at the time.

“The bout was getting a little emotional out there, so I decided to default the bout,” Canon-McMillan coach Bryan Krenzelak said. “(Furman) had a misconduct call earlier in the tournament and I didn’t want to take a chance.”

Welsh placed second in the WPIAL at 126 and 152 in his first two title match appearances. He’s since won back-to-back titles at 172.

“I’m really excited about winning my second title,” said Welsh, looking back at his previous appearances in the finals. “It didn’t start as well as I had hoped (placing second twice), but it ended well. It’ feels good to end on top.”

Church and Welsh were joined in the finals by two Waynesburg teammates – Eli Makel and Brody Evans.

Makel, a senior, claimed the 215-pound title with a 5-1 win over Connor Jacobs of Armstrong.

“I never placed at WPIAL’s. The goal was to win one. I never placed at states. The goal is to win there.”

Evans, also a senior, dropped a 5-1 decision to Pine-Richland’s Vaughn Spencer in the 189-pound final.

Waynesburg’s four finalists will be joined at at the Giant Center this weekend by Raiders senior Nate Jones, who qualified by placing fourth at 152 pounds.

Furman is one of three Canon-McMillan wrestlers who earned a trip to the PIAA Championships, which begins Thursday.

Tanner Mizenko won a title for the Big Macs, while Andrew Binni placed.

Mizenko opended the finals in style by pinning Butler’s Santion Sloboda at 2:39 of the first period in the 107-pound final.

“There’s nothing more than I wanted,” said Mizenko, referring to the gold medal he was wearing. “I worked for it all year. Worked for it my entire lift. It’s pretty amazing to get it done.”

Binni dropped a 10-4 decision to Latrobe’s Vinny Kilkeary in the 127-pound final. It was the fourth title appearance and third title for Kilkeary.

Trinity had a pair of top-four finishers.

Heavyweight Ty Banco ended the finals in style with a pin in 39 seconds of Penn-Trafford’s Joe Enick.

“This is something I’ve wanted since I began wrestling,” Banco said. “It’s great to finally win the title. And I get a chance to wrestle at Hershey again.”

Banco will be making his second trip to Hershey. He placed third in the WPIAL at 215 pounds in 2021. Last year, he fell one win short of qualifying by finishing fifth at heavyweight.

Hillers teammate Blake Reihner will also be making his second trip to Hershey after placing third at 139 pounds.

Other area wrestlers who qualified for the PIAA tournament by finishing among the top four in their weight class are: Peters Township’s Chris Cibrone (3rd at 145) and Ringgold’s Jake Conroy (4th at 189).