Canon-McMillan handles new-look Waynesburg
WAYNESBURG – Waynesburg wrestling is working to replace four state medalists, including two two-time state champions, but Raiders coach Kyle Szewczyk isn’t ready to throw the towel in.
“The guys competed well, for sure,” Szewczyk said. “That’s really all you can do is battle every match. We have Roan Tustin, who is out with a major injury, but we are hoping to get him back. I know they had some guys out of their lineup as well. We went to an individual pool tournament this past weekend, and it was good to get that level of competition, plus some mat time for some of our younger guys.”
The Raiders, who finished second to Canon-McMillan in the WPIAL Class 3A team tournament last year to snap a three-year championship run, are wrestling this season without Rocco Welsh and Mac Church, who graduated this past May after winning two state titles; Brody Evans, who was third in the state last season; and Eli Makel, who placed fourth at states.
State qualifier Nate Jones has also graduated.
Despite having to replace five key pieces in its lineup, Waynesburg is still ready to battle, which was the case Wednesday night in a 46-29 setback to Canon-McMillan in non-section action.
“I told some people in the preseason, if anyone overlooks Waynesburg, they’re mistaken,” Canon-McMillan coach Brian Krenzelak said. “They still have five or six guys that should be in the mix and can make a run this year. Once I saw the forfeits, I figured to play it safe tonight and have some of the young guys in.”
The Raiders (0-1) and Big Macs (1-0) split the 10 bouts contested with each team recording four pins. Waynesburg’s Joe Simon won by technical fall, 16-0, in 2:48 at 133 pounds, while Canon-McMillan’s Brayden Collins earned a 12-3 major decision at 172.
“Joe (Simon) has dealt with some injuries, and we hope he can last and get to the Joe Simon that we know he is,” Szewczyk said.
The Big Macs’ Andrew Binni, who was second in the state last year and finished eighth at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman tournament this past weekend, pinned Ky Szewczyk to start the dual meet at 127.
“We lost three key guys from last year who were seniors in (Brandon) Dami, (Gabriel) Stafford and (Matthew) Furman, but we got guys ready to step in,” Krenzelak said. “We had Brayden (Collins) step in at 172. You can see he’s pretty raw, but he will fine tune that. That was a big win for Andrew Binni tonight because he was 1-3 against Ky (Szewczyk) during their freshman year.”
Following Simon’s victory at 133, the Raiders’ Xavier Harmon won by fall in 52 seconds at 139 before Canon-McMillan’s Josiah Gardner recorded a fall in 2:59 at 145 for a 12-11 Big Macs’ advantage.
Daniel Huffman (152) and Brock Evans (160) earned back-to-back falls for the home team, who had a 23-12 lead with seven bouts remaining.
Following Collins’ major decision, the Raiders’ Jake Stephenson won by fall at 189 in 2:29 to push Waynesburg’s advantage to 29-16.
Forfeit victories for Geno Calgaro (215), Mason Williams (285) and Kevin Yu (107) provided Canon-McMillan with a 34-29 lead before Tanner Mizenko (114) and Collier Harman (121) finished the night for the Big Macs with back-to-back falls.