Dec 29, 2023 By Jonathan Guth 3 min read

CANONSBURG – Wrestling in front of family and friends, Andrew Binni carried the flag for not only Canon-McMillan, but for the counties of Washington and Greene as the lone area quarterfinalist Friday night in the 56th edition of the Powerade Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School.

Binni provided some fireworks in his bout against Colin Martin of Stauntion River, Va., with a pin in 3:15 after getting in on several shots but not being able to get the takedown. The match was scoreless when the referee slapped the mat for the fall and Binni celebrated to an ovation from the home crowd before running into the arms of assistant coach Mark Powell.

Binni has assured himself of no less than sixth place on the medal stand.

“I know I am going to medal, but that’s not the goal,” Binni said. “The goal is to win the Powerade tournament. That’s been my goal since I was a little kid.”

Binni also avenged a 3-1 setback to Martin in the Ironman Tournament on Dec. 9.

“He (Martin) is a great wrestler and I respect him,” Binni said. “I had a good match with him at Ironman, and after that match, I knew what I needed to work on, which was stalking and getting to my shots. We even worked on that stuff today. It is all about hard work and humility.

“I was getting to my doubles and he was locking me up, but I just kept pushing the pace. We are not tired in the third period at Canon-Mac.”

Binni, who was seventh last year and fifth as a freshman at Powerade, recorded a fall over Hempfield’s Jacob Halsted in 3:05 in the round of 32 before edging Luke Satriano of Valley Central, N.Y., to advance to the quarterfinals.

“I didn’t wrestle the way I should have in that round of 32 match,” Binni said. “After that match, I immediately came down with Coach Powell. We went over the film immediately and talked about what we did wrong and how we can correct that to score as many points as possible.”

The senior and Naval Academy recruit wrestles Bishop McCort’s Jax Forrest in the semifinals Saturday morning at 11. Forrest won Powerade last season and is the No. 1 seed at 127 pounds.

“I hope I am wrestling him (Forrest),” said Binni prior to Forrest wrestling in the quarterfinals. “He is the top seed, but seeds don’t matter, and to be the best, you have to beat the best.”

Binni, who placed second in last year’s state tournament, has been wrestling in the top tournaments the first month of the season, as he was eighth at Ironman and won the King of the Mountain tournament.

The rest of the Big Macs weren’t as fortunate as Binni, as teammates Collier Hartman (121) and Josiah Gardner (145) lost in the fourth round of consolations.

Canon-McMillan’s Ryder Joseph was 2-2 at 133 and Brayden Collins won a match at 172.

Wyoming Seminary leads the team standings with 142 points. St. Edward (Ohio) is second with 123.5 points and Malvern Prep (121) is in third.

Connellsville leads the WPIAL in the team standings with 66.5 points and is in a tie for 13th place.