Dec 30, 2023 By Jonathan Guth 4 min read

CANONSBURG – Andrew Binni’s morning and evening didn’t go as planned, but he had a solid afternoon.

The Canon-McMillan senior dropped a 6-1 decision to Manuel Saldate of Slam Academy, Nev., to finish fourth in the 127-pound weight class Saturday night at Canon-McMillan High School in the 57th Annual Powerade Wrestling Tournament.

Binni lost in the semifinals to Bishop McCort sophomore Jax Forrest by technical fall, 21-6, in 2:46. Forrest went on to win his second Powerade gold and record the most pins in the tournament.

Binni, who is a Naval Academy recruit, rebounded from the loss to defeat Nathan Wood of Point Pleasant, W.Va., by decision, 7-4, in the consolation semifinals after recording three takedowns and escaping once.

“Jax Forrest is an unbelievable opponent, and he is that 1% that I want to get to,” Binni said. “I know going in that was going to be a tough one. After that, we just kind of said, ‘Move on to the next one.’ The day is not over. I got that win in the consolation semifinals, but in the fourth-place match, I didn’t wrestle the way I wanted to.”

Binni’s ultimate goal was to win a Powerade championship after finishing fifth as a freshman and seventh as a junior, but was proud of the accomplishment in placing three out of four years in a tournament that is ranked No. 2 in the country and first in the state by PA Power Wrestling.

“It is nice to see how big the tournament has grown since I was a kid,” Binni said. “It is definitely nice to get my name up there against some of the top guys in the nation, and the world, in some cases. It was definitely a good experience and I am glad to represent our area in this tournament. This is a tough tournament but it is a measuring stick.”

Binni was the only wrestler in the counties of Greene and Washington to place. He was the lone Big Mac to advance to the second day of competition.

“We go to Ironman and we come here to test ourselves against some of the best competition in the country,” Canon-McMillan coach Brian Krenzelak said. “Frank (Vulcano Jr.) is the No. 1 tournament director in the country. There is no doubt about that. He’s worked to get Powerade up there as the top tournament in the country, but we welcome that competition.

“Andrew (Binni) is headed to the Naval Academy to wrestle Division I, so these are the guys he’s going to be wrestling in D-I nationals. It is just a constant daily improvement, and that’s why we have the rigorous schedule we do. We want to prepare our kids for the future and their next steps in life, whatever that may be. We love this kind of stuff. We compete in this tournament to help our guys understand the type of opponents they are going to face when they get to the individual postseason tournaments.”

Bentworth had three wrestlers reach the blood round, as Drake McClure (114), Chris Vargo (127) and Vitali Daniels (189) came up short. McClure had to forfeit out of the tournament, while Vargo and Daniels lost by decision.

Fort Cherry’s Braedon Welsh (172) dropped a 7-0 decision in the blood round and Trinity’s Blake Reihner (139) was one victory shy of placing but lost in overtime. Waynesburg and West Greene also competed.

Wyoming Seminary won the team title with 229 points. St. Edward (Ohio) was second with 187.5 points and Malvern Prep (173) took third.

Norwin freshman Landon Sidun was the only WPIAL grappler to win a championship, as he earned a 6-1 decision over Notre Dame Green Pond’s Ayden Smith at 114. Sidun was rewarded as the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.