Feb 20, 2018 3 min read

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Name: John Vargo

School: Bentworth

Class: Junior

Sport: Wrestling:

Vargo’s week: Vargo allowed just one bout point in winning the 182-pound weight class of the WPIAL Class AA Championships at Canon-McMillan High School over the weekend.

Vargo entered the tournament as the top seed in the weight class and began his run with a 17-1 technical fall over Joe Bastaroli of South Fayette. He followed that with a 6-0 decision over Ricky Feroce of Burrell in the semifinals and won the title with a 1-0 shutout of Luke Shingle of McGuffey.

With his finish, Vargo qualified for the PIAA Class AA Southwest Region Tournament at Indiana University for the second straight season. Last season, Vargo finished fifth in the WPIAL.

“I just take it one match at a time, every match I wrestle,” said Vargo of the pressure of being the top seed in the weight class. “It doesn’t matter your seed or where you’re ranked. You have to wrestle hard every time.”

Vargo chalked up his second consecutive win over Shingle in as many days. Vargo won a 5-1 decision over Shingle in the Section 2-AA Tournament.

The door to the WPIAL title was left open when Dominck Fundy of Beth-Center was forced to pull out because of injury to his hand sustained two weeks before the tournament. Fundy was a state runner-up at 182 last season and would have been the overwhelming favorite in the weight class if healthy.

An early start: When the school announcements over the public address system said applications were available for anyone interested in competing in wrestling, Vargo decided to go down and retrieve one.

He took it home with him and showed it to his father. Vargo was in kindergarten at the time.

“I’ve wrestled ever since,” he said. “I like the grind of the sport and how you have to keep your body in physical shape. I like the way you can beat on people.”

Bentworth head coach Mike Shrader said one of the keys to Vargo’s success is his aggressiveness.

“He’s a goer,” Shrader said. “He continues to push the pace. He’s not content to just lead. If he can score points on you, he will continue to do so.”