We are the champions: Waynesburg routs CD to claim PIAA team title
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 wrestling team celebrates after winning the PIAA Class AAA Team Tournament championship Saturday at Cumberland Valley High School. (Photo by Joe Tuscano)
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Wyatt Henson tries to pull Josh Miller of Central Dauphin back onto the mat Saturday in the PIAA Class AAA Team Tournament at Cumberland Valley High School. (Photo by Joe Tuscano)
Joe Tuscano
The Waynesburg Central bench cheers on its team Saturday in the PIAA Class AAA Team Tournament at Cumberland Valley High School.
HARRISBURG 鈥� It was the most entertaining blowout in this wrestling postseason.
And with it, maybe a new rivalry was hatched.
Waynesburg Central High School wrapped up the PIAA Class 3A Team Tournament title with a convincing 42-3 drubbing of Central Dauphin in the finals at Cumberland Valley High School Saturday.
Central Dauphin brought in a 19-0 record and couldn鈥檛 get on the scoreboard until the 11th match.
But to say it was a blowout and bad dual meet to watch would not be giving it the credit it was due.
鈥淭hat was one of the loudest crowds we wrestled in front of all season,鈥� said Waynesburg head coach Joe Throckmorton. 鈥淭his was our last check mark. I鈥檝e been saying it all year after last year鈥檚 loss in the finals. I knew it was going to be our goal a half hour after the match was over.鈥�
The Raiders earned a spot in the finals with a workmanlike 50-13 victory over Williamsport in the semifinals.
鈥淭his is huge for the program,鈥� said Cole Homet, who won a 5-3 decision over Josh Miller at 138 pounds. 鈥淲e only gave up three points. These are my brothers here and I like being with them.鈥�
Waynesburg held Central Dauphin鈥檚 heart of the lineup to zero points. But that didn鈥檛 mean the bouts were overwhelming.
Mac Church arguably got the fans riled up after beating Matt Repos 2-1 at 126 pounds. The winning point came on a technical violation for Repos fleeing the mat. The call brought boos from the fans, who reacted to every call after that.
Church didn鈥檛 help matters when he posed towards the Central Dauphin side of the gym after he won the match.
鈥淚t got a little chippy out there,鈥� said Central Dauphin head coach Jeff Sweigart, whose team befell the same fate wrestling Canon-McMillan in 2012 and 2013. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 wrestling. No one likes to lose.鈥�
The Church win seemed to stir both crowds, who then took it out on the referees. Each questionable call after that brought coaches out of their seats and fans to their feet.
On a number of occasions, Throckmorton had to admonish his team when they left their seats. But he did it with a smile on his face.
鈥淭his shows how resilient we are,鈥� said Throckmorton. 鈥淭hey are always figuring out ways to win.鈥�
Colton Stoneking had a big pin that gave the Raiders a 19-0 lead. He stuck Michael Beers in 5:59.
That paved the way for Homet鈥檚 decision over Miller and two-time state champion Wyatt Henson鈥檚 14-5 major decision over Ryan Garvick at 145 pounds. That gave Waynesburg a 22-0 lead.
Rocco Welsh made it 26-0 with a 17-7 victory over Bryce Buckman.
鈥淚 feel that we should have had some more,鈥� said Welsh of Waynesburg鈥檚 unsuccessful trip to the team finals last year. 鈥淲e should have more before me and Mac leave.鈥�
Nate Stephenson followed Welsh鈥檚 win with a 6-0 decision over Wade McClune and Luca Augustine put the dual meet out of reach with a 25-10 technical fall over Ethan Pae in 5:58.
Afterwards, Augustine ended up with the first-place trophy. Safe to say it was in good hands. Besides, there wasn鈥檛 a boat or lake to toss it over.
鈥淪omeone just handed it to me and I kept it,鈥� said Augustine, who won his first PIAA individual title two weeks ago in Hershey.
鈥淚 think we all went with the flow with this match. They started with a lot of energy and we tried to make that up.鈥�
Heavyweight Ryan Howard showed a lot of emotion after a 4-1 victory over Ben Stewart. Howard, after being declared the winner, rushed to the sidelines and hoisted Throckmorton into the air.
鈥淭his means everything to me,鈥� said Howard. 鈥淚t makes all the work I did worth it. It鈥檚 a good way to end my high school career. They wanted to win but we wanted to win. We wanted it a little bit more.鈥�
Semifinal
Waynesburg 50, Williamsport 13: Williamsport was able to do to Waynesburg what no other team had done to the Raiders all postseason.
Take a lead.
When Cael Nasdeo decisioned Ky Szeweczyk to start the match at 106, Williamsport held a 3-0 lead.
It would be the only good thing to happen to the Millionaires the rest of the way.
Waynesburg got four pins and a technical fall to go along with a forfeit at 126 pounds to state champion Mac Church for a 50-13 rout of Williamsport in the semifinals of the PIAA Class 3A Team Tournament at Cumberland Valley High School.
Joe Simon (113), Nate Stephenson (160), Eli Makel (189) and Noah Tustin (215) each had a pin. Luca Augustine (172) won by technical fall.