Return to the top: Connellsville battles its way to 8th WPIAL wrestling title and first since 2008
McMURRAY 鈥� The wait for eight is over.
Connellsville鈥檚 wrestling team had been sitting on seven WPIAL titles since 2008, but ended that drought Saturday at Peters Township High School鈥檚 AHN Arena.
The Falcons downed two previously unbeaten teams in Franklin Regional, 31-28, in the semifinals, and Trinity, 33-32, in the final, to earn their eighth WPIAL Class AAA championship trophy.
鈥淓verybody did their part,鈥� said Connellsville junior Lonzy Vielma, who recorded a pin in both matches to help propel his team to the title. 鈥淚鈥檓 really proud of the team鈥檚 overall effort.鈥�
鈥淲e knew it was going to be a battle,鈥� Falcons coach Bill Swink said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e both quality programs. Both have a lot of history and are well coached.鈥�
Falcons freshman Nolan Rice provided the clinching points in both victories.
Connellsville (13-2) advances to the PIAA tournament in Hershey with its opening match set for Thursday. Mount Pleasant also qualified for the state tournament in Class AA.
The Falcons had come close to the elusive eighth title the past two years, finishing as runner-up in 2022 and fourth in 2023.
鈥淚t鈥檚 good to get over the hump,鈥� said a joyous Vielma.
Vielma鈥檚 pin of Jackson Burckner in the 160-pound bout against Trinity, which came at 3:09 after he built a 12-3 advantage, gave Connellsville an 18-16 lead following a pin by the Hillers鈥� Thomas Allison of junior Kolten Turek in 4:52 at 152.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to wrestle someone when they鈥檙e not really wrestling back, but I was able to get the pin and get the momentum back,鈥� Vielma said.
Nicholas Rohal, the Falcons鈥� lone senior, then stepped up to record a key win at 172.
Rohal trailed 2-0 before recording a takedown of Cael Nicolella in the final seconds to knot the score and force overtime.
鈥淚 definitely didn鈥檛 want to give up there,鈥� Rohal said. 鈥淚 kept looking over to my coaches. They were all pointing to their hearts, and I knew I needed to push it, push it, push it.鈥�
In sudden victory, Rohal got around Nicolella for the winning two points to secure a 4-2 win and three precious points in a bout he almost couldn鈥檛 finish when he suffered a first-period nosebleed.
鈥淚鈥檝e never had a nosebleed before,鈥� Rohal said. 鈥淲e headbutted and then it just started pouring out after that.鈥�
The gutsy performance is one Rohal admitted he鈥檒l never forget.
鈥淚t really does feel phenomenal doing that, knowing it鈥檚 my last year,鈥� Rohal said.
Rohal鈥檚 win gave Connellsville a 21-16 lead, but the Hillers (11-1) rallied to go up 26-21 after Bodie Morgan鈥檚 pin of sophomore Cooper Lembo in 3:07 at 189 and Robbie Allison鈥檚 11-1 major decision over junior Chris Cook at 215.
In another important bout, junior Tyler Gallis fought off Jase Banco for a 7-3 decision at 285 to pull Connellsville within two. The match was tied 2-2 after two periods, but Gallis seized control in the final two minutes.
鈥淲e thought we could do what we did in the third period the whole time and we didn鈥檛 get it going,鈥� Swink said. 鈥淚 was glad he started that, went with his underhooks and was able to score out of them.
鈥淩ohal鈥檚 match was big. We knew when we lost the toss they were going to bump their whole lineup at the top there. We were hoping we could get two of those matches from 172 to heavyweight (285) and that鈥檚 what we did.鈥�
Freshman Tommy Gretz put the Falcons ahead to stay with a pin of Mickey Horne at 107. Gretz fashioned leads of 4-1 after one period, 8-2 after two and pushed his advantage up to 10-3 before finally recording the fall at 4:33 to make it 30-26.
Connellsville needed a win by Rice at 114 against Jacob Wright, Trinity鈥檚 hero in its 27-26 semifinal victory over Bethel Park with a decision in the final bout, to wrap up the title.
Rice delivered, building leads of 5-0 and 7-2 before an injury timeout was called while he was up 7-3 with 1:17 left. Rice hung on for a 7-4 decision and the Falcons had the title.
鈥淲hen he took the injury time (with 1:17 left) I told him just finish the match,鈥� Swink said. 鈥淲e felt good about 107 and 114. We wanted to get bonus points in one of them.鈥�
Connellsville forfeited the final bout at 121 to set the final score.
鈥淜nowing you came so close hurts,鈥� Trinity coach Ron Tarquinio said. 鈥淲e had one match go a different way or we would have wrestled that match rather than get a forfeit. Everyone is disappointed and they should be because our goal is first place. But, we get to move on and experience another week as a team.鈥�
The teams split the first four bouts which led to a 12-10 Connellsville lead.
Trinity got a pin by Zane Garner over freshman Chase Sparks in 5:15 at 127 and a 15-5 major decision by Blake Reihner over junior Julian Ruggieri at 139.
The Falcons got pins by freshman Kai Vielma, over Devin Junko in 1:26 at 133, and junior Evan Petrovich, over Luke Poland in 2:32 at 145.
Swink commended Vielma, who also won a key 4-2 decision over Franklin Regional 2023 PIAA medalist Tyler Kapusta in the semifinals.
鈥淜ai is a different kid. He grinds everyday and he never gets rattled,鈥� Swink said. 鈥淎s long as he keeps doing that he鈥檒l keep progressing.鈥�
Connellsville didn鈥檛 have its usual flexibility in the lighter weights with sophomore Landon Lynn out of action.
鈥淟andon Lynn, who has been our 114-pounder, has a concussion,鈥� Swink explained. 鈥淗e is cleared Monday to go, but he wasn鈥檛 cleared today.鈥�
Swink looked back on a 28-25 loss at North Allegheny on Jan. 13 in the Connellsville Duals tournament as a possible turning point for the Falcons.
鈥淪ometimes you need a loss. We were flat that day. We didn鈥檛 come out with much energy,鈥� Swink said. 鈥淭he three things we talk about are effort, energy and attitude. When one of them is not there you usually don鈥檛 have a good day.鈥�
When asked if he was going to celebrate his team鈥檚 WPIAL championship, Swink said, 鈥淣ot much celebration. Go have some dinner tonight and start getting ready for Hershey.鈥�
As for how he is approaching the upcoming state tournament, Swink added, 鈥淗ave three good days of practice, travel out there and keep doing what we鈥檙e doing, and hopefully get a little more healthier.鈥�
Franklin Regional (19-1) earned the third seed in Class AAA with a 28-27 win over Bethel Park in the third-place consolation match. Only the top three advance to the state tournament in Class AAA.
Trinity trailed its semifinal match with Bethel Park, 26-23, heading into the final bout which Wright won on a 5-2 decision over Pierce Reinhart at 114, giving the Hillers the win on the tiebreaker of most matches won.
The Falcons defeated Franklin Regional, 31-28, in the semifinals with Rice鈥檚 5-2 decision over Titus Colangelo at 107 giving Connellsville an insurmountable 31-22 lead in the penultimate match.
The Falcons racked up 18 points on falls by Zachary Franks, over Sam Nassif in 2:42 at 121, Ruggieri, over Nico Samic in 5:12 at 139, and Lonzy Vielma, over Jordan Perks in 54 seconds at 160.
Petrovich earned a 14-1 major decision over Cohen Buccicone at 145, and Connellsville also got the 4-2 decision by Kai Vielma over Kapusta at 133 and a 4-1 decision by Gallis over Elisua Daugherty at 285. The Falcons forfeited the final match at 114 after clinching the victory.
Mount Pleasant, under first-year head coach Tommy Dolde, had already earned its spot in the PIAA tournament with a 37-31 win at Derry on Jan. 31 to advance to Saturday鈥檚 final four.
The Vikings (12-4), who finished first in Section 2-AA, will enter the state tournament as the fourth seed after falling to top-seeded Burgettstown in the semifinals, 56-15, and to Quaker Valley, 42-28, in the third-placed consolation match.
Mount Pleasant will wrestle in a PIAA preliminary round bout Monday at Fort LeBoeuf, the District 10 runner-up.
Mount Pleasant鈥檚 15 points against the Blue Devils came on pins by Jamison Poklembo, over Billy Seibel in 41 seconds at 145, and Greg Shaulis, over Jason Murray in 47 seconds at 152, and Dylan Pitzer鈥檚 6-0 decision over Joseph Baronick at 285.
Shaulis and Pitzer also won their matches against Quaker Valley, both by fall, while Poklembo (145) along with Stephen Predajna (160) won by forfeit. Shaulis pinned Jack Diemert in 1:44 at 152 and Pitzer pinned Chase Kretzler in 59 seconds at 285 to up his record to 30-0 on the season.
The Vikings other four points in the consolation bout came from Tristan Wtorkiewicz with a 15-6 major decision over Eoin Parnell at 127.