Glad to give back
Connellsville alumni assist in wrestling camp
It鈥檚 not every day four collegiate wrestlers, a current state champion and a state runner-up enter your wrestling room, but that is what those who participated in Connellsville鈥檚 Youth Wrestling Camp over a four-day period experienced at the TC Shallenberger Wrestling Center from July 13-16 on the campus of Connellsville Area High School.
The camp was for students in grades K-8 and Connellsville head varsity wrestling coach Bill Swink was the camp director.
Each day ran from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a break for lunch.
Swink welcomed back four of his former grapplers to lead the camp as clinicians in Jared Keslar, Chad Ozias, Evan Petrovich and Lonzy Vielma. Two current Falcons in seniors Tommy Gretz and Kai Vielma also assisted in teaching the sport to the younger generation.
Keslar, who won a state championship during Swink鈥檚 first year as head coach in 2022, is a member of the University of Pittsburgh wrestler team, where he has qualified for the national tournament the past two seasons.
Keslar was happy to come back to where his career started and helped out. He admitted to needing to take a step back when demonstrating technique because collegiate practices run at a rapid pace.
鈥淚鈥檓 always excited to come back and do this,鈥� Keslar said. 鈥淚 remember when I was in junior high or JOs, and Primo (Ashtin Primus) and all those guys came in and ran a camp similar to this. It was nice because we all looked up to those guys.
鈥淚t is kind of interesting in the way of teaching because you think you know how to do everything, but when you come and show it, you really have to break it down.鈥�
Obviously, youth practices run slower than high school, and at times, the objective is to make sure the kids stay engaged. There can also be a gap between experience and skill set, which Keslar and his fellow clinicians had to take into account.
鈥淲e just need to have some patience and take it one step at a time with the kids,鈥� Keslar said.
Lonzy Vielma graduated high school in 2025 after placing fifth as a junior and sixth as a senior in the state tournament. Vielma won one WPIAL championship and qualified for the PIAA Class 3A Individual Championships four times. He is currently on the roster at West Virginia University, but Keslar was glad to see his former teammate, even though they are now on rival squads.
鈥淲e have to tease the WVU guys a little bit,鈥� said Keslar while chuckling. 鈥淚t鈥檚 awesome to come back and see all these guys and Coach Swink. I don鈥檛 get to see Chad too much because he is wrestling at Pitt-Johnstown, so it was nice to talk to him. We are having some fun with it.鈥�
Petrovich also graduated from Connellsville in 2025 after finishing his career as a state runner-up. He placed third in the PIAA as a junior. Petrovich is a teammate of Keslar鈥檚 at Pitt.
Ozias and Keslar were high school teammates and graduated together in 2022. Ozias is currently a member of the Pitt-Johnstown wrestling team, where he was a national qualifier in 2025. Ozias placed eighth as a junior and seventh as a senior in the PIAA Class 3A tournament.
Kai Vielma won a state title this past season and has committed to continue his academic and wrestling careers at Stanford.
Gretz was second in the state last season and has committed to West Virginia University.
LAUREL HIGHLANDS HOLDS CAMP
Laurel Highlands held a camp at its wrestling room over a five-day period from July 13-17.
Garret Breakiron, a Laurel Highlands graduate who wrestled for West Virginia University, worked to bring in the Mountaineers鈥� Gunnar Andrick, Rune Lawrence, Luke Satriano and Ty Watters to run the camp.
Breakiron, a renowned chiropractor who founded Uniontown Chiropractic in 1984, has worked with the Laurel Highlands program since his graduation. He was the sole owner of Uniontown Chiropractic until 2017, as he turned over the practice to former Mustang wrestler Greg Hogan.
In addition to the WVU quartet, a number of local coaches and former wrestlers assisted in working with the campers.
Laurel Highland head wrestling coach James Harris, Justin Haines (former WVU wrestler), Ethan Kenney (three-time PIAA placewinner from Connellsville) and Hogan (All-American at Thiel College) trained the high school wrestlers.
Albert Gallatin graduates Landon Conroy and Shawn Gaster worked with the junior high students.
Harris was joined by former WVU wrestler Jett Strickenberger, Jason Burnsworth and Bill Cannon in teaching the elementary kids.
Recently hired Laurel Highlands head varsity wrestling coach Ian Edenfield, who not only excelled on the football field but was a two-time state medalist, stopped down to check on the camp and offer his expertise.