Return to the top: Connellsville battles its way to 8th WPIAL wrestling title and first since 2008
McMURRAY 无毛视频� The wait for eight is over.
Connellsville无毛视频檚 wrestling team had been sitting on seven WPIAL titles since 2008, but ended that drought Saturday at Peters Township High School无毛视频檚 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.
无毛视频淓verybody did their part,无毛视频� said Connellsville junior Lonzy Vielma, who recorded a pin in both matches to help propel his team to the title. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 really proud of the team无毛视频檚 overall effort.无毛视频�
无毛视频淲e knew it was going to be a battle,无毛视频� Falcons coach Bill Swink said. 无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檙e both quality programs. Both have a lot of history and are well coached.无毛视频�
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.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 good to get over the hump,无毛视频� said a joyous Vielma.
Vielma无毛视频檚 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无毛视频� Thomas Allison of junior Kolten Turek in 4:52 at 152.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 hard to wrestle someone when they无毛视频檙e not really wrestling back, but I was able to get the pin and get the momentum back,无毛视频� Vielma said.
Nicholas Rohal, the Falcons无毛视频� 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.
无毛视频淚 definitely didn无毛视频檛 want to give up there,无毛视频� Rohal said. 无毛视频淚 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.无毛视频�
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无毛视频檛 finish when he suffered a first-period nosebleed.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檝e never had a nosebleed before,无毛视频� Rohal said. 无毛视频淲e headbutted and then it just started pouring out after that.无毛视频�
The gutsy performance is one Rohal admitted he无毛视频檒l never forget.
无毛视频淚t really does feel phenomenal doing that, knowing it无毛视频檚 my last year,无毛视频� Rohal said.
Rohal无毛视频檚 win gave Connellsville a 21-16 lead, but the Hillers (11-1) rallied to go up 26-21 after Bodie Morgan无毛视频檚 pin of sophomore Cooper Lembo in 3:07 at 189 and Robbie Allison无毛视频檚 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.
无毛视频淲e thought we could do what we did in the third period the whole time and we didn无毛视频檛 get it going,无毛视频� Swink said. 无毛视频淚 was glad he started that, went with his underhooks and was able to score out of them.
无毛视频淩ohal无毛视频檚 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无毛视频檚 what we did.无毛视频�
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无毛视频檚 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.
无毛视频淲hen he took the injury time (with 1:17 left) I told him just finish the match,无毛视频� Swink said. 无毛视频淲e felt good about 107 and 114. We wanted to get bonus points in one of them.无毛视频�
Connellsville forfeited the final bout at 121 to set the final score.
无毛视频淜nowing you came so close hurts,无毛视频� Trinity coach Ron Tarquinio said. 无毛视频淲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.无毛视频�
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.
无毛视频淜ai is a different kid. He grinds everyday and he never gets rattled,无毛视频� Swink said. 无毛视频淎s long as he keeps doing that he无毛视频檒l keep progressing.无毛视频�
Connellsville didn无毛视频檛 have its usual flexibility in the lighter weights with sophomore Landon Lynn out of action.
无毛视频淟andon Lynn, who has been our 114-pounder, has a concussion,无毛视频� Swink explained. 无毛视频淗e is cleared Monday to go, but he wasn无毛视频檛 cleared today.无毛视频�
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.
无毛视频淪ometimes you need a loss. We were flat that day. We didn无毛视频檛 come out with much energy,无毛视频� Swink said. 无毛视频淭he three things we talk about are effort, energy and attitude. When one of them is not there you usually don无毛视频檛 have a good day.无毛视频�
When asked if he was going to celebrate his team无毛视频檚 WPIAL championship, Swink said, 无毛视频淣ot much celebration. Go have some dinner tonight and start getting ready for Hershey.无毛视频�
As for how he is approaching the upcoming state tournament, Swink added, 无毛视频淗ave three good days of practice, travel out there and keep doing what we无毛视频檙e doing, and hopefully get a little more healthier.无毛视频�
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无毛视频檚 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无毛视频檚 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无毛视频檚 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无毛视频檚 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.