As the 2023-2024 wrestling season approaches, Canon McMillan looks to build off stellar performances on the boys and girls side. ‘22-23 ended with a girl’s state championship and a boy’s team that won the WPIAL en route to a fourth place PIAA finish. We say goodbye and good luck to some seniors and welcome upcoming stars. We have to be excited for the potential of the boy’s team and hopeful for the first PIAA sanctioned season for the girl’s side.

Before the season has begun, we’ve already had two commitments to collegiate wrestling programs. Andrew Binni has signed to continue with the Naval Academy. Valarie Solorio has signed to continue with perennial powerhouse, Iowa.

We can look for last year’s seniors on the mat for Cornell (Matthew Furman), W&J (Brandon Dami), Edinboro (Gabe Stafford), Davis & Elkins (Luke Shaffer), University of the Cumberlands (Grace Elliot), and East Stroudsburg (Madison Mansmann). You can still find past graduates on the mat as well. Gerrit Nijenhuis will complete with Oklahoma. Jacob Houpt is with Kent State. Ezzie Schaub grapples at Slippery Rock. Jacob Gardner will tussle for Seton Hill..

The Off-Season

The wrestlers stayed busy through the season. Some made their marks in other sports while others continued with on the mat activities. Many took to the Fargo Junior Nationals to test their skills. Bailey Emery, Collier Hartman, Grace O’Korn, Ryder Joseph, Andrew Binni, Natalie Rush and Valerie Solorio all competed at the Nationals.  While all were able to secure at least one victory, Val was able to secure second place. Val continued on to compete at the U20 World Team Trials where an injury forced her to default out. She was able to secure enough victories to get eighth place. Natalie Rush competed at the NHSCA National Duals where she competed with Ranger Pride Wrestling. The team was able to gather second place while Natalie compiled a 4-3 record. Andrew Binni also competed in those duals for team TNWC Silver Fox where he went 7-1. Andrew Binni also wrestled at the PAUSAW FS State Championships taking second. Grace O’Korn wrestled to 3rd place at those Freestyle State Championships. Collier Hartman went to the Greco-Roman side and took first place. Andrew Binni even took his work to the Clarion Open where he was able to go 1-2. And these are just some of the off-season accomplishments of our wrestlers.

A Look Ahead

The girls team will be participating in the first PIAA sanctioned season on the heals of winning an unsanctioned state championship. The team is led by returning state champion and senior, Valarie Solorio. She will be competing to become the first sanctioned PIAA girls state champion. Also returning are other state place winners with Natalie Rush, Dynisty Williams, and Audrey Calgaro. Others that return that were able to place at the Western Regional tournament include Paige Ward, Grace O’Korn, Leilani Ramos, Capri Chambers, and Sienna VanBalen. With the official sanction, there will be more structure to the girls meets this year with 13 weight classes to fill. We will have to wait to see how the roster fills and the weights shake out, but there is much hope for this season as they look to repeat their championship performance from last year.

The boys team is looking to build on last year’s successes. The group will be led by returning PIAA runner-up Andrew Binni and returning WPIAL champion Tanner Mizenko. Also returning is Geno Calgaro who placed at WPIAL, Collier Hartman, Ryder Joseph, Mason Williams, and Blake Ward all who placed in the sectionals. There are a few large gaps to fill with the losses of Brandon Dami, Gabe Stafford and PIAA runner-up Matt Furman. But with an influx moving up from the middle school team, there is definitely someone that will take control of each weight class. While the ones mentioned already will be looked to for leadership, there is plenty of space for someone to make a new name for themselves. Andrew Binni is on the cusp of 100 wins while currently sitting at 98. Tanner Mizenko has a long chance at 100 wins while currently at 70. Geno Calgaro will be setting his sights on 50 wins sometime this season.

The coaching

Behind the bench, Canon McMillan will be headed once again by Brian Krenzelak. Or, how many to refer to him as “Coach Slack”. After a year in which he was named WPIAL AAA Coach of the Year, he’ll look to not only build off of the WPIAL championship and solid PIAA showing for the boys, but also lead the girls to a potential first PIAA state championship. He’s surrounded himself with a great coaching staff that are returning from last year. Albert Miles was at once a fellow CM wrestler who continued on to gather a Division II NCAA National Championship. Jurdon Maier was named as the Section 6 Assistant Coach of the Year and is also a CM wrestling alumni. Mark Powell, after a stellar wrestling career in which he finished as the second most winning wrestler in Trinity history at the time, also has prior head coaching experience with Trinity. Cody Klempay is a CM alumni wrestler that won two state championships. Dave Gump and Ron Totterdale and Dave Gump are also CM alumni wrestlers. Sheila Mitchell also touts being a volleyball coach for CM.

The middle school team lost AJ Williams this season. He had a 13 year coaching tenure with Canon McMillan while leading the middle school team for the last two seasons. He will move onto an assistant varsity position with Chartier-Houston. We wish him all the best with his chance at our AA neighbors.

We will welcome in a new face to Canon McMillan coaching, Jason Carpetta. This will by no means be Jason’s first coaching experience. He has coached Fort Cherry to two WPIAL titles at the High School level. He last coached for Peters Township High School and had amassed nearly 200 wins coaching at the high school level. The middle school will keep Blaze Kansco and Ian Binotto from last year that are CM wrestling alumni. To add to the group, Brad Neu and Nick Konyk are also CM wrestling alumni.