How did the season go?

The boys had a tough pack to follow after the WPIAL championship last season. It seemed that the injuries kept knocking them down. After a strong start to the season, the team dropped 5 of their last 8 Duals to finish the season at a 6 - 5 mark. This includes a trip to the Virginia Duals where they went 1 - 3 enroute to an 8th place finish but saw Geno Calgaro named the Outstanding Wrestler. After dropping duals to Baldwin and Bethel Park, there was still hope to make the WPIAL team tournament. Going into the Peters Township dual, they needed to win eight matches on the night. They could muster only seven bout victories and missed out on the team tournament.

The girls continued their brilliant defense of their state title by going 6 -1 since our last update. This includes a first place showing at the Cumberland Valley Girls Duals. The only loss came against Olentangy Orange High School of Ohio. The Lady Macs hit the PA rankings as the #1 team with eight wrestlers individually ranked at the state level. Valarie Solorio and Natalie Rush have even been honored in with national rankings. The PIAA has yet to sanction a girls team tournament for this group to be able to prove their team prowess.

At the middle school, the boys had an impressive undefeated season. They outscored opposing teams 451 - 127 over their 7 - 0 dual season. Over the time since the last update, team team took second at TRICADA, Bellefonte and Monroeville Junior High tournaments. As with the girls, there is no team championship at the Junior High level.

What’s up next?

Everyone is heading to their respective individual post season tournaments. The Junior High boys head to the Southwest Regional Tournament at Kiski. This tournament will be the last sanctioned event for these guys. However, many will continue on to the PJW and Keystone state level qualifiers and championships. The Lady Macs will start at the WPIAL Championships in North Allegheny. The top 6 will continue on to the PIAA West Regional tournament at Canon-McMillan and further the top 4 there onto the PIAA state tournament in Hershey. The high school boys will start at WPIAL District 7 sectional tournament at South Fayette where the top 6 will move onto the WPIAL Championship at Canon-McMillan. Like the girls side, the top 4 from the WPIAL Championships will move onto the PIAA state tournament at Hershey. You can find the full schedule for the championship tournaments here.

What about our collegiate level?

Gerrit Nijenhuis has recently cut back to down 165 and made a triumphant return to the Oklahoma starting lineup. Also, Jacob Gardner has had recent success for Seton Hill at 141. Finally, Grace Elliot is blazing a path at 109 for the University of the Cumberlands. She has rocketed to #9 in the most recent NAIA rankings. She was able to secure 3rd at the Warrior Women’s Open and had two of her matches featured as must see wrestling. Many teams are wrapping their dual seasons and we can check back with them after their respective post-season tournaments.

Recognizing the greats

Canon McMillan has been honored by the WPIAL Hall of Fame by including the 2011-2012 wrestling team in the class of 2024. The team, led by coach Chris Mary, crowned one state champion, eight total state place winners, and four WPIAL Champions. They also were able to gather the PIAA team state championship.