First Step of the Post Season
Junior High Check-in
Let’s kick off checking in on the first steps of the individual post-season with the Junior High team. They started their endevor with the District 7 Championships. For those not in the Junior High realm, this tournament is equivalent to a Junior High level WPIAL tournament. Team competed with a full roster of 15 wrestlers. Overall, the team finished in fifth place. They moved three into the finals and won two of those bouts. At 122, Aidan Finnigan found a new level in defeating Jake Lilley of Connellsville 6 -5. At 155, Bryce Collins reversed Chaney Lewis of Woodland Hills, held him to his back and overcame the ever electrifying flying squirrel to win 7 - 6. The last member in the finals was to be Dakota Carmona. However, he had to default out due to illness to collect second place. The replay of the finals can be found at the Westmoreland Sports Network here. Fighting back from semifinal losses for third place were Owen Rush at 210 and Mason Calgaro at 138. Working all the way back from a quarterfinal loss was Lee Dreshman at 101 for a fifth place finish. Also on the podium was Gionno Gardner at 115 with sixth place after he had to medically forfeit out from the consolation semifinals to the end. The final results can be found on Flo Arena.
After the hard fought weekend at the District 7 tournament, ten of the Junior High wrestlers took on the Keystone Southwest Regional Qualifier. Of those ten, seven wrestlers were able to qualify for the Keystone State Championships on March 15-17 in Reading, PA. The top qualifier is Lee Dreshmen, competing at 13 -14 97lbs, with a champion’s performance. Taking second place were Gionno Garder at 13 - 14 115lbs, Aidan Finnigan at 13-14 125lbs, and Bryce Collins at 13-14 160lbs. Third place finishers include Austin Smith at 13-14 185lbs, and Dakota Carmona at 15-16 250lbs. Lastly, qualifying with a sixth place finish is Isaac Hrelec at 13-14 77lbs. The full results for the qualifier can be found on Flo Arena.
That wasn’t all the Junior High team completed since our last update though. Eighteen of the team’s wrestlers took to the PJW Area IV State Qualifier tournament competing across the Jr High and 11-12 divisions. Of those eighteen wrestlers, eleven were able to qualify for the PJW State Championships. The Jr High division will wrestle on March 1-3 in Johnstown, PA. The 11-12 qualifiers will wrestle with the rest of the youth qualifiers on March 23-24 in Pittsburgh, PA. Champions at this qualifier were Lee Dreshman at Jr High 96lbs, Victor Moreau at 11-12 115lbs, Gionno Gardner at Jr High 117lbs, Aidan Finnigan at Jr High 124lbs, Bryce Collins at Jr High 157lbs, and Austin Smith at Jr High 192lbs. Falling in the finals were Mason Calgaro at Jr High 140lbs, Owen Rush at Jr High 212lbs, and Dakota Carmona at Jr High 252lbs. Taking the final qualifying spots for their age groups were Parker Kolarcik at 11-12 90lbs with a third place finish and Isaac Hrelec at Jr High 82lbs with a fourth place finish. The full results of the Area IV qualifier can be found on TrackWrestling.
Girls Varsity Check-in
The varsity girls took their first post-season step of defending and winning their first PIAA sanctioned state championship with the WPIAL Championship tournament. The girls were able to seat 11 of 12 wrestlers on the podium including three champions. Valarie Solorio became the first ever WPIAL girls champion with her dominate run of two falls and a tech fall in the finals at 100lbs. Capri Chambers followed that up by pinning her way through her 106lbs bracket to become the second WPIAL champion. Rounding out the champions for CM was Natalie Rush at 190lbs who also pinned her way through. These three marked the most WPIAL Champions for any school at the event. Coming just short of the champion mark with second place performances were Malia Ramos at 116lbs, and Audrey Calgaro at 170lbs. Finishing in third were Bailey Emery at 124lbs, and Dynisty Williams at 155lbs. In fourth place were Leilani Ramos at 130lbs and Eva Gray at 142lbs. The final place winner for the Lady Macs was Milly Williams at 136lbs with a fifth place performance. The final results for the WPIAL Championships can be found on Flo Arean or the WPIAL website. By placing at the WPIAL Championships these girls will move onto the Southwest Regional Championship on March 1-2 at Canon-McMillan High School where they will aim for a top 4 place there to advance onto the PIAA State Championships.
Not to be lost in the mix, there are some Junior High girls that practice with the varsity girls through the season. They competed at the Area IV qualifiers with the Junior High boys in the 11-12 girls and Jr High Girls divisions. They came out with four champions to move onto the PJW State Championships mentioned above. Those girls were Addie Saussol at 11-12 78lbs, Araceli Clem at Jr High 91lbs, Gianna Cafeo at 11-12 92lbs, and Farrah Henderson at 11-12 125lbs.
Boys Varsity/JV Check-in
First up, there were a few boys that still qualified for the Keystone 15-16 age group that wanted to continue wrestling into the post-season. Two were able to qualify for the Keystone State Championships. Skyler Badas at 195lbs was able to secure fifth place and Colton Sarles at 130lbs was able to take sixth place. They will continue onto Reading with the Junior High qualifiers mentioned above.
Otherwise, the varsity team took ten wrestlers to the WPIAL AAA Southern Sectional tournament. The top six from the sectional tournament were set to move onto the WPIAL AAA Championships to run concurrent with the Girls Southwest Regional Championship on March 1-2 at Canon-McMillan High School. The Big Macs were able to move five wrestlers onto the next level with four of those wrestling in the finals of the Sectional tournament. Two were successful in claiming thier section titles. Andrew Binni at 127lbs and Geno Calgaro at 215lbs were both champions and secured the top seed at the WPIAL Championships. Coming out with second place performances were Collier Hartman at 121lbs and Ryder Joseph at 139lbs. The final qualifier for the Big Macs was Brayden Collins at 172lbs with a fifth place showing.
CCNS Check-in
Let’s not forget about the future of our Big Mac program while we are talking about the post-season. The boys and girls in CCNS are blazing a new path of excellence with their hard work. They first competed in the Western Area Wrestling Association Championships where the team took first overall by a 27 point margin over Pine Richland with 209 points. The points were only tallied on the open divisions. Champions in the open divisions were CJ Dreshman at 12U 85lbs, Cameron Longstreth at 12U 90lbs, Gavin Ross at 12U 130lbs, Brooke Valentic at Girls 9U D5, Bri’Ella Collins at Girls 9U D7, Aleeya Dreshman at Girls 12U D2, Addie Saussol at Girls 12 D3, Gianni Cafeo at Girls 12U D5, Farrah Henderson at Girls 12U D7, and Noelle Miller at 12U D8. Those in second place were Carter Brett at 10U 90lbs, Luciano Francica at 12U 105lbs, Abigail Bueno-Bistarkey at Girls 9U D3, Isabella Beuno-Bistarkey at 9U D8, Ella Saussol at 12U D2, and Annabelle Bauman at 12U D6. Gathering third was Axel Frederick at 8U 55lbs, Mason Haught at 10U 55lbs, Kyle Studd at 10U 65lbs, Nolan Valentic at 10U 75lbs, and Cora Studd at Girls 9U D1. In fourth were Tanner Smith at 10U 85lbs, and Nora Terrell at Girls 9u D3. Earning fifth place was Neil Kirby at 12U 80lbs. Finally, in sixth place were Liam Harding at 10U 95lbs, Branson Shulsky at 10U 120lbs. and Ian Maentz at 12U 95lbs.
While not scored, CCNS had great showing with the novice divisions as well. First place finishers were Grayson Koons at 6U45lbs, Jon Taucher at 8U 65lbs, Mitchell Haught at 10U 60lbs, Jase Houpt at 10U 65lbs, Julian Smith at 10U 65lbs, Larenzo Gregory at 10U 85lbs, and Hunter Zimmerman at 12U HWT. Second place finishers were Emmeric Mathies at 8U 50lbs, Alex Solomon at 10U 70lbs, and Tucker Nale at 12U 95lbs. In third place were Logan Wellinger at 6U 55lbs, Mason Ronshausen at 8U 55lbs, and Abel Stoffella at 10U 85lbs. Lastly, in fourth were Grayson McKinney at 6U 60lbs, and Levi Dvorsak at 12U 130lbs.
After the league championship, 32 of the CCNS wrestlers tried their luck at the PJW Area IV Qualifier tournament. There were an astounding 20 of those wrestlers that qualified with the Jr High Boys and Girls that were already mentioned. Representing Canon-McMillan at the PJW State Championships as Area IV champions will be Cora Studd at Girls 8U 59lbs, Aleeya Dreshman at Girls 10U 70lbs, Bri’Ella Collins at Girls 10U 94lbs, Isabella Bueno-Bistarkey at Girls 10U 125lbs, Grayson Koons at 8U 45lbs, Axel Frederick at 8U 55lbs, Kyle Studd at 10U 65lbs, Nolan Valentic at 10U 75lbs, and CJ Dreshman at 12U 85lbs. Representing with second place finishes will be Abigail Bueno-Bistarkey at 8U 63lbs, Ella Saussol at 10U 70lbs, Anabelle Bauman at 12U 108lbs, Noelle Miller at 12U 125lbs, Mason Haught at 10U 55lbs, Jase Houpt at 10U 65lbs, and Carter Brett at 10U 90lbs. The last group that will represent Canon-McMillan are the third place finishers which include Lorenzo Gregory at 10U 85lbs, Abel Stoffella at 10U 90lbs, and Neil Kirby at 10U 80lbs. Others that placed but will not move forward to the state championships are Jameson Snyder with 2nd at 6U 40lbs, Brooke Valentic with 4th at 10U 78lbs, Mitchell Haught with 4th at 10U 60lbs, Cam Longstreth with 4th at 12U 90lbs, Luciano Francica with 4th at 12U 105lbs, and Gavin Ross with 4th at 12U 135lbs.
Looking ahead, the CCNS bunch still has their Keystone State Qualifier event upcoming as well as the PJW State Championships and Keystone State Championships that we can revisit as they all compete.