News and notes
Canon-McMillan and Trinity will continue one of the WPIAL's most longstanding rivalries when the two teams meet Wednesday night in Canonsburg. You have to be impressed with the job first-year coach Mike Marino has done with the Hillers. Anyone who was at last year's match had to leave with a sick feeling. C-M won 51-15 but the bad part was the Hillers were not competitive and forfeited four weight classes. It was obvious the program was spinning out of control. If the series is to remain heated, then Trinity has to become better and the program has stepped up this season.
What makes a good rivalry is the capability of either team winning. When that doesn't happen, it stops being a rivalry. Just look at the Steelers-Browns rivalry. It was non-existent because Pittsburgh won 19 of the last 20 games. Steelers fans didn't mind the wins but the game will have new meaning next year because Cleveland won the second meeting this season.
Trinity has good group of juniors coming through but does not have enough fire power to beat the Big Macs. This could be one of Canon-McMillan's best teams since Chris Mary took over as coach a decade ago. If the Hillers can bring the program to that point, too, just think how much more exciting this dual meet will become.
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The Tri-County Wrestling Tournament has made a nice rebound from two years ago, when the competition level was awful, brackets were full of scratches and some coaches were calling for the discontinuing of the event.
Now, it is a good mid-season tournament that had a lot of competitive matches. The talent level has surged with the inclusion of Fayette County teams and the crowds are growing.
One smart move was holding the event at Charleroi, a midway point in the Tri-County. The other was putting the organization logistics in the hands of Frank Vulcano, who has experience running numerous WPIAL events. There were a lot of hard feelings by fans last year when they ran into problems with the schedule.
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Injuries and sickness have hurt Fort Cherry's wrestling team this season. Heavyweight Corey Garry broke his hand during practice over the Christmas break and he is not expected back until the postseason. Gary Kiefer came down with the flu for the Tri-County Tournament and lost eight pounds overnight. He was forced to pull out.
It's been a struggle finding lighter weights for the program, which is unusual. Most programs have problems finding heavyweights. Fort Cherry forfeited the first three weight classes in a three-point loss to Keystone Oaks. That all but devastated the Rangers' chances for the team postseason.
What makes a good rivalry is the capability of either team winning. When that doesn't happen, it stops being a rivalry. Just look at the Steelers-Browns rivalry. It was non-existent because Pittsburgh won 19 of the last 20 games. Steelers fans didn't mind the wins but the game will have new meaning next year because Cleveland won the second meeting this season.
Trinity has good group of juniors coming through but does not have enough fire power to beat the Big Macs. This could be one of Canon-McMillan's best teams since Chris Mary took over as coach a decade ago. If the Hillers can bring the program to that point, too, just think how much more exciting this dual meet will become.
------------
The Tri-County Wrestling Tournament has made a nice rebound from two years ago, when the competition level was awful, brackets were full of scratches and some coaches were calling for the discontinuing of the event.
Now, it is a good mid-season tournament that had a lot of competitive matches. The talent level has surged with the inclusion of Fayette County teams and the crowds are growing.
One smart move was holding the event at Charleroi, a midway point in the Tri-County. The other was putting the organization logistics in the hands of Frank Vulcano, who has experience running numerous WPIAL events. There were a lot of hard feelings by fans last year when they ran into problems with the schedule.
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Injuries and sickness have hurt Fort Cherry's wrestling team this season. Heavyweight Corey Garry broke his hand during practice over the Christmas break and he is not expected back until the postseason. Gary Kiefer came down with the flu for the Tri-County Tournament and lost eight pounds overnight. He was forced to pull out.
It's been a struggle finding lighter weights for the program, which is unusual. Most programs have problems finding heavyweights. Fort Cherry forfeited the first three weight classes in a three-point loss to Keystone Oaks. That all but devastated the Rangers' chances for the team postseason.
posted by Joe Tuscano at
9:28 AM
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