W&J wrestlers honored

The Washington & Jefferson College wrestling team placed four players in the honorable mention category in D3wrestle.com’s preliminary 2010-2011 national rankings.

Earning the honors in their respective weight classes were senior Stefen Firmstone of Mt. Pleasant High School, juniors Zach Cecchetti of Kiski and Dominick Demor of South Side Beaver and sophomore Robbie Mies of Williamsport.

Firmstone posted a 9-5 record last season with six falls wrestling in the 184-pound weight class. He led the Presidents with a third-place finish in his bracket at last year's NCAA Division III Midwest Regional at Delaware Valley College. The senior lost his opening bout, but rallied with three consecutive wins to claim third place. He topped Bryan Hugo of Wabash 4-0 in the third-place match.

Cecchetti earned a 23-13 record last year in the 125-pound weight class. He also placed third at the 2010 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional. Cecchetti, who claimed the conference title at 125 pounds in 2009, earned third place at the regional tournament by pinning Mt. St. Joseph's Cody Stewart.

Demor posted a team-best 29-8 record in the 157-pound weight class last season which included an 18-match winning streak. His 29 victories tied for the sixth-best total in school history. The junior won his first career Presidents’ Athletic Conference crown at the 2010 conference championship tournament last season. Demor defeated Alex Evanoff of Waynesburg by a 9-3 margin in his opening bout and then posted a 15-1 major decision over Thiel's Matt Butler to win the title.

Cecchetti (51-23 career record) and Demor (50-15 career record) are two of 22 wrestlers in W&J history to win at least 50 matches in a career. Kevin DeJuliis ’03 owns the all-time record with 117 victories.

Mies finished his rookie campaign with the Presidents at 18-7 in the 197-pound weight class and his 12 falls tied for the seventh-best, single-season total in school history. He dominated on his way to capturing his first PAC title last year, pinning Patrick Morris of Thiel in 1:13 and then blanking Matt Zimmerman of Waynesburg 9-0. Mies posted a 2-2 record at the Midwest Regional.

The Presidents begin their season sixth season under Head Coach Jay Robison at the Clarion Open on Nov. 6 (9:00 am). The 5th Annual Washington & Jefferson open will be held a week later (Nov. 13) at the Henry Memorial Center.

Former Trinity coach Allison dies

Norman "Bud" Allison, who coahced Trinity High School's wrestling team, died Saturday, September 18, 2010. He coached the Hillers from 1948-55 and had a 55-45-1 record.

The Hillers won the WPIAL title in 1954 with four champions and had a 10-3 record. Allison attended Washington and Lee University and was a graduate of Washington & Jefferson College and University of Pittsburgh School of Education.

He served in the U.S. Army Air Forces from 1941 to 1945, ending his career as an intelligence officer in the Eighth Force in England.

Mr. Allison always was a strong advocate for Trinity School District. He was associated with the district for 32 years as a teacher, high school principal, supervising principal and assistant superintendent.

Waynesburg University's recruits

Here is the list of recruits for Waynesburg University's wrestling program . Weight lcass in parenthises.

Colton Blumer, West Greene (133-141)

Anthony Bonaventura, Hauppauge, N.Y. (157-165)

Dan Bruni, West Allegheny (125-133)

Marty Kisla, Chartiers-Houston (285)

Tyler Lewis, Lakeview (197-285)

Jake Linn, Charleroi (197-285)

Luke Lohr, Somerset (141)

Sam Lombardo, Canon-McMillan (149)

Grant McCarty, Chartiers-Houston (125)

Josh Mihalik, Wellsboro (Dist. 11)

Levi Hosselrode, Hyndman (133-141)

Brandon Fedorka, Hopewell(285)

Moves

Here are five moves you shouldn't use on the mat and one you probably can't do on the mat. See if you can determine which is which.

http://www.heavy.com/mma/mma-commentary/2010/08/the-6-sickest-amateur-wrestling-moves

Wrestling loses supporter

Richard Constantine, the president of the WPIAL and a strong supporter of wrestling, died last week from cancer. He was 63. Constantine graduated from Uniontown High School in 1965and was state runner-up in his seniors season at 180 pounds. He attended the University of Virginia and was a football player and wrestler. has an ACC runner-up at heavyweight.

Later, he was a teacher and administrator at Uniontown.