No Trinity-Canon-Mac match
One of the casualties of the WPIAL's decision to shorten the competition schedule was the loss of the wrestling match between Trinity and Canon-McMillan. That came to an end for two reasons and neither school could do much about it.
The first was the WPIAL's recent realignment that separated the two teams. Canon-McMillan competes in Section 4A, with USC, Montour, Char Valley, Moon and West Allegheny; and Trinity is in 4B, with McGuffey, Peters Township, Waynesburg, Mt. Lebanon and Bethel Park. Commitments to the four other teams in the section and inclusion in traditional tournaments such as Powerade, Virginia Duals, Eastern Area and others ate up a lot of scheduling points for both teams.
The second reason was a commitment by Canon-McMillan, before the realignment, to compete against North Allegheny in a non-section match. Canon-McMillan didn't want to go back on its handshake agreement with NA this season to fit in a match against Trinity.
Even if room was found for the rivalry, which has severely tailed off over the past few years, it most likely would not have been the final dual meet of the regular season, its customary spot.
Canon-McMillan lost its annual dual meet against McGuffey for similar reasons.
The WPIAL obviously didn't know - or didn't care - that this realignment might end one of high school wrestling's longest annual competition. It could have easily swapped Upper St. Clair for Trinity, but failed to do so.
The other unspoken part of this situation is that the Trinity-CM rivalry was in decline. It wasn't competitive and the lopsided victories of the recent Big Mac teams over a Trinity squad that struggled to fill weight classes made for an uncomfortable night in the gym for both sides. Those old enough to remember the days when Dave Cook and John Abajace were the lightning rod coaches for this event that stuffed the gym and made for great entertainment will understand how far this rivalry has fallen.
The first was the WPIAL's recent realignment that separated the two teams. Canon-McMillan competes in Section 4A, with USC, Montour, Char Valley, Moon and West Allegheny; and Trinity is in 4B, with McGuffey, Peters Township, Waynesburg, Mt. Lebanon and Bethel Park. Commitments to the four other teams in the section and inclusion in traditional tournaments such as Powerade, Virginia Duals, Eastern Area and others ate up a lot of scheduling points for both teams.
The second reason was a commitment by Canon-McMillan, before the realignment, to compete against North Allegheny in a non-section match. Canon-McMillan didn't want to go back on its handshake agreement with NA this season to fit in a match against Trinity.
Even if room was found for the rivalry, which has severely tailed off over the past few years, it most likely would not have been the final dual meet of the regular season, its customary spot.
Canon-McMillan lost its annual dual meet against McGuffey for similar reasons.
The WPIAL obviously didn't know - or didn't care - that this realignment might end one of high school wrestling's longest annual competition. It could have easily swapped Upper St. Clair for Trinity, but failed to do so.
The other unspoken part of this situation is that the Trinity-CM rivalry was in decline. It wasn't competitive and the lopsided victories of the recent Big Mac teams over a Trinity squad that struggled to fill weight classes made for an uncomfortable night in the gym for both sides. Those old enough to remember the days when Dave Cook and John Abajace were the lightning rod coaches for this event that stuffed the gym and made for great entertainment will understand how far this rivalry has fallen.
posted by Joe Tuscano at
9:11 AM
2 Comments:
Neither Trinity nor Canon-McMillan was in the Eastern Area tournament this weekend.
They are not wrestling in a non-section match because Trinity can't compete, and the Big Macs want to wrestle someone against whom they can get better.
Period.
Maybe the Hillers will make the Dual Meet Section Championship and you'll get your Trinity vs. Canon-McMillan matchup you THINK you want.
Trinity lost to PETERS TOWNSHIP....
Enuf said on THAT...
And, Canon-Mac has had FIVE coaches since Cook left. Trinity has had three...
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