Tri-County notes
Head coach Joe Throckmorton knew the early part of the wrestling season was going to be tough on his wrestlers at Waynesburg High School. The Raiders participated in the Franklin Regional Duals, Beast of the East and Powerade in a grueling start to the season.
Shane Piper showed how that type of competition can bring out the best in a wrestler. The sophomore won a thrilling 6-4 overtime decision from Tanner Sutton of Chartiers-Houston in the 145-pound finals of the Tri-CADA Wrestling Tournament Saturday at Ringgold.
Piper started the season at 2-10 but has gone 10-2 in his last dozen matches. His last win stopped Sutton from becoming the first four-time champion of this tournament.
Piper was one of three Waynesburg wrestlers to win titles and help the team finish second in the team race. A.C. Headlee (113) and Bo Hampson (152) was the other. Shaun Wilson, only a freshman, made it to the 120-pound finals.
Never understimate the benefits of tough competition.
David Kincaid is a rarity in wrestling. The senior from Chartiers-Houston had wrestled only two weeks in junior high school before quitting to play ice hockey. He came out for his senior season and won the 170-pound weight class at Tri-CADA.
In the 32 years I have been covering this sport, I don't recall a first-year wrestler winning a varsity tournament. Do you?
I've been sent a lot of pending posts ripping Canon-McMillan for not taking its full team to the tournament. I thought I would take care of it with a few thoughts here:
1. I talked with head coach Chris Mary for about 15 minutes before the tournament and he pointed out who was injured and who was sick. I have never known him to lie to me so I believe him.
2. At least Canon-McMillan fielded a team, which is more than I can say about Belle Vernon, which chose instead to participate in the Westmoreland County Tournament, or Connellsville, which dropped out of Tri-CADA last year.
3. If you asked the other coaches in the Tri-CADA tournament how they honestly felt about some of C-M's best wrestlers not participating, they would tell you they were happy. Canon-McMillan was going to win half the weights with a full team, so this gave their wrestlers a chance to finish higher or even win a weight class. Some of these wrestlers are in their final season and not many opportunities are left to be on the awards stand.
4. In a weird coincidence Saturday night, Peters Township sat four starters in its game against Washington because of fatigue.
Shane Piper showed how that type of competition can bring out the best in a wrestler. The sophomore won a thrilling 6-4 overtime decision from Tanner Sutton of Chartiers-Houston in the 145-pound finals of the Tri-CADA Wrestling Tournament Saturday at Ringgold.
Piper started the season at 2-10 but has gone 10-2 in his last dozen matches. His last win stopped Sutton from becoming the first four-time champion of this tournament.
Piper was one of three Waynesburg wrestlers to win titles and help the team finish second in the team race. A.C. Headlee (113) and Bo Hampson (152) was the other. Shaun Wilson, only a freshman, made it to the 120-pound finals.
Never understimate the benefits of tough competition.
David Kincaid is a rarity in wrestling. The senior from Chartiers-Houston had wrestled only two weeks in junior high school before quitting to play ice hockey. He came out for his senior season and won the 170-pound weight class at Tri-CADA.
In the 32 years I have been covering this sport, I don't recall a first-year wrestler winning a varsity tournament. Do you?
I've been sent a lot of pending posts ripping Canon-McMillan for not taking its full team to the tournament. I thought I would take care of it with a few thoughts here:
1. I talked with head coach Chris Mary for about 15 minutes before the tournament and he pointed out who was injured and who was sick. I have never known him to lie to me so I believe him.
2. At least Canon-McMillan fielded a team, which is more than I can say about Belle Vernon, which chose instead to participate in the Westmoreland County Tournament, or Connellsville, which dropped out of Tri-CADA last year.
3. If you asked the other coaches in the Tri-CADA tournament how they honestly felt about some of C-M's best wrestlers not participating, they would tell you they were happy. Canon-McMillan was going to win half the weights with a full team, so this gave their wrestlers a chance to finish higher or even win a weight class. Some of these wrestlers are in their final season and not many opportunities are left to be on the awards stand.
4. In a weird coincidence Saturday night, Peters Township sat four starters in its game against Washington because of fatigue.
posted by Joe Tuscano at
11:55 AM
3 Comments:
Yea, I always tell my wrestlers to just stay home. You mentioned Belle Vernon and Connellsville. You didn't mention Cannon McMillan electing to Skip Tricada to go to Virginia last year and bringing a skeleton crew this year. I was hoping CM would go to Virginia every year. Tricada is always a great tournament with a lot of awesome local talented wrestlers. CM's presence is not required to make or break the tourney.
If I remember correctly, the Virginia Duals changed the date of its competition because of a conflict with the arena.
If CM did bring all of their starters it wouldn't even be a contest, they would have had atleast 5-6 in the FINALS, atleast some of the starters stayed home and let some of the other less known wrestlers get a chance to win a tournament.
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