Westmoreland County Senior Spotlight: Mt. Pleasant’s Sean Cain

By: Anthony Difilippo
Monday, January 16, 2023 | 9:50 AM

When an athlete doesn’t start playing a sport seriously until his freshman year of high school, some would consider him “behind the eight ball.”

That was the case for Mt. Pleasant senior Sean Cain, who finished 6-9 his first season and 11-18 in his sophomore year, wrestling at 106 and 113 pounds.

The next season, Cain wrestled at the 120-pound weight class. His record shot up to 25-16, and he qualified for the WPIAL tournament.

So what was behind the vast improvement in record?

“I think it was just the experience and the training that I did,” Cain said. “As my confidence grew, it seemed like my record grew as well.”

This season, Cain has continued on a positive trajectory, wrestling mostly at 121 and 127 pounds. He’s 14-8 with eight pins and three major decisions.

As far as goals for the rest of the season, Cain has big aspirations, but ones that are definitely attainable given his growing talent.

“My ultimate goal is a state medal,” Cain said. “Also, I want to be a better wrestler than I was at the end of last year.”

Last year, Cain had the pleasure watching one of his teammates, Dayton Pitzer, who now wrestles at Pitt, win a state title.

Pitzer, who never had an opponent last a full six minutes last season, was an important person for Cain to learn from.

“(Pitzer) was so skilled and knew what he was doing in any situation,” Cain said. “To have someone like that on my team was impressive. He was a great leader, great person.”

The Vikings are 3-5 overall, 2-1 in Class 2A, this season. That includes losses to tough Class 3A schools like Kiski Area, Fox Chapel, Malvern Prep and Thomas Jefferson at the Hampton duals in December.

Cain said there are lessons that can be taken away from those losses.

“It definitely showed us where we are as a team,” Cain said. “I thought we looked pretty good, especially competing with some of those schools.”

On top of wrestling, Cain also plays football in the fall as a free safety and wide receiver and track in the spring.

Cain is planning on wrestling in college and majoring in civil engineering, but he has not decided on a school yet.

In the midst of his senior season, Cain took some time for a Senior Spotlight Q&A:.

How did you get started with wrestling?

I started before my freshman year. I just wanted to get better with football. I started going to Coach (Rob) Waller’s, and then I started liking wrestling for once. It went pretty well for me, and obviously I’ve liked it enough to continue to do it for all four years.

How would you describe your start to the season?

I think it’s solid. It’s not better than what I expected, but it’s definitely what I expected to happen. There are a lot of things to grow on. There’s a lot of things I need to do to improve. But I think it’s a good start to the season.

Are you more of a pinner or are you better on your feet?

I’m definitely better on my feet. I’m not necessarily a pinner, especially since I’m wrestling a little up right now at 127. I’m more like a 123. They’re a little bigger, so it’s hard to keep them down and pin them.

Why do you play multiple sports?

Originally, my plan was just to get better at tackling. Wrestling definitely helped with that. I’ve played (football) forever, and I came into wrestling because of that. Wrestling and football both helped me with track. Track’s probably my second favorite sport behind wrestling.

What is one thing that people may not know about you?

I started wrestling two weeks before the season my freshman year. Then covid hit. So compared to everyone, I haven’t been wrestling that long.

Tags: Mt. Pleasant