Injury derails Latrobe against Norwin in WPIAL team tourney
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Wednesday, February 1, 2023 | 10:42 PM
The Latrobe wrestling team surrounds heavyweight Wyatt Held to encourage him after he suffered an elbow injury Wednesday against Norwin.
Canon-McMillan’s Brandon Dami takes down Norwin’s John White during a 133-pound match in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals Wednesday.
Latrobe senior Corey Boerio pins Norwin’s Larry Goughnour in the 215-pound match of the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals Wednesday.
Norwin’s Gage Mamie pins Latrobe’s Cole Short with a cradle in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals Wednesday.
The highly anticipated quarterfinal match between No. 2 Canon-McMillan and No. 7 Latrobe didn’t happen Wednesday night in the WPIAL Class 3A team tournament.
An elbow injury to Latrobe heavyweight Wyatt Held helped Norwin to a 36-30 victory, instead.
Held was leading Norwin heavyweight Josiah Pastories, 3-0, when he landed hard on his right elbow. He was taken by ambulance to Canonsburg General Hospital for X-rays.
At the time, Norwin was leading 24-18 heading into some of the Wildcats’ top wrestlers. But Latrobe forfeited the 107 match to give the Knights the victory.
Norwin (15-3) faced Canon-McMillan in the next match and lost 57-9, sending the Big Macs to the semifinals against Hempfield, which upset Trinity and Butler.
Hempfield and Canon- McMillan face off at 10 a.m. Saturday at Peters Township. Waynesburg battles Connellsville in the other match.
“We were greatly anticipating a Latrobe/Canon-Mac matchup,” Canon-McMillan coach Brian Krenzelak said. “They were a top team the past couple years. They had a lot of injuries earlier this season.
“When you look at quarterfinal matches, Latrobe would have been pretty daunting. But we had our kids ready.”
Instead, the Big Macs (12-2) were a tough matchup for the Knights.
Canon-McMillan won 11 of the 13 matches and got big contributions from the middle of its lineup: Ryder Joseph (133 pounds), Luke Shaffer (139), Josiah Gardner (145) and Addison Miller (172).
“This time of the year is when you need everyone to contribute,” Krenzelak said. “They came though big-time for us.”
Norwin coach Kyle Martin said the injury was a deciding factor, but he also said he got a solid performance from his team.
“I’m really proud of our young guys with their effort,” Martin said. “This was the first time in a situation like this. The middle of our lineup wrestled well. Jack (White) and Gage (Mamie) bumped up a weight class and got a win.
“Jackson (Huss) wrestles better every time he takes the mat. He’s super exciting to watch. Nick (Puskar) avenged a loss from counties and wrestled really well. A.J. (Hewitt) wrestled solid.”
Martin said his wrestlers put themselves in a position where they could compete.
“I’m unbelievably proud of all our underclassmen,” Martin said. “I can’t say enough about them and how much they’ve bought into what we’re doing in the practice room.”
Canon-McMillan started the day with a 49-15 victory against Penn-Trafford.
Joe Enick got a pin for the Warriors, Tasso Whipple a forfeit and Dominic Hartman a win.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
Tags: Canon-McMillan, Latrobe, Norwin, Penn-Trafford
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