Derry wrestling team edges powerhouse rival Latrobe
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Wednesday, December 11, 2024 | 9:52 PM
Derry’s Rocco DeCario grabs the leg of Latrobe’s Kai Maxwell during the 107-pound match Wednesday.
Derry’s Dylan Batemen picks up the leg of Latrobe’s Leo Joseph during their match at 121 pounds Wednesday.
Latrobe’s Hunter Snyder tries to escape the grasp of Derry’s Brady Brown at 189 pounds Wednesday.
Derry’s Ewan Olson (blue) battles Latrobe’s Braden Bronson at 172 pounds Wednesday.
Latrobe’s Luke Willochell picks up Derry’s Anthony Mucci at 139 pounds Wednesday.
Wrestling fans could not have asked for a better nonsection match Wednesday as two top-10 teams squared off at Latrobe.
It was a match that featured two bouts involving PIAA qualifiers and two teams that hope to challenge for WPIAL titles.
Jeremiah Gess’s second-period pin helped Derry rally to defeat rival Latrobe, 32-28, in a nonsection match. Derry, No. 2 in Class 2A, has won two in a row.
The pin came after Latrobe’s Dom Angelicchio had given the Wildcats (No. 7 in Class 3A) a 28-26 lead.
Gess got a first-period takedown for an early 3-0 advantage against Aaryn Chappel. He extended the lead to 7-0 in the second period with an escape and takedown, and then Gess turned Chappel for the fall.
Both coaches — Derry’s Troy Dolan Jr., and Latrobe’s Mark Mears — said the fans got their money’s worth.
“That was fun,” Dolan said. “I’d like it to be a little less close, make me less nervous, but that was a great match.
“They got to see some great matchups: Brady Brown and Hunter Snyder, Anthony Mucci and Luke Willochell, and Leo Joseph-Dylan Bateman. It was some good wrestling.”
Unfortunately for Derry, Latrobe won all three of those matches.
Snyder defeated Brown, 4-1, at 189 pounds, Joseph pinned Bateman and Willochell defeated Mucci, 15-3.
But despite those losses, Derry had other wrestlers step up.
Mason Horwat started the match with a 25-second pin at 160, and Ewan Olson followed with an 8-5 overtime victory against Braden Bronson at 172 and a 9-0 Derry lead.
Dolan said emerging victorious from a match without Brown and Mucci winning is a rarity.
Bronson was leading Olson, 5-4, with 20 seconds left when the bout was stopped because Olson had a bloody nose.
“How ironic was that?” Mears said. “We were in position to ride him out, and he got a bloody nose. But that’s wrestling.
“I thought Bronson did a nice job. I wish he would have been more aggressive in overtime.”
Olson was able to escape and tie the score, and then he got a takedown midway through the overtime for the win.
“Derry is a very good team, and we’re going to be better after Christmas when we get the two pounds,” Mears said. “I was glad that the fans got to see good kids go at it. No one ran away from each other.”
Derry (6-1) won seven of the 13 matches.
The Trojans got a pin from Chase Lukon at 215, a win by Rocco DeCario at 107, a pin by Matt Fernell at 121 and a win by Giovanni Beatrice at 132.
The Wildcats (0-1) got wins from Marco Scarton at heavyweight and a forfeit to Brody Bronson at 114.
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: Derry Area, Latrobe
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