Shaler notebook: Dylan Winters joins wrestling 100-win club

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, January 28, 2018 | 11:00 PM

Attending one practice was enough to plant a seed with Shaler senior Dylan Winters.

The 126-pound wrestler was taken to a Titans' workout around the age of 5 by his grandfather, George Gordon, who wrestled collegiately at Frostburg State.

Winters became the 20th wrestler in Shaler history to reach the 100-win club last weekend at the Sharon Duals.

“I really liked watching it,” said Winters, who is 102-35 in his career. “The next day, I went to a practice, and I was smooth with it. Ever since then I've been wrestling.”

Winters became the second Titans wrestler this season — along with Garrett Reinsfelder (132) — to reach the century mark in victories.

Camaraderie helped keep Winters around.

“In elementary school, we had a big team of 60 or 70 kids, and we all seemed to get along,” Winters said. “Only a select few made it to high school. The team bonding made me stick with it. The wrestling part, I love that, too, but being together as a team since elementary school kept me in the sport.”

It was only part of what was a strong two weeks for the program.

The Titans, who qualified for the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs earlier in the week by defeating Butler, 46-34, in the fifth-place match in Section 3, qualified for the team playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Shaler opened the playoffs Monday at Franklin Regional against Upper St. Clair in a match that finished too late for this edition.

“Being in the WPIAL playoffs four years in a row is a big accomplishment,” Winters said. “This year, we weren't sure if we were going to make the playoffs because we had first-year wrestlers.”

The Titans also recently finished sixth at the Allegheny County Wrestling Championships. Shaler had six placewinners, including a championship from Ryan Sullivan (113 pounds) and a runner-up finish from Reinsfelder.

Big week ahead

Shaler boys basketball has some work to do if it wants to escape from Section 1-6A to qualify for the WPIAL playoffs. The Titans (8-10, 2-7) have section contests against Seneca Valley on Tuesday and North Hills on Friday.

Shaler, which has lost three of its last four games, sits a a game-and-a-half back of Seneca Valley and North Allegheny for the final playoff spot. The Titans can make the playoffs by placing fourth.

Star-worthy

The Shaler hockey team was represented by two senior forwards during the PIHL Class All-Star game Sunday at Robert Morris Island Sport Center: forwards Cameron Wycich and Mitchell Fuchs.

Wycich leads the Titans in goals (11), assists (15), points (26), power-play goals (five) and short-handed goals (one). Fuchs is tied for second on the team in goals (nine) and assists (16).

The Titans are 7-6-2 and in sixth place in the South/East Division.

Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.

Tags: Shaler