Gateway wrestlers leave county tourney with medals

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

After qualifying for the WPIAL wrestling tournament at 106 pounds during his freshman season, Gateway sophomore Evan Whiteside has continued to progress.

Whiteside finished sixth in the 113-pound weight class at the Allegheny County tournament Jan. 19-20 at Fox Chapel. He lost to Central Catholic's Shane Kelley by an 18-2 technical fall at 3 minutes, 26 seconds in the fifth-place match.

After opening with consecutive pins against Bethel Park's Zuri Lane-Griffore and Carrick's Joe Dang, Whiteside decisioned Carlynton's Elias Ward, 7-0, in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Whiteside was pinned by Moon's Frankie Bonura in 35 seconds. In the consolation bracket, Whiteside lost to Hampton's Joshua Campbell by a 5-2 decision.

Earlier in the season, Whiteside finished sixth at the Steve DeAugustino Holiday Classic at West Mifflin after losing a 9-4 decision to Allderdice's Troy Jacobson.

Whiteside was joined by Gators teammate junior Nevin Matthews on the podium at the county tournament. Matthews placed eighth after being pinned by Montour's Dante Presutti at 2:16 in the seventh-place match.

Matthews faced Presutti twice during the county tournament and couldn't solve the riddle. After an opening-round pin of Shaler's Cole Siford, Matthews lost to Presutti by a 15-1 major decision.

Though Matthews suffered a loss early in the county tournament, he battled through the consolation bracket with consecutive pins of Obama Academy's Bryon Allen, Central Catholic's John Ciferno and Moon's Dalton Dobyns.

However, Matthews' run for a title ended after losing to North Hills' Damon Thompson by a 9-4 decision. Matthews settled for facing Presutti a second time in the seventh-place match.

The Gators almost had a third wrestler — sophomore Jaired Lehman (132) — place at the county tournament.

After an opening-round pin of North Hills' Jeremiah Azzarello, Lehman was sent to the consolation bracket when he was pinned by Bethel Park's Ben Yantek.

In the consolation bracket, Lehman pinned Carrick's Devontay Cunningham and defeated Chartiers Valley's Cody Trout by a 5-0 decision. Lehman's run in the county tournament ended after being pinned by North Allegheny's Gabe Falo at 1:37.

Last season, Lehman just fell short of qualifying for the WPIAL tournament. He was pinned by Penn-Trafford's Tony Zona in the fifth-place match of the Section 1-3A tournament.

Senior Caleb Lehman (160) and sophomore Emaad Khan (170) each earned a win during the county tournament. Lehman qualified for the WPIAL tournament last season.

Sophomore Matt Hall (145), junior Jay Rakhmatullaev (152) and freshman Jaques Taylor (220) got wins at the county tournament.

Gateway has a nonsection match at Elizabeth Forward on Feb. 9 as well as an appearance at the Penn-Trafford Duals on Saturday to prepare for the postseason.

Andrew John is a freelance writer.

Tags: Gateway