High school wrestling notebook: Kiski Area again flexes muscle at EAIWT

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, December 11, 2018 | 4:42 PM

Kiski Area coach Chris Heater and assistant coach Chuck Tursky didn’t know how many times the Cavaliers had won the Eastern Area Invitational at Gateway.

Kiski Area won its fourth consecutive EAIWT championship Saturday and has won more than 20 in the tournament’s 41-year history.

The Cavaliers finished with 241 points. Franklin Regional finished second 180, followed by Mt. Lebanon with 154.5.

What made the victory all the more impressive was the Cavaliers were missing at least three starters. They didn’t have a 106-pounder and a couple football players are still out with injuries.

“We’ll have them soon,” Heater said. “We had other guys step in and earn valuable experience.”

The biggest win came from senior Darrin Miller, who didn’t qualify for the PIAA Class AAA tournament in March, but showed Saturday he’s ready to contend.

Miller defeated Franklin Regional senior and Pitt recruit Colton Camacho, 4-3, to win the 132-pound title.

Camacho is the returning WPIAL Class AAA 132-pound champion and a PIAA runner-up. Miller finished sixth in the WPIAL tournament at 120 pounds.

“This was a big win for me,” Miller said. “It will set up nicely for the rest of the season.

“I was seeded third and winning shows me that I belong with the best in the state after not qualifying a year ago. This will help build my confidence.”

Miller used his strength and quickness against Camacho to pull off the win. He also earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award.

Camacho said he was surprised my Miller’s strength.

“I let him dictate the match,” Camacho said. “I never took a shot until the third period and never got to my offense.

“I have to learn from this. It shows that anyone is beatable. I have to continue to work hard.”

Senior Cam Connor at 152 and junior Nick Delp at 172 also finished first for the Cavaliers, who had seven finalists. Finishing second were junior Dom Giordano at 120 pounds, junior Jack Blumer at 160, sophomore Brayden Roscosky at 195 and senior Troy Kuhn at 220.

“We had a good tournament,” Heater said. “We still have guys working to get into the lineup. We were missing our regular 106, 182 and heavyweight.”

McChesney shines

Greensburg Salem freshman heavyweight Billy McChesney turned in quite a performance at the North Coast Classic in Independence, Ohio, on Saturday.

McChesney went 6-0 with five pins. He defeated Seth Frantz of Northmont, Ohio, 8-1, in the finals.

The other Golden Lions to place were Cody Kaufman, who was 5-3 and finished sixth at 120 pounds; Mason Jobe, who went 5-2 to finish seventh at 126; Dajauhn Hertzog, who was 9-1 and placed third at 138; Ian Ewing, who took third and went 9-1 at 152; and John Meyers, who was a runner-up at 195 and went 5-1.

Greensburg Salem finished sixth with 314 points.

Belle Vernon senior Scott Joll won the 182-pound title. He finished 7-0.

The Leopards placed ninth with 265 points.

Other placewinners for the Leopards were Logan Seliga, second at 126; Jake Fine, fifth at 160; Cole Weightman, fourth at 195; and Dakota Marion, sixth at 285.

Ringgold’s Jacob Duncan (152) placed seventh, while Southmoreland’s Nick Yeskey (145) was sixth and Ryan Mauro (285) fourth.

Vance, Nijenhuis start strong

Hempfield sophomore heavyweight Isaiah Vance and Canon-McMillan senior Gerrit Nijenhuis picked up titles on Saturday at the Cumberland Valley tournament in Mechanicsburg.

Vance went 4-0 with three pins. He defeated Boiling Springs’ Damon Jones, 5-2, in the finals.

Hempfield finished fourth overall with 176.5 points and had seven placewinners.

Junior Dillon Ferretti finished second at 220 pounds, falling to Shikellamy’s Adam Young, 8-4, in the final.

Junior Justin Cramer (195) and sophomore Ty Linsenbigler (145) placed third, sophomore Ethan Berginc (113) and freshman Briar Priest (106) finished fourth and senior Kyle Burkholder (120) placed fifth.

Nijenhuis defeated Downingtown West’s Max Hale, 15-5, in the 182 final.

The Big Macs placed third with 191 points behind Nazareth (254.5) and Council Rock South (210.5).

For Canon-McMillan, Kenny Hayman was second at 132 and freshmen Jacob Haupt (106) and senior Giomar Ramos (285) were third.

Ironmen from WPIAL

Two PIAA champions from the WPIAL — Seneca Valley sophomore Alejandro Herrera-Rondon and Frazier junior Thayne Lawrence — earned medals at the Ironman Tournament at Walsh Jesuit (Ohio) on Saturday.

Herrera-Rondon placed second at 113, falling 2-1 to Richard Figueroa of Selma, Calif.

Thayne Lawrence battled back from a quarterfinal-round loss to place sixth at 160.

River Hawks soar

Armstrong won the team title at the Chartiers-Houston tournament Saturday.

The River Hawks had a one champion, Ogden Atwood (220). Paydon Thompson (132) and Logan Harmon (182) finished second.

Peters Township placed second and had three champions — Donovan McMillon (152), Jeff Markert (170) and Brandon Matthews (182).

Other top wrestlers to win titles included: South Park sophomore Joey Fisher (113), North Hills junior Sam Hillegas (138), Beth-Center senior Dom Fundy (195) and Upper St. Clair senior Jake Slinger.

This and that

Derry opened the season by placing second at the Babbitt Duals at Blairsville.

The Trojans, ranked third in the Trib HSSN Class AA poll, defeated Johnstown, Blairsville, Portage and Meyersdale. They lost to Penns Valley. … Derry (4-2) then dropped a nonsection dual to rival Latrobe, 36-30, on Monday. Senior Dom DeLuca recorded a 17-second pin in the match. He has four falls this season. … Thomas Jefferson won the Hampton Duals by going 5-0. Norwin (4-1) was second and North Allegheny (4-1) was third. Norwin defeated North Allegheny, 40-30, but lost 34-33 to Thomas Jefferson.

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Canon-McMillan, Derry Area, Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Kiski School, Latrobe, North Allegheny, North Hills, Norwin, Peters Township