Camacho joins elite club as four-time winner; Miller becomes three-time winner to lead Kiski to another title

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, January 5, 2019 | 4:15 PM

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Franklin Regional senior Colton Camacho didn’t like wrestling next-to-last in the finals at the 66th annual Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association wrestling tournament Saturday at Norwin.

There was too much time waiting around for his match at 126 pounds, which was moved to the 13th match of the finals.

It turned out to be Lucky 13 for Camacho, who defeated Derry sophomore Ty Cymmerman, 13-3, to become the 13th wrestler to be a four-time champion, the first since 2015 when Franklin Regional’s Josh Maruca and Josh Shields achieved the goal.

Camacho (19-2) dominated the match by setting the tone against Cymmerman (18-3).

“The first three years I won I had tough battles,” Camacho said. “I was able to let it fly and spread the scoring. I ended on a really good note.

“I joined a really elite group of wrestlers, and it feels great to be part of them and I was able to accomplish what they did.”

The first four-time champion was Latrobe’s Tom Bell (1961-64). Camacho won at 113 in 2016, 120 in ’17 and 132 in ’18.

Kiski Area senior Darren Miller (20-1) continued his spectacular season by defeating Latrobe junior Gabe Willochell, 7-2, in the 132 final. Miller defeated Willochell, 10-9, in a wild match at 120 last year.

Miller became the 41st wrestler to win three title. He won at 106 in ‘17 and 120 in ‘18. Earlier this season, Miller defeated Camacho in the Eastern Invitational and last week he dropped a close match to two-time state champion North Hills junior Sam Hillegas in the Powerade final.

Miller was one of five Kiski Area champions and helped the Cavaliers win their fourth consecutive team title and 12th overall, tying them with Greensburg Salem and Latrobe for the most.

The other Kiski winners were Cam Connor (152), Jack Blumer (160), Nick Delp (170) and Brayden Roscosky (195).

“It feels great to be a three-time champion,” Miller said. “I wrestled great and beat a great opponent. As for the team, we came here to dominate and we did a great job in the semifinals and finals. We never gave up and kept pushing and came out on top.”

Winning their second titles were Hempfield senior Kyle Burkholder (113), Belle Vernon senior Scott Joll (182) and Derry senior Dom DeLuca (220).

Burkholder (18-5) needed overtime to earn a 3-1 win over Franklin Regional freshman Finn Solomon (18-5). Joll (19-2) rallied to pin Mt. Pleasant freshman Dayton Pitzer (20-1), and DeLuca (16-1) pinned Norwin junior Ryan Weinzen.

Team runner-up Hempfield had three champions. Joining Burkholder were sophomore Ty Linsenbigler (138) and heavyweight Isaiah Vance.

Linsenbigler (23-3) dominated Franklin Regional junior Mason Spears, 18-8, and joined his dad as the seventh father-son to win county titles. Rich Linsenbigler was the 125 winner in 1989.

“I was thinking about it a lot how special it would be,” Linsenbigler said. “I’m glad I did it.”

Vance (22-4), pinned by Valley senior Dave Schuffert (16-3) in the 2018 final, used an escape and takedown in the third period for a 3-2 win. He joins his grandfather Mike Kirkling as a county champion.

“I didn’t want to make the same mistakes as last year, so I went out hard,” Vance said. “This is a big accomplishment; it means I’m one step closer to catching my grandfather.”

Also winning their first titles were Penn-Trafford senior Nick Coy (145), Franklin Regional sophomore Carter Dibert (106) and Burrell sophomore Ian Oswalt (120).

Coy edged Kiski Area freshman Enzo Morlacci, 1-0; Dibert won 16-1 over Mt. Pleasant’s Luke Geibig; and Oswalt used a third-period reversal to upset Norwin’s Kurtis Phipps.

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

Tags: Belle Vernon, Derry Area, Franklin Regional, Kiski School, Norwin, Valley