Peters Township wrestlers continue solid start with title at Steve DeAugustino Classic

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 2, 2019 | 12:51 PM

The roster for the Peters Township wrestling might not be complete, but the key returning wrestlers have made their time on the mat count.

The Indians won the Steve DeAugustino Holiday Classic on Dec. 28 and finished second in the Chartiers-Houston Invitational on Dec. 8.

At the Steve DeAugustino Holiday Classic, the Indians finished with 189.50 points, ahead of West Mifflin (145.50) and Moon (138.50). Peters Township had four wrestlers win their respective weight classes, and featured two runners-up and an eighth-place finisher.

“We have some holes in our lineup this year with some new guys that really haven’t wrestled before that came out for the team this year. The better guys on the team know they have to step up and win all their matches in dual meets,” coach Derrick Evanovich said.

“In tournaments, we have a great core of guys that have been performing at the level they need to perform to get second at Chartiers-Houston and first at West Mifflin.”

Junior Bryce Wilkes (10-1) captured the 120-pound title after pinning Moon’s Charles Trimber at 1:16. Sophomore Donovan McMillon (10-0) captured the 152-pound title after an injury default.

Senior Jeff Markert (10-0) pinned Portage’s Cole Sossong at 1:45 to capture the 170-pound title. Senior Brandon Matthews (10-0) captured the 182-pound title with a 10-7 decision over Blairsville’s Garrett Henigin.

Senior Colton Jezioro (8-2) finished second at 160 pounds after being pinned by Mars’ Jake Richardson. Junior Will Kail finished second at 126 after losing to Blairsville’s Jack Bruce, 14-11.

Senior Jordan Marosz finished eighth at West Mifflin.

At Chartiers-Houston, the Indians finished second with 161.5 points behind Armstrong (165). McMillon, Markert and Matthews all won titles. Jezioro finished second, while Wilkes and Kail each finished third.

Evanovich, a 2012 Peters Township graduate, took over for Jason Carpetta. Evanovich, who was an assistant coach the last two seasons, was a 2012 WPIAL champion before wrestling at Maryland.

With his familiarity with the roster, Evanovich has leaned on his senior class, especially Markert, Matthews and Jezioro, to provide leadership on and off the mat.

“They are all seniors, and going into the season I was looking for leadership out of those guys. They have been pushing hard in every practice and leading by example,” Evanovich said.

“They go out there and compete at the level they should be competing. They have all lived up to all the expectations I had for them leading into the season.”

In dual meets, the Indians have won matches over Baldwin, 65-12, and Bethel Park, 51-30. However, Evanovich is looking forward to their matchup at home against Mt. Lebanon on Jan. 16 in a pivotal Class AAA, Section 2B match. Last season, the Indians defeated Mt. Lebanon, 48-23.

“I know we are going to struggle against Lebo. It’s going to be a really close match and we are going to need to get out and win all the points we can,” Evanovich said.

“They have a lot of good guys too, and they have a full team. We need to win matches where we need to win and we need to get bonus points where we can get bonus points to pull out the subsection title.”

The Indians will participate in the TriCADA Tournament at Trinity on Thursday and Friday.

Andrew John is a freelance writer.

Tags: Peters Township