PIAA wrestling notebook: Mt. Lebanon’s Stout scores early upset in Hershey

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, March 8, 2018 | 10:39 PM

HERSHEY — There were a number of upsets involving WPIAL wrestlers Thursday during the opening rounds of PIAA Class AAA wrestling championships at the Giant Center.

There were 11 seeded wrestlers who fell during the first round, and seven WPIAL grapplers were on the winning end of those bouts.

Taking down seeded wrestlers were Mt. Lebanon sophomore Luke Stout (160 pounds), West Allegheny sophomore Jordan Watters (113), Hopewell junior Jacob Ealy (126), West Allegheny junior Ty McGeary (152), Thomas Jefferson junior Max Shaw (182), Hempfield junior Kyle Burkholder (113) and Latrobe sophomore Gabe Willochell (126).

Burkholder and Willochell knocked off No. 2 seeds.

No seeded wrestler from a WPIAL school was upset.

Thirty-four of 56 WPIAL wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals, which begin at 2:15 p.m. Friday.

Stout earned a 1-0 win over Solanco senior E.J. Wilson, the No. 3 seed. He had beaten Wilson in 2017.

“I was able to tire him a little in the first period, held him down in the second period and then I escaped in the third period,” Stout said. “I felt I controlled the entire match and frustrated him. It felt good to get two victories.”

Stout also won a preliminary-round match. He went 1-2 as a freshman.

Ealy defeated No. 4 Bethlehem Catholic senior Kenny Hermann, 11-8.

HOF inductees

The eight inductees from the Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame's Class of 2018 will be recognized this weekend at the PIAA tournament.

The 49th class in the Hall of Fame's history includes three with WPIAL ties — former Burrell wrestler and coach Chris Como, former North Allegheny wrestler Jake Herbert and former Waynesburg wrestler Coleman Scott — along with Pitt wrestling coach Keith Gavin.

Como led Burrell to the PIAA Class AA wrestling championship in 2008 — the only state title in school history — as well as WPIAL crowns in 2004 and from 2007-09 before stepping down. He remains on the Burrell staff as an assistant. He was a two-time WPIAL medalist at Burrell and an All-American at Pitt-Johnstown and also was an assistant for the Mountain Cats' 1996 national championship team.

Herbert won a PIAA Class AAA individual title in 2003, his senior season, one of four state medals he claimed during his time at North Allegheny. He also won three WPIAL championships. At Northwestern, he won NCAA championships in 2007 and 2009 and claimed three Big Ten titles before becoming a member of the U.S. Olympic Freestyle Team in 2012.

Scott won three PIAA titles at Waynesburg before moving on to Oklahoma State, where he won an NCAA championship in 2008. As a member of the U.S. Olympic Team at the 2012 London Summer Games, Scott claimed a bronze medal. He is now coach at North Carolina.

The other inductees, along with Gavin, are Mark Banks, Ken “Foxy” Moyer, Evan Sola and Mike Shingara.

Upset specials

Most WPIAL wrestlers needed just one victory to reach the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals, with two exceptions: Burrell senior Corey Christie and McGuffey junior Christian Clutter. Those two had to advance out of the preliminary round before posting first-round upsets.

Christie knocked off fourth-seeded Alec English of Kane, while Clutter beat No. 3 seed Gavin Henry of Union City.

“We have a really tough region, so coach Josh (Shields) always says you can't really look at their placing,” Christie said. “Our region's really tough compared to the other ones, and (English) was a regional champ. It's all about who wants it more in the end.”

Wrestling legend passes away

At the WPIAL Class AAA and PIAA Southwest Regional tournament on Saturday, there was a video tribute for some legends of wrestling who died over the past year.

Another legend, Stan Mousetis, passed away Monday.

Mousetis, 88, coached at Washington, Plum, Franklin Regional and Bellefonte.

He compiled a career record of 343-260-11.

He is a member of a number of halls of fame and was inducted into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches' Hall of fame in 1994.

Top seeds advance

Norwin sophomore Kurtis Phipps (106), Shaler junior Ryan Sullivan (112), North Hills sophomore Sam Hillegas (126), Laurel Highlands senior Ian Edenfield (220) and Kiski Area senior heavyweight Isaac Reid, all seeded No. 1, advanced to the quarterfinals with easy victories.

The WPIAL wrestlers seeded No. 2 — Canon-McMillan senior Logan Macri (120) and Belle Vernon senior Zach Hartman (160) — also breezed to easy wins.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Burrell, Franklin Regional, Hopewell, Laurel Highlands, Mt. lebanon, North Allegheny, North Hills, Norwin, Plum, Shaler, Thomas Jefferson, Washington, Waynesburg, Waynesburg Central, West Allegheny