Plum wrestlers ready for individual tournaments

By: Michael Love
Saturday, February 13, 2021 | 9:01 AM

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The Plum wrestling team turns its focus this week from team competition to individual accomplishments with subsection and section tournaments taking center stage throughout the WPIAL.

The Mustangs were slated to wrestle at the Class AAA Section 1B tournament Wednesday which feeds surviving qualifiers to Saturday’s main Section 1 tournament at Kiski Area.

Wednesday subsection matches were to be contested past this week’s deadline.

A number of Plum wrestlers established themselves throughout the team duals and helped the team compile a 9-6 overall record and a 3-2 mark in section matches.

Plum and Kiski Area battled in the section team semifinals Feb. 8 with the Cavaliers coming out on top 42-26.

Kiski jumped out to a 27-6 lead, but Plum rallied to 27-22 with pinfall victories by Sam Snyder (106) and Antonino Walker (113) and a major decision from Dom Sheffo (120).

The Mustangs drew within seven at 33-26 with a major decision from Paul McClintock at 132, but the Cavaliers clinched the win with a decision and a pin at 138 and 145, respectively.

Kiski Area then edged Penn-Trafford, 39-36, in the finals.

The result was a positive step for a Plum lineup with just one senior (Ian Lamia, 285) in the lineup.

A quartet of Mustangs wrestlers entered the individual tournament postseason with 10 or more victories, led by Walker, a freshman, at 14-1 between 113 and 120. He has five pins and a major decision to his credit.

Junior Vinnie Citrano compiled a 12-3 record with seven pins and a major decision at 126, 132 and 138.

Snyder (106, 113) and sophomore Andrew Claasen (160) both were 11-4 through the team semifinal match with Kiski.

Plum girls bowling wins section title

The Plum boys and girls bowling teams wrapped up the WPIBL regular season last week, and the girls squad went through its schedule unblemished to capture the East section title.

The boys team wasn’t far behind, finishing second to Gateway with an 8-2 record.

The section finishes propelled both teams to their respective WPIBL team tournaments this week at North Versailles Bowl (boys) and Sims Lanes in Beaver Falls (girls).

The top two teams in each boys and girls section punched tickets to the WPIBL tournament. The Plum girls, by virtue of their section title, also have secured a spot in the Western Regional team tournament March 13.

To make the Western Regional, the Plum boys must finish in the top seven among the nine second-place section teams at the WPIBL championships. The boys Western Regional team competition will be March 6.

In addition to helping their teams qualify for the WPIBL team tournaments, a number of Plum bowlers also will test their mettle at the singles events Feb. 24-25 at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes.

On the boys side, four have qualified. Sophomore Nicholas Daniels led the team with a 193.83 average through the regular season (30 games), and he will be joined by sophomore Alec VanScyoc (185.03/30 games), senior Michael Bednar (182.07/30 games) and sophomore Sean Endler (176.27/30 games).

Freshman Mareana Pilyih enjoyed one of the best WPIBL regular seasons in the girls division with a 206.70 average through 30 games. She finished second in the section to overall WPIBL leader, Burrell junior Lydia Flanagan (224.57).

The Plum girls also will have a total of four at the WPIBL singles tournament, as junior Haley Gabor (153.07/29 games), freshman Jordyn Osche (152.93/28 games) and senior Alana Stecker (143.33/21 games) also have qualified.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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