Top-seeded Canon-McMillan wrestling holds off No. 3 Waynesburg in section battle

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, January 4, 2018 | 9:31 AM

If Waynesburg wrestlers had any thoughts of being Section 4A regular-season champions, the Raiders knew they had to go through Canon-McMillan.

Third-ranked Waynesburg had a chance to take down the Class AAA No. 1 Big Macs Wednesday night.

After a promising start where Waynesburg won two of the first three bouts, Canon-McMillan won six straight to take control and win the match 37-21.

The Big Macs' sixth straight win in the match came with some last-second fireworks. Canon-McMillan's Ken Hayman scored a takedown against Waynesburg's Nate Stephenson with six seconds left in the 126-pound bout to earn a 4-2 decision.

“We had a good start up top from guys, with our bigger guys coming through there,” Canon-McMillan coach Jeff Havelka said. “Down low, we got some falls and won some close matches. In a match like this, they are all pretty important.”

Tanner Rohaley sealed the victory for Canon-McMillan (4-0, 3-0 Section 4-A) with a 4-2 decision over Waynesburg's Colby Morris in the 145-pound bout.

The bout was scoreless heading into the third period but that didn't last long. Rohaley started the period on the bottom, immediately escaped and earned a takedown to take a 3-0 lead.

Later in the third, Morris had a reversal, but Rohaley earned a point for an escape in the final seconds to earn the 4-2 win.

“We have been through Beast, Powerade this year. We have been through a war. This is the reason why we do it to get better for the end of the year,” Waynesburg coach Joe Throckmorton said. “Our goal is to get as many people to Hershey as much as possible.”

Though Waynesburg (8-1, 2-1 Section 4-A) lost the match, Throckmorton was pleased with how Wyatt Henson competed against Canon-McMillan's Logan Macri, who defeated Henson in a 5-3 decision.

Waynesburg's Kyle Homet started the match with a pin over Canon-McMillan's Mahonri Wolfgramm at 2:39 at 170 pounds. However, the Big Macs responded at 182 with a 6-3 decision by Evan Miller over the Raiders' Caleb Blair.

The Raiders took a 9-3 lead after Luke Robinson defeated Alec Hendal, 3-2, at 195.

Zach Rohaley (220), Giomar Ramos (285), Jimmy Baxter (106), Michael Binni (113), Macri (120) and Hayman (126) won six straight for the Big Macs. Rohaley and Baxter earned pins, while Binni defeated Michael Medlen by an 18-6 major decision.

After a pin by Raiders' Caleb Morris at 132, Jackson Henson earned a 3-0 decision for the Raiders over Timothy Hritsko at 138. The 3-0 decision was the same result during the consolation finals match at the Powerade tournament last weekend.

Waynesburg's Trey Howard defeated Dimitri Pihiou, 9-2, at 152, while Canon-McMillan's Gerrit Nijenhuis pinned Caleb Stephenson in 36 seconds to close out the match for the Big Macs.

Both teams will see each other again this weekend at the Tri-County tournament at Trinity.

“We got to see their guys and they got to see our guys,” Havelka said. “We know Waynesburg is going to come back strong. We just have to keep working. The assistants are doing a heck of a job in getting our guys ready. We need to continue to do that.”

Andrew John is freelance writer.

Tags: Canon-McMillan, Waynesburg, Waynesburg Central