Trib HSSN Wrestler of the Week for week of Jan. 6, 2020

By: Greg Macafee
Tuesday, January 7, 2020 | 1:47 PM

Kiski Area’s Sammy Starr entered the Westmoreland County Coaches Association tournament this past weekend in his home gym and came away with a first-place finish.

Starr (16-3) was the No. 4 seed at 152 pounds and earned a 1 minute, 40-second pin over Belle Vernon’s Jerome Gilliam in his first-round contest. From there, he earned an 11-4 decision over No. 5 Trevor Verkleeren from Hempfield in the quarterfinals.

His final two victories of the tournament were his biggest. In the semifinals, Starr bested the No. 1 seed, Burrell’s AJ Corrado, by a 2-1 decision by executing an escape with 23 seconds left in the sixth period.

In the finals, Starr went up against No. 2 seed Chase Kranitz from Norwin and earned a sudden victory fall at the 6:41 mark of the match to capture an individual title. Starr was one of four Cavaliers who were crowned champions and helped Kiski Area secure a fifth consecutive WCCA title.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Ian Oswalt, Burrell: With two pins in less than a minute, a third in 1:19 and a 1-0 decision in the championship match, Oswalt captured the 132-pound title at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association tournament.

Nick Delp, Kiski Area: The Kiski Area 170-pounder started off his Westmoreland County Coaches Association tournament with pins of 34 and 11 seconds. In the semifinals, he pinned Yough’s Glenn Christner in 1:14 and earned his WCCA title by pinning Penn-Trafford’s Tony Zona in 3:45.

Rocco Welsh, Waynesburg: Coming off a solid performance at the Powerade tournament last weekend, Rocco Welsh took home the 126-pound weight class at the 2020 Tri-County tournament. He earned a first-period pin, two second-period pins and his championship victory came via 5-0 decision over Jacob Gardner from Canon-McMillan.

Conner Redinger, Quaker Valley: The Quaker Valley junior earned four pins during his journey to the 160-pound title at the Ed Driscoll MAC wrestling tournament this weekend. His first three pins came in the first period, and his fourth came in 3:07 over Oleg Melnyk from Carlynton.

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Burrell, Kiski Area, Quaker Valley, Waynesburg