THREE FROM BURRELL ARE 4-TIME CHAMPS
Tri-State Sports & News Service
Bryan Gaul, Daniel McCarthy and Austin Mele became the newest members of Burrell’s fourtime champions club. All three won a fourth gold medal when the Buccaneers claimed their 13th consecutive WPIAL Class 2A title with Saturday’s 5421 win against Freedom.
“It means more to me than the individual tournaments,” said Mele, who recorded pins in all three WPIAL team tournament matches held last week. “I put the team in front of everything. It’s a warm feeling to know that we kept the streak going.”
Gaul, McCarthy and Mele join 23 other Burrell wrestlers who have matched this accomplishment during its 13-year domination of WPIAL Class 2A.
“It’s a pleasure to be a part of this team every year,” said Gaul, who returned to the lineup Saturday after missing a month with a broken hand. “The coaches care so much. Everything about this program is great. I’m happy to be a part of it.”
Despite the long layoff, Gaul recorded pins in the semifinal and championship matches. McCarthy also recorded a pin in the title match.
“When I was a freshman, I never thought I would be part of this,” McCarthy said. “We’re a family, a bunch of brothers, and a lot of preparation goes into it. Hopefully future teams can keep it going.”
For coach Josh Shields, it was his sixth gold medal as head coach.
“It’s truly remarkable to have the streak last this long,” Shields said. “And to have that many kids with four gold medals is crazy. They say that every streak must come to an end, but our goal is to keep it going as long as we can.”
The other Burrell wrestlers who have four gold medals are Nolan Greenwald (2010), Dave Makara (2011), Jeremy Landowski (2011), Travis McKillop (2011), Brian Beattie (2011), Phillip Marra (2013), Zach Smith (2013), Cory Klems (2013), Dakota DesLauriers (2013), John Andrejcik (2014), Corey Falleroni (2014), Nicholas Pattock (2014), Steven Edwards (2014), Jason Roberts (2015), Noah Hanna (2016), Damon Greenwald (2016), Alex Moses (2016), Dean Edwards (2017), Dillan Jeffery (2017), Anthony Marra (2017), Corey Christie (2018), Shaun Gates (2018), and Ethan Awes (2018).
With 26 members it may not sound like an exclusive club, but there is only one other team in the 41-year history of the WPIAL team tournament that has won four consecutive titles.
Canon-McMillan won four Class 3A crowns from 2010-13. The Big Macs had four wrestlers during that stretch win four gold medals: Connor Schram, Nick Oberhaus, William Pihiou and Alex Campbell.
Kiski Area is hoping to join the four-time champions club next year. The Cavaliers won their third consecutive title with Saturday’s 49-17 domination of Seneca Valley. Juniors Jack Blumer, Nick Delp and Jared Curcio have won three gold medals and are hoping for a fourth next year.
“It’s going to take a lot of hard work to reach that goal,” said Blumer, who recorded two pins on Saturday. “But that is what our team is about, hard work. We have a lot of kids coming back next year, so winning a fourth title is possible.”
PIAA tournament
Kiski Area, Seneca Valley, Canon-McMillan, Burrell, Freedom, Beth-Center and City League champ Carrick qualified for the PIAA team tournaments, which began Monday. Beth-Center and Carrick made quick exits after losing in pigtail matches. The other five traveled to Hershey for the last three days of the tournament.
Burrell is making its 16th consecutive appearance in the PIAA team tournament, but the Buccaneers will be hard pressed to knock off twotime defending champion Reynolds.
“Reynolds is clearly the team to beat,” said Jeff Upson of papowerwrestling.com. “Burrell is not at Reynolds’ level, but they do have a chance to be a top-four finisher.”
In Class 3A, defending champion Bethlehem Catholic is the favorite. Kiski Area, last year’s runner-up, is ranked No. 2 and making its eight PIAA appearance.
“District 11 has four of the top five teams in the state [in Class 3A] this year,” Upson said. “Kiski would have to beat two District 11 teams to win a title.”