Returning champs eye more titles
Fans attending this weekend’s Class 2A individual wrestling championships at Canon-McMillan will be treated to two WPIAL firsts.
• Fourteen entries have won at least one WPIAL title. There has never been that many returning WPIAL champions in one tournament.
• Four returning champs are entered in the 126-pound weight class. That has never happened in the 83-year history of the tournament.
McGuffey senior Jett Pattison, Derry Area sophomore Tyler Cymmerman, Freedom senior Z..J. Ward and Burrell junior Trent Valovchik are the four returning champs entered at 126.
Pattison (27-6) won the WPIAL 120-pound title in 2017, then placed fifth last year at 126. Cymmerman (28-5) won the 120-pound title last year as a freshman.
Ward (10-3) won his WPIAL title as a 106-pound freshman in 2016, then placed second at 113 as a sophomore and third at 126 last year. Valovchik (24-12) won the 106-pound title as a freshman in 2017, then placed fifth at the same weight class last year.
“I can’t ever remember having four returning champs entered in the same weight class,” said McGuffey coach Mark Caffrey, now in his 28th year. “That will be quite a challenging weight class.”
Pattison and Ward experienced a similar situation last year, as both were entered at 126 with Jefferson-Morgan’s Gavin Teasdale, who dominated the weight class en route to his fourth WPIAL title.
“Tyler tried moving to 120 for the Powerade Christmas Tournament, but found it was to tough to cut that much weight,” Derry coach Mike Weinell said.
The same was true for Ward.
“Z.J. made it to 120 for the section team tournament, but started cramping up,” Freedom coach Jim Covert said. “Cutting that much weight was too much for him.”
Valovchik, who wrestled 10 matches at 120 this season, would prefer to move down, but he can’t beat teammate Ian Oswalt, a sophomore who won a WPIAL title at 113 last year. Oswalt is a heavy favorite at 120.
“It’s the deepest weight class in the state,” said Covert, referring to the fact that eight returning PIAA place-winners are entered at 126. “Glendale’s Brock McMillan won a state title last year. He’s one of many kids returning at 126 who have placed.”
Ward is one of four Freedom wrestlers who have won a previous WPIAL title. The others are seniors Bryson Miller and Jake Pail, and sophomore Trent Schultheis.
Miller (20-5) won two WPIAL titles at 195 pounds, but decided to move down to 182 this year.
“Bryson was weighing in at 186 last year, so the move to 182 was not a problem,” Covert said. “We looked at the two weight classes at the state level and determined Bryson would have a better chance of winning a state title at 182.”
Pail (26-7) has moved up to 145 after winning a WPIAL title at 138 in 2018. To win another title, Pail must beat Quaker Valley’s John Rocco Kazalas, a two-time WPIAL bronze medalist.
“Most of Jake’s losses were to Class 3A wrestlers,” Covert said. “He lost, 4-2, to Kazalas in the section team tournament. I expect them to meet again in the section and WPIAL finals.”
Schultheis (24-4) won the 132pound title last year as a freshman. He is now the favorite at 152.
“We have four WPIAL champions and a runner-up in our lineup,” said Covert, also referring to sophomore Kenny Duschek, who placed second at 120 last season. “They carried us in the team tournaments.”
Duschek (24-8) is ranked No. 2 at 132 pounds, behind Quaker Valley sophomore Conner Redinger (25-5), who won a WPIAL title at 106 last year.
Miller is one of three returning champs who have won two titles. The others are Frazier junior Thayne Lawrence and McGuffey senior Christian Clutter.
Lawrence (15-3) has won WPIAL titles at 138 and 152 and is now competing at 160. Lawrence also won a PIAA title last year. Clutter (32-2) is the defending champ at 170. He also won a title at 160 in 2017.
“Clutter and Pattison are hungry and ready to go,” Caffrey said. “It would be great to see both win another WPIAL title.”
The other three returning WPIAL champions are BethCenter senior Dominic Fundy, Bentworth senior Jon Vargo and Derry senior Dominic DeLuca.
Fundy (21-2) won a WPIAL title and placed second in the WPIAL as a 182-pound sophomore in 2017, but missed last year’s postseason tournaments with a broken thumb. With Fundy out of the picture, Vargo (18-4) won last year’s WPIAL title at 182.
Fundy and Vargo are both competing at 195 this year. The two met Jan. 2 and Fundy posted an 11-5 victory.
DeLuca (27-1) is a two-time WPIAL finalist and defending champ at 220.
The 14 returning champions must first compete in Friday’s section tournaments, which will all be held at Canon-McMillan High School. The preliminary round of the WPIAL tournament will also be held Friday. The rest of the tournament will be held Saturday with the finals and consolation finals to begin at 5 p.m.