Stalling penalty ends 160 final
CV’s Evans is ruled the winner
HERSHEY, Pa. — Waynesburg junior Shawn Taylor and Chartiers Valley senior Dylan Evans have had classic battles this season. They met four times with three of the matches going to overtime.
Once again in the PIAA Class 3A 160-pound final Saturday, the two battled through overtime and into an ultimate tiebreaker. But no one could have foreseen how this one would end.
With Evans on top after the reset trying to ride it out and Taylor trying to escape, Taylor was assessed a point-penalty for stalling that gave Evans the title in a 3-2 decision.
“Yeah, it’s great to win states, especially for the second year in a row, but that’s not how I wanted it to end,” Evans said.
According to PIAA officials, because Taylor was on the bottom and took Walsh’s whole weight in standing up, it caused a stoppage and a warning. When he did it a second time, with 15 seconds remaining in the 30-second sudden-death period, he was dealt a penalty point for stalling that gave Evans the title.
“I was just stunned really,” Taylor said. “I didn’t think the match was going to end that way. I was confident that I was going to get out of it.”
Even with the win, Evans couldn’t bring himself to really celebrate.
“Shawn is a great competitor and we went to four overtime matches for a reason,” Evans said. “Am I grateful that I achieved it? Totally. Is that how I wanted to achieve it? Not really.”
There wasn’t any consternation for Latrobe senior Vinny Kilkeary. In fact, he experienced something the afternoon before the 127-pound final that he never had in his three previous trips — relaxation.
“I was just laying in my bed and I was like, ‘Oh my God. I’m not shaking like a leaf right now. I feel cool.’” Kilkeary said. “Freshman year I was pacing in my room.” His pre-bout chill quickly gave way to on-mat fire.
Kilkeary, an Ohio State recruit, came out with three first-period takedowns against CanonMcMillan junior Andrew Binni and rode him out for an 8-5 victory in the 127pound final for his third state championship.
Kilkeary defeated Binni, 10-4, in the WPIAL championship match and knows facing him such a short time ago helped in the quick turnaround from the morning semifinals to the evening finals.
“It’s a huge confidencebuilder having a match like we had at WPIALs and a match like ( this),” Kilkeary said. “I felt controlled in both matches.”
Kilkeary wasn’t the only WPIAL wrestler with an opportunity to join the three-time state titlist club. Waynesburg senior and Virginia Tech recruit Mac Church, who won at 120 in 2021 and 132 last season, was the top seed and favorite to close out his high school career with a victory against Quakertown sophomore Collin Gaj at 145.
But nothing went Church’s way, from a penalty point being assessed against him in the first period to him suffering a knee injury midway through the second. He then took another penalty point that gave Gaj a 3-1 lead with 1:51 remaining in the match before dropping a 7-1 decision.
West Allegheny senior Ty Watters was able to close out his final season undefeated and with a second state championship as he opened a 5-0 lead and rolled to an 11-3 victory against Central Dauphin junior Ryan Garvick at 152. Walters won the title at 145 last year.
Waynesburg senior Rocco Welsh also defended his title at 172 with a 9-2 victory against Canon-McMillan’s Mattherw Furman in a rematch of the WPIAL final.