Laurel’s MacKay on a quest for school record
Earlier this season, Laurel High School announced Grant MacKay broke the school record for career victories. The Spartans were a bit premature in that proclamation.
But MacKay still has a good chance to be the school record holder.
The situation is this: MacKay has a 151-19 career mark, which would seemingly break Mitch Miles’ Laurel record of 124-27. But MacKay’s win total includes 39 wins when he was a freshman at North Allegheny.
Since transferring to Laurel as a sophomore, MacKay has a 112-7 record, including a 32-1 mark this season.
“We were looking at his career total when we made that announcement,” Carmichael said. “I can see where that can be interpreted in a different way. I still think it’s a safe bet that he will break the record before the season ends.”
MacKay has won WPIAL and Southwest Region titles the past two seasons. He has also made an appearance in the PIAA finals both years, winning as a sophomore and placing second last year.
“If Grant wins section, WPIAL and Southwest Region titles, that will give him 11 more wins, which leaves him one win short of Mitch’s record,” Carmichael said. “He can break the record at Hershey [in the PIAA tournament].”
MacKay is the fourth Laurel wrestler to join the WPIAL’s century club. Jay Matteo, a 2001 graduate, was the first Spartan grappler to reach 100 wins as he finished with a 114-34 record. Zach Julian, a 2010 grad who had a 100-25 record, rounds out the list.
Evans close to record
Senior Dylan Evans is even closer to Chartiers Valley’s career record. Evans posted a victory against Seneca Valley on Wednesday, which gives him a 26- 3 record for the season and improves his career mark to 128-27.
Mark McKnight, a 2003 South Fayette graduate who wrestled at Chartiers Valley when the two schools had a co- operative agreement, owns the Colts’ career record with a 130-12 mark.
“We’ve been trying not to talk about it,” said Chartiers Valley coach Bill Evans, who is Dylan’s father. “It’s like when a pitcher is throwing a no- hitter. The announcers don’t want to jinx the pitcher by talking about it. We know it’s there but avoiding the subject.”
Chartiers Valley has one dual meet left on its regular season schedule, which means Evans will have to wait until the postseason to break the record.
“If everything goes as planned, Dylan will break the record in semifinals of our section tournament,” coach Evans said.
Evans is the 14th Chartiers Valley wrestler to reach 100 wins.
“Our family knows Mark ( McKnight) very well,” coach Evans said. “Mark coached numerous youth teams that Dylan was on. He’s been a big influence on his life. I hope Mark can attend the section tournament.”
Evans and MacKay have accepted scholarships to Pitt.
“Dylan and Grant are best friends,” coach Evans said. “They work out together at clubs all the time. In fact, they will be rooming together at Pitt.”
Class 2A section tourneys
After a one-year hiatus, Class 2A schools will have section tournaments again.
The PIAA realignment increased the number of Class 2A schools in the WPIAL from 36 to 43. With that in mind, the WPIAL wrestling committee formed six sections — five that included seven schools and one with eight schools — to determine participants for its team tournaments.
The committee opted to use a different format for the individual section tournaments. There will be three sectional qualifiers.
Sections 1 and 2 have combined to form the Southern sectional, which will be held at Burgettstown.
Sections 3 and 4 will compete together in the Northern sectional at Keystone Oaks.
Sections 5 and 6 will compete together in the Eastern sectional at Greensburg Salem.
All three tournaments are Saturday. The top six finishers in each weight class will qualify for the WPIAL Class 2A tournament, which will be Feb. 24-25 at Chartiers Valley High School.
Freshmen to watch
There are quite a few freshmen expected to make an impact in the Class 2A section tournaments. Below are 10 freshmen to watch:
• Burrell’s Cameron Baker (30-7) is ranked No. 1 at 107 pounds. He’s recorded 15 pins.
• Central Valley’s Antonio Boni (21-3) is second behind Baker at 107. Twelve of his wins are via fall.
• Burrell’s Julian Bertucci (25-12) is ranked No. 4 at 114 pounds. He’s registered 14 pins.
• McGuffey’s Lucas Barr (30-7) moved up to No. 1 at 121 pounds after pinning Quaker Valley’s Jack Kazalas, a two-time PIAA qualifier. He has 14 pins.
• Bentworth’s Owen Ivcic (27-9) is ranked No. 5 in a very strong 139- pound weight class. His record includes 17 pins.
• Frazier’s Jonah Erdely (26-6) is No. 2 at 145 pounds. He’s registered 17 pins.
• Belle Vernon’s Elijah Brown (25-7) is No. 5 at 152. He’s recorded 18 pins.
• Frazier’s Jackson Angelo (26-4) has moved up to No. 4 at 160. Twenty of his 26 wins ended with a pin.
• Mount Pleasant’s Dylan Pitzer (25-5), the younger brother of Pitt freshman Dayton Pitzer, is No. 3 at 215 pounds.
• Washington’s Joe Wilson (22-6) is No. 3 at heavyweight. Three of his losses were to top-ranked Joseph Baronick of Burgettstown, including a 1-0 decision in their last encounter.