Wrestling’s bid for third straight titled ruined
Standing next to Presidents’ Athletic Conference Commissioner Joe Onderko while holding the PAC Wrestling Championship trophy and triumphing over rival schools, knowing that once again your team will be the one to beat next year. This has been the recent trend of the Waynesburg University wrestling program, which had won the past four of six PAC Tournament team titles.
Unfortunately for the Jackets, their reign atop the PAC ended Friday when they finished third overall out of the three teams in competition. Thiel College took home the trophy to Greenville, Pennsylvania for the 21st time in program history after finishing with 106.5 total points. Washington & Jefferson finished second and totaled 93.5 points, while Waynesburg scored 93 team points.
“It was definitely disappointing to say the least,” said head coach Ron Headlee. “Our guys fought through the whole thing and kept it close, but we just couldn’t finish the deal.”
Three Jackets were able to bring back individual titles. Seniors Sam Guidi and Luke Lohr were able to win in their respective weight classes and junior Greg Kumer was the final member of Waynesburg’s trifecta.
Lohr won the first round by a fall over Thiel’s Nick Hart at the 4:14 mark. He then defeated Trevor Meyers of W&J in the championship round by a major decision, 17-6. It is only fitting that the fourth ranked wrestler at 147 pounds in the country won his fourth individual title while donning a Jacket singlet. He is first Jacket since Alex Crown did so during the 2012-2013 season.
“It’s definitely a good way to end the PAC season,” said Lohr. “This adds more motivation for myself heading into this last match, and getting ready for regionals and hopefully nationals in the future.”
Moving up weight classes to 165, Guidi won his first individual title as a Jacket. The senior faced Declan Haggerty of W&J in the first round and won by a way of a fall at the 0:45 mark. He was then given a break until the third round where Thiel’s Brandon Collins challenged him. The only thing that changed from Guidi’s first match was not the way of victory, but the amount of time it took to get that victory, as he disposed of Collins early in the third round.
“It feels nice to finally win it,” said Guidi. “It’s only a three-man tournament, but after coming in second the last two years, it feels good to finally say I won it.”
The final Yellow Jacket to receive an individual title was the man at 285, Greg Kumer. Kumer, unlike his teammates, had a tougher first round battle with the Tomcats’ Blake Heim. The match went into six overtimes, but Kumer was able to pull out the victory with a 4-3 decision.
In the championship match, Antonio Santoro of W&J looked for revenge from his loss earlier in the season to Kumer. However, the results would be similar as Kumer was able to defeat Santoro by way of fall 1:15 into the second period.
“Winning back-to-back titles means a lot to me,” said Kumer. “It means that my hard work is paying off. It made it even more special that I could win one alongside Sam Guidi, who has been my teammate ever since we were little kids wrestling together.”
Overall, the team as whole was not satisfied with the results. After winning back-to-back championships, being on the other side was not the greatest feeling.
“It was a little different to watch another team take the trophy and pictures,” said Lohr. “It is definitely an eye opener for all of us because it shows that winning is not an easy task, especially in the PAC.”
After a disappointing finish at the PAC Tournament, Waynesburg is looking to its next match against Division II foe Alderson Broaddus University. Headlee hopes the finish at PAC’s will have the same effect as the loss at Thiel.
“When we lost against Thiel, we were able to rebound well and have a strong outing at Baldwin Wallace University,” said Headlee. “Hopefully the same carries true for this week heading into Friday and further down the road.”