Connellsville overpowers Waynesburg, 55-6
CONNELLSVILLE – The Connellsville wrestling team shined Wednesday in front of seven decades of alumni with an impressive 55-6 non-section victory against visiting Waynesburg Central.
Waynesburg Central won the first bout, and then Connellsville ran off the next six to bring smiles – and, perhaps, memories of bouts gone by – for those who gathered on Alumni Recognition Night for wrestlers dating back to the 1960s.
Ky Szewczyk gave the Raiders their only lead with a 5-0 decision over Zachary Franks at 127 pounds.
The Falcons tied the match at 133 pounds with Kai Vielma’s 5-1 decision against Joseph Simon.Julian Ruggieri followed with a pin in 2:27 against Xavier Harmon at 139 pounds.
Connellsville then ran off consecutive major decisions by Carter Wilson (145), Evan Petrovich (152), Lonzy Vielma (160), and Cooper Lembo (172).
Jacob Stephenson broke the string with a 7-3 decision at 189 pounds against the Falcons’ Wyatt Hall.
Waynesburg conceded forfeits to Christopher Cook (215), Tyler Gallis (285), and Nolan Rice (107).
The Falcons’ Landon Lynn held a 7-3 lead in his 114-pound bout before he was able to pin Floyd Huff with just 16 seconds left in the match.
Chase Sparks closed out the match at 121 pounds with a fall in the first period against the Raiders’ Cole Phillips.
“We bumped a couple kids up,” said Connellsville coach Bill Swink. “People say they’re down. They don’t have as many good kids, but they still have good kids. They’re still a good team.”
Waynesburg wrestled West Allegheny Wednesday night, but coach Kyle Szewczyk said the quick turnaround didn’t affect his lineup.
“No, not at all. It’s just the end of a rough month for us. Next week is Powerade, so you hit the ground running. Some nights you look great. You win some of those one-point wars. Some days, you don’t,” said Szewczyk. “We’re competitive as can be.”
The Raiders don’t have the depth as in years past, but Kyle Szewczyk said his squad will push forward as always.
“We’re missing our 215-pounder. We went straight up (with our lineup). Keep it simple,” said Kyle Szewczyk “There were some mismatches here. We don’t have a full lineup. All you can do is put your foot on the line and put the best effort forward that you can ask from your guys.”
Szewczyk added, “As it goes, there’s the ebb and flow. Your senior class leaves, your freshman class coming in, jockeying your lineup.
“This is the smallest lineup we’ve probably had, ever. One injury for us is like seven or eight injuries to other teams.”
Connellsville will join Waynesburg at the Powerade Tournament next week and then prepare for the whirlwind finish to the regular season.
“We’ll keep doing what we do. We’ll fix what we have to fix. We have a long list of things we need to work on, so we’ll work on those things,” said Swink, adding, “We’ll keep working on our conditioning. so, then, when you get to January, it goes fast.”