Connellsville in WPIAL team wrestling finals
MONROEVILLE – It looks a little bit like Tommy Dolde has been studying Gettysburg military tactics along with his Dad. Tactics like hitting your opponent at his strongest point, then making yourself stronger from there.
And because those tactics worked, Connellsville is headed for the WPIAL team wrestling championship finals on Saturday. The Falcons will get a rematch with Kiski, which beat Latrobe 31-20 Thursday night, one of only two teams to defeat the Falcons this year, in a 4 p.m. pairing at Ringgold High.
The finals were originally scheduled at Norwin, but yesterday the WPIAL announced that they had been shifted to Ringgold, with the 2-A finals at 1 p.m. and the 3-A finals at 4 p.m.
Kiski defeated Connellsville 40-15 on Dec. 17 with the Falcons one of only two regular season opponents to reach double figures against the unbeaten Cavaliers (14-0). Kiski beat 2-A finalist Burrell, 51-15, and held the others to single digit scoring.
Last night’s pre-match draw for starting weight class was 135, which didn’t bother Dolde a bit.
He said, “We started at their strongest point, and not having seen them wrestle this year, all I could tell our wrestlers to do was come out strong. If you come out strong against your opponent at his strongest point, and stay close to them, you are going to get stronger yourself as you go along. All we had to do was keep close.”
McGuffey jumped on top with Nathan Kennedy’s (135) major decision, 9-1, over Delbert Sines. Kennedy started with a takedown in the first and closed with two in the third, around a Sines escape.
Kyle Martin (140) came right back to get the Falcons a tie with a 12-4 major over Seth Allum. Martin was up only 4-3 into the third, then escaped to start, took Allum down and into a near side cradle for a 10-3 lead and went from there.
Kirk Main (145) put the Highlanders (13-2) back into what would be their last lead with a takedown in the first and escape in the second to collar Bubba Fox, 3-0. Jarrod King (152) put the Falcons (22-2) into the lead for good with a 21-6 technical fall over Bryan Galloway. Three takedowns and back points in the first period and four takedowns in the second set the edge for King.
The Falcons followed with two more wins as Chad McBurney (160) 13-9 beat Phil Breese, and Jason Doppelheuer (171) 8-6 downed Garrett Hunter. McBurney reversed to start the second, then they swapped four reversals, plus McBurney added backs for a 12-6 lead going into the third.
Doppelheuer trailed 5-4 into the third after Hunter took him down with :12 to go in the second. Doppelheuer reversed to start the third, Hunter escaped for a 6-6 tie, and Doppelheuer got the winning takedown with a minute left.
The Highlanders won the next two bouts to trail 15-13. It was as close as they would get the rest of the way.
Steve Breese (189) started with three takedowns in the first, around three escapes, and went on to decision Jim Tony, 15-9. Nick Rawlins (215) and Brent Wilson were tied 2-2 into the third, where Wilson was down. Rawlins tipped him for three and a 5-2 lead, but Wilson escaped, and added a penalty point to cut the edge to 5-4.
Steve Hughes (275) reversed those two losses with the first fall of the night and a 21-13 edge for Connellsville, planking Zack Powers in 1:12. Hughes put him down and chested him for the count.
Dolde called Hughes’ win “a real big one for us, for it set the tempo for the rest of the card. This was the first pin, and it came in the first period, which can do a lot for a team. Our lighter weights saw that, and it gave them a big boost. Steve and Doppelheuer both had big wins for us.”
Moving down to the lightest weights, McGuffey got a 3-2 win by Caleb Little (103) over Jonathon Knepper with a takedown in the first and an escape in the second. That pulled the Highlanders within five, 21-16, but it would be the last win for them.
Connellsville swept from there. Steve Bell (112) took Cody Deyell down and locked him up in 1:20, and Ashton Primus (119) followed with the fastest win of the night, getting Aaron Sikora in a near side cradle in one minute flat. That was also the win that clinched the card overall for CAHS.
Adam Bucci (125) got two takedowns in the first and was on his way to a 10-4 win over Aaron Scherich, and Josh Martin (130) wrapped it all up with two takedowns each in the first and second on the way to a 9-4 win over Judd Wolfe.
McGuffey coach Mark Caffery said, “We wrestled well, but they won nine bouts, three with pins, and we didn’t have any pins, which made a big difference. We had to get some falls and also get wins in the upper weights if we expected to win overall, but we didn’t get any big wins from the middle on up. However, we did come a long way this season, finishing in the final four.”
Dolde added “now our next goal is the WPIAL title, and hopefully reverse some losses. Right now we are going home and relax, getting ready for Saturday.”
While the coach brushes up on his military tactics.