WPIAL wrestling
Second-night losers got another chance in consolation round IRWIN – Thursday night’s winners in the WPIAL Class AAA Regional Tournament at Norwin High School, the winners advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals, while the losers were given another chance in the consolation bracket.
In the 103-pound weight class, Belle Vernon sophomore Jason Weslager was defeated by Albert Gallatin junior Jon Bittinger by a major decision, 10-2, which pushed him into the consolation bracket on Saturday.
Coming off a loss in the first round of the 119-pound weight class, Albert Gallatin junior Jeff Lawrence lost in the first round of the consolation bracket to sophomore Mitch Evans, of Indiana, by technical fall at the 4:52 mark.
Also coming off a Thursday night loss was Albert Gallatin junior Jerod Chapman in the 125-pound weight class. He lost by fall in 1:27 to Greensburg Central Catholic’s David Pienaar.
Connellsville sophomore Josh Martin lost to junior Mark Powell, of Trinity, in the 130-pound weight class by a 5-2 decision. Martin competed in the consolation bracket on Saturday.
In the 152-pound weight class, Waynesburg sophomore Corbin Semple lost to Connellsville favorite Jarrod King, a junior, by a 7-4 decision, dropping Semple to the consolation bracket.
After losing Thursday night in the 160-pound weight class, Belle Vernon sophomore Justin Brumley lost in the first round of the consolation bracket to senior Nick Dlugonski from Trinity at the 51-second mark.
Another Belle Vernon wrestler who lost Thursday night was Eric Zyske in the 171-pound weight class. He was defeated in the first round of the consolation bracket by a 7-0 decision to Moon senior Nate Ruffing.
“I’m a little disappointed for the kids, because they all worked hard this year,” said Belle Vernon first-year head coach Kevin Corbett. “I though we did very well this year and had a winning team, though, so we’ll just get back to work and look forward to the future.”
In the 189-pound class, Connellsville junior Jim Tony lost to North Allegheny senior Eric Cassidy on a 7-1 decision and dropped to the consolation round.
Albert Gallatin senior Mark Berry (215) lost to favorite Scott McKillop, a junior from Kiski Area in 50 seconds to drop into the consolation round.
Uniontown junior Dan Newlon (215) lost to Central Catholic senior Nic San Doval by fall at the 2:45 mark to drop to the consolation bracket.
Senior Steve Hughes, from Connellsville, and senior Ryan Martelli, from Albert Gallatin, both in the 275 and over weight class, wrestled Friday night in the consolation round.
Hughes defeated senior McKeesport Andrew Macey on a fall at the two-minute mark, and Martelli defeated Hempfield junior Josh Shulman on a 2-1 overtime decision.
The tournament picked up again Saturday with a full day of wrestling that concluded with the championships and consolation bracket winners for third place.