Feb 28, 2005 By Jim Downey 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – Connellsville’s Josh Martin tied a record that few have accomplished and can only be matched, not broken, in the future when he won his fourth Section 2-AAA title on his home mat Saturday night. Martin defeated Albert Gallatin’s Dave Bryson, 5-3, for the 145-pound title. Martin won at 112 as a freshman, 130 pounds as a sophomore and was the 145-pound champion in 2004. The senior relished his part in the wrestling lore of the program.

“There’s only a handful (in school history). It’s a privilege. I wanted to win my last match at this place,” said Martin of his accomplishment that came in his final bout in Connellsville’s gym.

“Only a handful have done it. It is very hard to do,” acknowledged Connellsville head coach Tom Dolde. “To win a section title as a freshman is very hard to do. When you are a 2-time winner, everyone is gunning for you and a three-time champion is even harder.

With decisions to be made about his future in academics and wrestling, Martin acknowledges this is the time he needs to shine. He finished third in the WPIAL at 140 pounds last year before being bumped out of the state tournament.

“I have some big decisions on where I want to go. I need to do something big,” Martin said. “My goal is to make the WPIAL and PIAA finals, and win. I can’t accept anything else.”

While Martin is makes up his mind about wrestling, the senior will be back on the court for tennis coach Don Campbell in mid-March as the Falcons’ top singles player.

TYSON-HOLYFIELD II: The consolation final at 130 pounds got a bit testy when Ringgold’s Justin Secrist apparently bit the forearm of Thomas Jefferson’s Jake Fisher leading to Secrist’s disqualification and some heated moments matside.

Cooler heads prevailed (with the help of Connellsville’s security) and Fisher accepted his third-place medal without incident.

ALL BY MYSELF: Uniontown only brought six wrestlers so the Red Raiders weren’t going to have much of an impact on the 42 available WPIAL tournament berths.

Those odds made Bobby Holt’s win in the consolation final at 140 pounds even sweeter.

“We didn’t have a full team so when you go into matches you know you’re going to lose,” said Holt, who pinned Thomas Jefferson’s Tyler Andres in 2:58 for third.

“These teams have 40 wrestlers. It’s cool to know we had two wrestlers make it to the consolations.”

As for his chances in the district tournament, Holt said, “Last year, I wanted to win a match. This time I want to get into the tournament a lot further.”