Dec 30, 2015 By The 3 min read

Four local wrestlers, including a pair from the host squad, won individual titles Wednesday at the Southmoreland Excela Holiday Classic.

The Scots’ Tyler Griffiths (120) and Jake Beistel (285), as well as Beth-Center’s Anthony Welsh (170), repeated their championships. Albert Gallatin’s Tim Wallace wrestled his way to the top step on the podium at 160 pounds.

Greenville won the team crown with 186½ points on the strength of three individual champions. Butler was second with 170 points.

The Scotties finished eighth in the team standings with 106 points. Mount Pleasant was 11th with 98½ points. Beth-Center finished 13th, Albert Gallatin was 18th, and Laurel Highlands placed 24th in the team standings. West Greene scored 36½ team points, while Frazier’s Tyler Girvin accounted for the Commodores’ four points.

Hempfield also had three individual champions.

Griffiths was the top seed at 120 pounds. After a bye in the first round, he won by fall and technical fall to advance to the finals against Mount Pleasant’s Al Miscovich. Griffiths secured a 10-2 decision for the title.

Wallace was seeded third at 160 pounds. After a bye in the first round, Wallace won by fall and a 5-0 decision to advance to the finals against top-seeded GioVonne Sanders, of Jeannette. Wallace upended the Jayhawk wrestler with a 10-5 decision for the title.

Welsh advanced to the semifinals with a 19-4 technical fall, where he met Laurel Highlands’ Jimmy Pierce in a match between two of the top-scoring backs in the past football season. Welsh got the better of the Mustangs’ quarterback with a fall in 3:31. Welsh then capped his run with a 10-1 decision over Greensburg Salem’s Teegan Hahn.

Pierce finished fourth after losing a 6-1 decision to Butler’s Christian Sequete in the third-place consolation.

Beistel needed just 112 seconds to advance to the finals at 285 after a first-round bye. He didn’t win the title by fall, but Beistel did win in convincing fashion with a 15-5 major decision against Hollidaysburg’s Hunter Gill.

Southmoreland’s Evan Myers lost a 13-5 major decision to Freedom’s Kody Komora in the 145-pound title bout. Teammate Jaden Datz finished fourth at 160 pounds.

The Colonials received medal-producing performances from DJ Wallace (5, 120) and Mike Standish (6, 138).

The Mustangs’ Nate Ansell was pinned in 10 seconds in the 195-pound final by Butler’s Justin Johnson.

Mount Pleasant’s place-winners were Doug Bittner (5, 113), Austin Mihalcik (4, 126), Mike Novak (5, 132), and Josh Lind (4, 285).

The Bulldogs’ Dominic Fundy was seventh at 160 pounds and Bob Work place eighth at 195.

West Greene’s Conner Main won by a 17-0 technical fall against Forest Hills’ Eric Elgin in the third-place bout at 195 pounds. Teammate Cole Hamilton finished eighth at 170 pounds.