Dec 30, 2015 By Mike Dudurich for The 5 min read

CANONSBURG — You have to give the Belle Vernon Area High School wrestling team a lot of credit.

The Leopards came into the Powerade Tournament as the top team in the WPIAL and with the expectation of being a force in the event, even though the No. 1 team in the country, Wyoming Seminary, was in the field.

Those hopes and expectations seemed to take a hit, however, when five of the eight Leopards who advanced to the quarterfinals lost, leaving coach Mike Doppleheuer’s team with just three semifinalists.

But by Wednesday night, eight wrestlers from BVA had placed and when the finals began Wyoming Seminary had 184 point and Belle Vernon was just behind with 182½. The fact that the leaders had four wrestlers in the finals and BVA had two didn’t help the Leopards’ cause to win the title.

The first of their two finalists, Zach Hartman, had a tough time with Brookville senior Tate Ortiz, surrendering three takedowns and being only able to get a takedown and an escape, dropping a 4-3 decision. The Leopards’ sophomore was close to scoring on a couple of occasions, but just couldn’t finish.

The Leopards capped off the night with a win, however, as 170-pounder Austin Bell hung on for a 5-4 win over Bethel Park’s Nico Bonaccorsi. Bell got a reversal with 19 seconds for the winning points.

“He capped off a great night for Belle Vernon wrestling,” coach Mike Doppleheuer said. “That was a match-up of two nationally-ranked wrestlers and, who knows, that could very well be a preview of the WPIAL championship.”

BVA hung in there and finished second behind Wyoming Seminary’s 194 points with a total of 189½.

“I think it shows everybody, including our team, that we can wrestle with the best teams in the country,” Doppleheuer said. “I built this schedule to be successful in the long run and hopefully it will pay off.”

Other Belle Vernon results included: Jacob Dunlop dropped a 1-0 decision to Brandon Kassis, of Parkland, to finish fourth at 106; Brock Godzin knocked off Jacob Lizak, of Parkland, 8-4, to finish seventh place at 138; second-seeded Kevin Budock, of Good Counsel, Md., outlasted Jarod Verkleeren, 2-1, ultimate rideout at 145 in the third-place consolation bout; Derek Verlkeeren decisioned Adam Whitmore, Cabell Midland, W.Va., 7-2, to finish seventh; George Walton, of Bound Brook, N.J., knocked off Mitchell Hartman, 7-1, to give the Leopard an eighth-place finish; and Bill Korber beat Marquis Cobbs, of Cave Spring, Va., 3-1, to finish seventh at 285.

Gavin Teasdale, Jefferson-Morgan’s outstanding 113-pounder, kept his streak of not having lost a varsity match alive with a tough 6-5 victory over Patrick Glory, of Delbarton, N.J. Teasdale was the top seed in his weight class, Glory the fifth seed. The two met in last year’s 106-pound finals with Teasdale pounding out a 13-3 decision.

Glory didn’t allow Teasdale to get rolling, giving up only three takedowns, the final one coming 58 seconds into the final period to give Teasdale a 6-4 lead. Glory escaped with five seconds left to set the final score.

Teasdale is now a two-time champion, winning as a freshman and sophomore. He also upped his career record to 56-0.

“I held back a little bit because it was obvious they had gameplanned on me, but that was on me because I wasn’t finishing my shots like I needed to,” he said.

The Rockets’ 182-pound standout, Bill Bowlen, was knocked out of championship contention in the quarterfinals, losing to Brandon Kui, of DePaul Catholic in N.J., 6-1. He battled his way back through the consolation bracket, losing one match short of the third-place bout. He finished seventh when Seth Fritts, of Plainview, Oklahoma, forfeited.

Waynesburg Central didn’t advance anyone into the finals this year.

Caleb Morris lost in the quarterfinals at 120 and battled his way through two consolation bouts, winning one and losing one. The put him against Gage Bayless, of Reynolds, in his final bout and Morris earned a 1-0 victory for a seventh-place finish.

Shaun Wilson battled the No. 1-ranked 138-pounder in the country, Luke Pletcher, of Latrobe, in the semifinals and came up a point short, 6-5.

“He’s a tough kid,” Waynesburg coach Joe Throckmorton said. “But Pletcher’s a tough kid, too. Our plan is to learn from these losses and take what we learn into the rest of the season.”

Wilson lost another tough match in the consolation round, 3-2, to Kiski Area’s Joey Blumer. He then put a solid 11-5 whipping on North Allegheny’s Jake Hinkson to finish fifth.

Another of Throckmorton’s wresters, 182-pounder Colin McCracken, was edged, 3-2, by Jake Woodley of North Allegheny in the semifinals. It didn’t get any easier for McCracken in the consolation round, he went up against defending state champion Greg Bulsak, of South Park, and was beaten, 4-2.

McCracken lost, 3-0, to Garrett Hoffman, of Montoursville, and finished eighth.