Bell holds his own against Hall
Darnell Graham
Belle Vernon’s Derek Verkleeren (gold) pins Portage’s Steven Lawrence to the mat with a left wrist hold in the 152-pound weight class during the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic held at Fitzgerald Field House at Pitt.
Darnell Graham
Southmoreland’s Jacob Beistel (standing) fends off a lock by Merrillville’s Shawn Streck during the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic held at Fitzgerald Field House at Pitt.
Beth-Center's 170-pounder Anthony Walsh is pinned to the mat within one minute and three seconds by Lowell's Drew Hughes during the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic at Fitzgerald Field House.
PITTSBURGH — Belle Vernon Area’s Austin Bell put a charge into the crowd at Pitt’s Fitzgerald Field House Saturday night when he shocked the No. 1 wrestler in the country, Mark Hall III, regardless of weight class with a takedown within the first 20 seconds of their 170-pound battle in the 42nd Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic.
Bell took the “nothing to lose” attitude on the mat with him and not only took Hall III down, but he bloodied his nose in the process.
“I knew if I could get the opening takedown, that would put the crowd on my side and who knows what could have happened,” Bell said moments after dropping an 8-4 decision to yet another big-time Penn State recruit.
Bell hung with Hall III, taking a 4-3 lead a minute into the second period, but Hall III responded as you would have expected, getting a takedown to take a 5-4 lead with 36 seconds left in the second.
The senior from Apple Valley, Minnesota, who won six high school titles and finished his career with a 277-4 record, added three more points in the final period but Bell, a Pitt recruit, was pleased with himself.
“He’s a good wrestler but not that much better than me,” Bell said. “I was in that match and I know if I had wrestled a little better, I could have won.”
The win gave Team USA a 25-20 victory, the fifth straight time they’ve won the battle with Pennsylvania.
The other area wrestling in that featured matchup was Southmoreland heavyweight Jake Beistel, who suffered an 8-4 decision to Shawn Streck, a two-time state champion from Indiana with a 175-8 high school record.
“That wasn’t the way I wanted to end things,” Beistel said, although he’ll wrestle one more high school tournament in Virginia Beach before he puts away the singlet for good. “We knew it was going to be hard to counter his high left crotch move because of my offensive attack. But it’s on me, I needed to wrestle better. It’s hard to wrestle in a tournament like this two or three weeks after the season ends, but it is what it is.”
Beistel and his coach, Ryan Shaw, knew what they were in for.
“The kid is a great wrestler, we knew that,” said Shaw, who is also retiring as coach at the end of the school year. “In the years I’ve been with him, I’ve only seen two guys lift him up. That’s how strong the kid was and that’s why he’s ranked second in the country. I know that wasn’t the outcome he was looking for, but he’s participated in a lot of firsts for our school. And he fulfilled a life-time dream of mine, having a wrestler in the Classic.”
The WPIAL won the preliminary bout in the Classic, rolling to a 27-14 win. Participants from the area in that one included three from Belle Vernon and one each from Waynesburg and Beth-Center.
Belle Vernon coach Mike Doppelheuer, along with Burrell coach Josh Shields, served as coaches for the teams.
“It’s amazing to watch all of these great athletes wrestle and perform,” he said after the WPIAL’s victory.
Beth-Center’s Anthony Welsh’s time in the Wrestling Classic was brief.
Wrestling at 170 pounds, the B-C senior was pinned in 1:03 by Drew Hughes of Lowell, Ind. Hughes had compiled a 167-4 high school record and was a two-time state champion. Hughes was clearly the best wrestler on the Indiana team.
Waynesburg’s Shaun Wilson dominated Indiana’s Even Eldred of Westfield 8-3 executing his patented duck-under move for a couple takedowns. Eldred was 153-21 in high school.
At 152 pounds, Belle Vernon’s Derek Verkleeren showed some slick moves early in his bout against Steven Lawrence of Portage, Ind. But he got caught by Lawrence (122-20) and was decked at 4:29.
BVA’s Mitch Hartman was on the mat next and he was matched up against Cael McCormick of Yorktown. In reality the match was a yawner for the first 4:52, but Hartman registered a takedown with eight seconds left, allowed an escape a couple seconds later and hung on for a 2-1 victory.
The second best wrestler on the Indiana team was Blake Rypel at 182. He finished his high school career with a 173-7 record and was a two-time Ohio state champion. He did everything but pin Belle Vernon’s Milton Kaboly, getting close a couple times but not quite getting it.
He ran up a 10-0 lead against Kaboly, who responded in the final period to get five points, but could do no better than a 10-5 loss.
“All three of our kids wrestled well,” Doppleheuer said. “Derek was leading with 10 seconds left, tried something and got pinned. It happens. Mitch wrestled very well and Milton needed one more period. He’s always been a slow starter and it happened again tonight. If he has one more period, I think he wins.”