Jan 15, 2026 By Jonathan Guth 5 min read

CONNELLSVILLE — Duane Dupont has seen his teams compete against Connellsville many times in his 33 years of coaching at Albert Gallatin and Laurel Highlands.

The Falcons are consistently one of the top teams in the WPIAL, and this season is shaping up to be no different, as Connellsville downed the Colonials, 65-9, in a Section 8-3A dual meet on Wednesday at Connellsville Area High School.

The Falcons improved to 2-0 in section play and 10-2 overall. Connellsville’s two setbacks this season are to nationally-ranked St. Edwards, Ohio, and Canon-McMillan, who like the Falcons, are normally in the mix for a district championship every year.

“They (Connellsville) are solid and you have to be ready in all three positions when you compete against them,” Dupont said. “You can’t relax during a match, especially when you are wrestling kids like they have. We battled but I thought we were going to be a little bit more competitive, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

Connellsville won seven matches by fall, as Nolan Rice (127), Landon Lynn (133), Kai Vielma (145), Jake Lilley (160), Cooper Lembo (172), Dylan Lytle (189) and Zachary Franks (114) planked their opponents.

The Falcons’ Daniel Smith won by technical fall, 15-0, in 3:09 at 139 pounds. Teammates Luke Lilley (152), Ryan Brown (215) and Tommy Gretz (121) won by forfeit.

Connellsville challenges itself each year with a brutal schedule, and because of that, some members of the team face adversity when they are battling the best wrestlers in the country. Falcons coach Bill Swink was pleased with the results for those kids.

“Our schedule is tough, so it is nice to see some of our kids win matches in what has been a challenging season for them in terms of wins and losses,” Swink said. “AG is tough and they have a good team. I have been looking at their results, and they have been doing well, so I think our kids wrestled well tonight.”

Colin Rockwell earned an 8-2 decision over Roghan Hollis at 285, which earned three team points for Albert Gallatin (0-2, 5-4). The Colonials’ Gavin Morris won by forfeit at 107.

“I thought Colin wrestled a solid match, and it was nice to see him get a win there,” Dupont said. “We will get back in the room, and the kids have to start going a little bit harder. We will look at some things and see what we can improve on. We don’t have anything scheduled this weekend, so we have some time to work.”

Connellsville will continue action this Saturday and Sunday in the Escape the Rock tournament at Council Rock South High School in Holland.

“The Escape the Rock is just a hair behind Powerade when it comes to the quality of competition,” Swink said. “We will see a lot of the same teams there that we saw at Powerade, so it will be a good test for our kids. It is also the furthest trip for our team. The school is about four-and-a-half hours away.”

Girls

Canon-McMillan 47, Connellsville 20 — If one just looked at the score of the Lady Big Macs’ dual meet against the Lady Falcons, they would think Canon-McMillan defeated Connellsville easily.

Those who were in attendance witnessed an exciting dual meet that saw the Lady Big Macs prevail after winning six bouts and receiving three forfeits to improve to 4-0.

“I thought we were pretty even in our matches,” Canon-McMillan assistant coach Sheila Mitchell said. “We were glad to get our girls the mat time. We look forward to competing against a solid program like Connellsville.”

Canon-McMillan’s Maila Ramos (118), Marlee Solomon (130) and Audrey Calgaro (170) all won by fall.

The Lady Big Macs’ Alaya Henderson earned four near-fall points in the second period for a 4-0 decision over Jayden Wiltrout in the 148-pound weight class. Teammate Kadence Merigo edged Olivia Shultz, 9-5, at 155.

“Kadence (Merigo) has a lot of strength, but she is newer to the sport,” Mitchell said. “We had her a couple of years ago, but she had some injuries. She is back and these dual meets are good for her to get some mat time for the tournaments that are coming up.”

Araceli Clem started the dual meet off on the right foot at 100 with an 18-2 technical fall in 4:15. Clem has been injured, but Mitchell is glad to have her back.

“Araceli (Clem) came back tonight and she looked strong,” Mitchell said. “She was able to shake the rust off a little bit, and that’s good.”

Canon-McMillan’s Yunuen Ayala (124), Zoey Bogos (136) and London Ellis (235) won by forfeit.

“I thought Jayden (Wiltrout) and Olivia (Shultz) had good matches at 148 and 155,” Swink said. “We had opportunities to potentially win those matches. We gave up some forfeits and we are hoping to get Emma Petrovich back. She had labrum surgery last spring, but she is getting close to returning to the lineup.”

Connellsville’s Ravyn Cameron-Botti edged Giana Wingfield, 2-1, at 190. The two traded escapes before Cameron-Botti received a penalty point when Wingfield was called for fleeing the mat.

The Lady Falcons’ Trinity Moore won by fall in 4:30 at 112.

“Ravyn wrestled that girl for fifth and sixth at Powerade, and it went to double-overtime, so we knew it was going to be a tough match, but she got the win,” Swink said. “Trinity started slow but she kept on coming.”

Connellsville’s Alisa-Marie Yauger won by fall in 1:50 at 142. Teammate Alison Leon earned a 25-10 technical fall in 4:15 at 100.

The Lady Falcons dropped to 4-3 this season.