updates

Waynesburg wrestling fans,

   The Waynesburg wrestling team defended their PAC title, by winning 6 individual titles.  I am extremely proud of the team, and the way that they wrestled Friday night.  Each wrestler that we sent out onto the mat gave us their best effort.  All 26 wrestlers helped to contribute to our teams success.  We now are looking forward to the Midwest Region in 2 weeks , where we will try to qualify our guys for the National Tournament in Wisconsin.  Make sure to follow our team at www.waynesburg.edu Thanks for all those that came out to support us throughout the year. It was especially nice to see so many parents and alumni at the PAC tournament.

 

Coach Headlee

 

WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Feb. 11) – At last year’s Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) wrestling championships, Waynesburg University stopped Thiel’s 10-year run as the kings of the conference mats. This year, the roles were reversed and the Tomcats, along with Washington & Jefferson, looked to keep the Yellow Jackets from adding a second title to their trophy case.

 

After two rounds, The Jackets held just a five-point edge on the Cats. However, the Jackets picked up five of their championship-best six individual titles in the third and final round of action and cruised to the 2011 PAC team title.

 

“Everybody wrestled just excellently tonight,” said third-year Waynesburg head coach Ron Headlee. “We really had no bad performances tonight. Usually you’ll have a good round then maybe not perform so well in the next round, but I didn’t feel that we had any bad rounds tonight.”

 

Waynesburg ended the night with 146 team points, which shattered their total from last year (105.5). Thiel followed with 107 points, while W&J, which was wrestling without an entrant at 125 or 133 pounds because of injury, totaled just 45.5 points.

 

Waynesburg’s first individual champion of the night was also the tournament’s first champion. Senior Nick Garber picked up a pair of falls in the first two rounds of competition to claim his second conference crown, and his first since his freshman year. The Waynesburg native stuck W&J’s Chris Leva at 6:18 of their bout, and ended his night by pinning Thiel’s Jeff Hart in just 1:17 in their second-round match.

 

Waynesburg’s second champion of the night came at the 1:28 mark of the only 125-pound bout of the night as sophomore Alex Crown put away Thiel’s Tyler Pier by fall. After the Tomcats fired back with a title at 133 pounds and got a big break thanks to an injury default by W&J at 141 that gave Thiel some crucial points, Waynesburg’s outstanding freshman Luke Lohr rebounded with his first PAC title. He controlled W&J sophomore Tyler Berger to the tune of a 7-1 decision to give the Jackets their third champion in the first four weight classes.

 

Perhaps the most thrilling win of the night came in the 157-pound final between Thiel’s Alec Miller and Waynesburg junior Garrett Johnston. The two competitors were tied up 1-1 after regulation and the match went into overtime. In that period, the heady Johnston used a pinning combination from a defensive position to stick Miller and claim his first PAC title.

 

After Thiel claimed the individual crown at 165 pounds, Waynesburg’s Jared Roberts, who was wrestling in his final bout at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse, squared off with W&J sophomore Eric Kohr. Roberts didn’t waste any time in winning his first PAC title, which came by way of the fastest pin of the night (:54).

 

With an opportunity to clinch the team championship on the line, Waynesburg sophomore Cody Catalina hit the mat to square off with Thiel’s Billy Roosa. Ironically, Catalina faced Roosa with an opportunity to clinch the teams’ dual match back on Jan. 28. The second-year starter beat Roosa that night, and did it again on Friday, this time by 6-2 decision, to win his first conference crown and clinch the win for Waynesburg.

 

W&J got their one and only individual title at 197 pounds from Robbie Mies, and with the heavyweight title already claimed by Thiel after the second round, Waynesburg freshman Marty Kisla faced off with former PAC heavyweight champion Taylor Potts to determine second place. Kisla sent the Jacket fans home happy with 4-1 decision over Potts that brought a standing ovation from his teammates.

 

Kisla was not expected to start for Waynesburg, but an illness sidelined outstanding freshman big man Brandon Fedorka for the evening. Kisla responded by coming two points shy of a conference title. He lost to Thiel’s Will Ringer 6-4 in the fourth overtime of the duo’s first-round match.

 

“I feel bad for Brandon not getting to be here,” Headlee said. “He’s worked so hard all season.”

 

Kisla was one of two Waynesburg backups to not only compete on Friday night, but pick up victories as well. Freshman Sam Lombardo, who has been wrestling up from his usual 149/157 weight class at 165 pounds for the past few weeks, scored a thrilling 3-1 win over talented W&J freshman David Dibenedetto in the first round of competition.

 

After the night’s competition had ended, Headlee was named PAC Coach of the Year for the second-straight season and Roberts earned the PAC Outstanding Wrestler Award. It was an especially happy ending for Roberts’ night, especially when one considers that the third-year member of the team almost didn’t wrestle this season.

 

As an education major at Waynesburg, Roberts is required to student teach to complete his degree, which, when combined with a daily commute that lasts around a half-hour or longer, left him with an incredibly full schedule. However, he decided to try and make it work and the reward came on Friday.

 

“I’m really glad I came out,” a smiling Roberts said. “I was a little surprised that I got the award. [Morris] is a really good wrestler, but we work out so hard and we try to wear a guy out so we can put them away in the third period.”

 

For a complete match-by-match recap of Friday’s championships, click here.

 

After successfully defending its PAC title, the Waynesburg wrestling team will have two weeks to get ready for the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championships, which will be held at Wabash College on Saturday, Feb. 26. Garber goes into the event as a two-time defending champion. Fedorka, who is currently listed as an honorable mention honoree in the d3wrestle.com national rankings, is expected to compete at the event, which is the final step before qualifying for the national championships.