Boys Wrestling places eighth at Bethlehem Holiday Classic
North Allegheny traveled to Bethlehem Liberty High School to take part in the Bethlehem Holiday Classic over Christmas break. The Tigers had five wrestlers place in the top seven, three of them getting to the finals and accumulated 121.5 team points, good enough for eighth place. Nazareth claimed the team title with 171 points.
Bradyn McConneha was the lone NA wrestler to take gold in the tournament.
McConneha got a first round bye before making quick work of Myles Lysek from Parkland, pinning him in 46 seconds. The quarterfinals was another quick one as McConneha got the pin in 22 seconds. The semifinals were a little more competitive as McConneha won by fall in the third period. In the final, McConneha defeated Daniel Schiffert by a 4-3 decision to take the gold medal at 285 pounds.
Griffen Reid and Evan Schomburg each claimed silver medals at their respective weights.
Reid had a bye in the first round before winning his first match by tech fall (16-0). Reid claimed both the quarterfinal and semifinal match by major decision to set up a showdown with Kennett’s Zack Jaffe in the finals. Reid fell to Jaffe by a 7-1 decision giving him a runner-up finish at 152 pounds.
Schomburg did not receive a bye but won his first two matches by fall. In the quarterfinals, Schomburg took down Anthony Pettinelli of Phillipsburg (NJ) by a 4-1 decision. Schomburg had a very competitive match in the semifinals defeating Council Rock South’s John Segata by decision (5-4) to get to the final. In the final, Schomburg fell to Teagan Caciolo of Emmaus, 7-1, to finish in second place at 121.
Gus Stedeford and Joseph Synan both finished the day in seventh place.
Stedeford won his first round match by tech fall and second round match by major decision to get to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Stedeford fell to Jude Salko of Hazelton Area. In the consolation bracket, Stedeford won his first match by major decision before falling 7-3 to Matthew Velez of Parkland, placing him in the seventh-place match. Stedeford rolled Honesdale’s Justin Scanlon by major decision (11-2) to claim seventh place at 133 pounds.
Synan got a first round bye at 107 pounds before falling to Quinn Bagnell of Council Rock South by major decision in the second round. Synan battled through the consolation bracket winning three matches in a row before dropping a 10-3 decision to Whitehall’s Dionte Wheeler, to get to the seventh-place match. In the seventh-place match, Synan won by tech fall over Jacob Stanchak from Boyertown (19-3) to finish the day in seventh.
Charles Miller and Gabriel Hernandez ended the day with a 3-2 record. Brody Barnhart and Myles Hoover each picked up a win.
For complete results, click here.
North Allegheny returns to section play on Wednesday when they host the Pine-Richland Rams at UPMC Court at 7 p.m. This match will be broadcast live on the North Allegheny Sports Network.
