Tigers Upended At Section Tournament, Shaler Wins Title
It was a tough night at the Section 3-AAA Championships on Wednesday night for the North Allegheny wrestling team as the Tigers dropped a pair of matches and Shaler celebrated a section crown. The Tigers opened the night with Shaler and were edged by the Titans, 34-33. In the consolations, North Allegheny again lost in a tight one as the Indians outlasted the Tigers, 36-33.
In the opening matchup with the Shaler Titans, North Allegheny held a 21-10 lead thanks to decisions by Jacob Fritch (170), Jimmy Turici (182) and Chuck Sanders (285). Those three decisions, combined with wins by forfeit for Francis Duggan (195) and Jacob Downing (106), led to the Tigers 11-point advantage. The Turici 8-6 decision in overtime over Jeremy Barnhardt earned him Wright Automotive Wrestler of the Match honors.
Despite falling behind early, Shaler rolled off five straight victories to turn the tables on the Tigers. After a 2-0 decision by Ian Scarberry at 113 pounds, Dylan Winters (120), Eric Warren (126) and Mike Heinl (132) came through with three consecutive pin falls to give Shaler a 31-21 lead with three bouts to go.
In desperate need of a victory, Will Baierl nearly came through with a fall as he twice had the shoulders of opponent Garrett Reinsfelder near the mat but the Shaler sophomore staved off disaster and rallied back from a 10-5 deficit to earn a 14-12 decision in overtime. The win by Reinsfelder sealed the deal for the Titans and garnered Shaler a berth in the section championship. From there, the Titans defeated Seneca Valley, 37-30, for the section title.
In the consolation matchup with North Hills, the Tigers again built a sizeable lead before the Indians rallied back. Courtesy of pin falls from Duggan (195), Derick Devine (220) and Downing (106), the Tigers constructed a 21-9 advantage over their neighborhood rival.
An apparent leg injury to Gabe Falo at 113 pounds gave Zane Curry a win by injury default and served as a bad omen of things to come for NA. Gage Curry (120), Armend Murtezi (126) and John MacPherson (132) collected three consecutive falls to pull the Indians ahead, 33-21.
In a rematch of the championship bout at 138 pounds at the Allegheny County Tournament, NA junior Jake Hinkson again defeated Keagan Lawson in a 6-2 decision to give back some momentum to the Tigers and solidified who the best wrestler in the county is at 138 pounds. For his efforts, Hinkson was named the Wrestler of the Match.
Hinkson’s victory trimmed the score to 33-24 and the Tigers came back to tie the score following a fall by A.J. Boeh (145) and a 6-4 decision by Jacob Smalley (152). With the score tied at 33-33, it came down to the final bout at 160 pounds. North Hills’ Nathan Mankey turned in a 6-0 decision over George Francic to give the Indians a 36-33 victory in the Section 3-AAA consolations.
North Allegheny falls to 6-6 overall on the season following the section tournament. The Tigers will await their seeding in the WPIAL Team Tournament following today’s WPIAL Wrestling Steering Committee meeting.
Wrestling Match Summary: NA vs. Shaler
Section 3-AAA Semifinal| Weight | Wrestlers | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 160 | Jake Mikovitz (SA) pinned George Francic (NA) | 1:26 |
| 170 | Jacob Fritch (NA) dec. Jim Demore (SA) | 1-0 |
| 182 | Jimmy Turici (NA) dec. Jeremy Barnhart (SA) | 8-6 (OT) |
| 195 | Francis Duggan (NA) wbf | |
| 220 | Ron D'Amico (SA) maj. dec. Derick Devine (NA) | 15-4 |
| 285 | Chuck Sanders (NA) dec. Jim Clark (SA) | 5-1 |
| 106 | Jacob Downing (NA) wbf | |
| 113 | Ian Scarberry (SA) dec. Gabe Falo (NA) | 2-0 |
| 120 | Dylan Winters (SA) pinned Jiatian Qu (NA) | 0:27 |
| 126 | Eric Warren (SA) pinned Andrew Wang (NA) | 0:36 |
| 132 | Mike Heinl (SA) pinned Devin Lasch (NA) | 0:43 |
| 138 | Garrett Reinsfelder (SA) dec. Will Baierl (NA) | 14-12 (OT) |
| 145 | Jake Hinkson (NA wbf | |
| 152 | A.J. Boeh (NA) wbf |
***********
Wrestling Match Summary: NA vs. North Hills
Section 3-AAA Consolations| Weight | Wrestlers | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 170 | Jacob Fritch (NA) dec. Jacob Stotz (NH) | 2-0 |
| 182 | Devon Cuda (NH) pinned Jimmy Turici (NA) | |
| 195 | Francis Duggan (NA) pinned Brian Fulton (NH) | |
| 220 | Derick Devine (NA) pinned Kevin Dreyer (NH) | |
| 285 | Sean Bright (NH) dec. Chuck Sanders (NA) | 7-3 |
| 106 | Jacob Downing (NA) pinned Megan Reichle (NH) | |
| 113 | Zane Curry (NH) inj. default Gabe Falo (NA) | |
| 120 | Gage Curry (NH) pinned Mohammed Khatami (NA) | |
| 126 | Armend Murtezi (NH) pinned Jiatian Qu (NA) | |
| 132 | John MacPherson (NH) pinned Devin Lasch (NA) | |
| 138 | Jake Hinkson (NA) dec. Keagan Lawson (NH) | 6-2 |
| 145 | A.J. Boeh (NA) pinned Luke Fotta (NH) | |
| 152 | Jacob Smalley (NA) dec. Val Caruso (NH) | 6-4 |
| 160 | Nathan Mankey (NH) dec. George Francic (NA) | 6-0 |