Kiski Area Perfect in Winning WPIAL Wrestling 3-A Title

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, February 4, 2017 | 6:09 PM

Kiski Area capped off an incredible season on the mat, as the Cavaliers remained undefeated in capturing the 2017 WPIAL Class AAA Championship at Penn Hills High School. The top-seeded Cavaliers (19-0) defeated Canon-McMillan 41-21 to claim the first team wrestling title since 2003.

The Cavs and No. 2 seed Big Macs exchanged falls at the onset, as Kiski’s Nick Delp and Canon-McMillan’s Gerrit Nijenhuis provided pins in the 152-pound and 160-pound weight classes, respectively. Next, the Big Macs’ took a brief lead, as 170 pounder Blaze Kansco notched a decision. The Cavs responded, though, as Kiski’s Vinny Romano secured a decision to deadlock the score at 9-9.

The following bout, at 195, proved to be the turning point of the event, as unheralded sophomore Alec Hendal of Canon-McMillan squared off against Kiski’s Danny Starr, who entered the day with a record of 24-5. Within the first few seconds, Hendal had Starr in a prone position, and was just inches away for scoring a fall. Starr fought off that attempt, though, and managed to reverse into offense of his own. Moments later, Starr notched the fall, giving his team the 15-9 lead and a wave of momentum.

Kiski Area head coach Chris Heater detailed Starr’s resolve, and how his victory was a turning point for the Cavs.

“We felt pretty confident in our guy, and their guy came out and hit him with a nice dump to his back and it was kind of scary,” Heater noted. “It showed you how much heart (Starr) had to battle out of there, because he had him close to being stuck a couple of times, and he refused to be pinned, and to be able to reverse and come back and pin him, that is a game-changer, a momentum changer for our team. We kind of took control from that match on.”

Proving that point, Tom Starr followed up by also gaining a fall for Kiski to stake his team to a 12-point advantage. Although Brendan Furman scored a decision to trim into the deficit for the Big Macs, Darren Miller of the Cavs followed with a major decision, 12-4, to push the Kiski lead back to double digits.

Although Canon-McMillan (11-2) received a decision and a forfeit to pull within four points, 25-21, the Cavs sealed the outcome by winning the final four matchups. Matt Siszka moved up from his typical weight class and competed in 126, scoring a major decision. Noah Levett then secured a 3-1 decision, and Cam Connor also prevailed in a 3-1 decision, in overtime, to clinch the victory for Kiski. In the final bout, Joey Blumer provided the exclamation point, as he gained a fall in the 145-pound class.

Although Kiski has been in the semifinals on a regular basis, finally getting over the hump was an accomplish that the entire squad will celebrate.

“We’ve been in the final four a ton of times. In AAA, it’s very hard to be the winner, and we’re very excited to come out on top,” Heater explained. “These guys are just a special group of guys. They’ve worked super hard all year, and they got what they deserved.”

In reaching the finals, the Cavs bested Franklin Regional in lopsided fashion, 51-16. Meanwhile, Canon-McMillan edged North Allegheny, 34-28. In the third-place match, the Tigers defeated the Panthers, 32-25, as North Allegheny earned the final PIAA Class AAA bid.

2017 WPIAL Class AAA Championship:

Kiski Area 41, Canon-McMillan 21

152 Nick Delp (KA) fall Stefan Richer (CM)

160 Gerrit Nijenhuis (CM) fall Logan Pollick (KA)

170 Blaze Kansco (CM) dec. Brad Nagy (KA) 5-2

182 Vinny Romano (KA) dec. Bryan Milligan (CM) 9-2

195 Danny Starr (KA) fall Alec Hendal (CM)

220 Tom Starr (KA) fall Zach Rohaley (CM)

285 Brendan Furman (CM) dec. Isaac Reid (KA) 7-4

106 Darren Miller (KA) major dec. Jacob Gardner (CM) 12-4

113 Ken Hayman (CM) dec. Jared Curcio (KA) 5-0

120 Logan Macri (CM) forfeit

126 Matt Siszka (KA) major dec. Anthony Mastrangelo (CM) 19-6

132 Noah Levett (KA) dec. Matt O’Block (CM) 3-1

138 Cam Connor (KA) dec. Tim Hritsko (CM) 3-1 (OT)

145 Joey Blumer (KA) fall Skyler Adams (CM)

Tags: Canon-McMillan, Kiski School