Class AA No. 1 Burrell’s dominance continues with Section 3 victory over Highlands

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 2, 2019 | 10:54 PM

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Burrell didn’t take many days off during the holidays, and the Bucs didn’t give Highlands much of a break, either.

A businesslike Burrell team continued its Section 3-AA dominance Wednesday night, using six pins to overwhelm host Highlands, 66-6.

The No. 1 Bucs (3-1, 3-0) were coming off competition at the difficult Powerade Christmas Tournament, with the Westmoreland County championships looming this weekend, but they didn’t overlook a motivated, resurgent Highlands team.

“We practiced New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day — no days off, really,” Burrell coach Josh Shields said. “The guys got a day off on Sunday … but you always wonder some of those matches after holidays how kids are feeling, (whether they’re) taking a break, not training, but we stayed focused. We’ve been training hard for the last two and a half months.”

Aaron Edwards (106 pounds), Trent Valovchik (126), Bryan Gaul (132), Danny McCarthy (170), Zach Rupert (195) and Mason Slahtovsky (220) won by pinfall for Burrell, which won 10 of the 11 contested matches and picked up three forfeits.

“Bonus points are huge, especially come February for team states,” said Gaul, whose 1 minute, 16 second pin of Owen Burroughs gave him 100 career victories. “You get that pin, that’s double a decision. So we need bonus points, and we need everyone fighting off our back; we can’t get pinned, either.”

Heavyweight Jeremiah Nelson won by pin for Highlands (7-6, 1-2).

Golden Rams coach Grant Walters termed the match against the 12-time defending WPIAL champion Bucs a good learning experience for his team, which has just two seniors.

“They work hard, they are very well-coached, and they’re grinders,” Walters said. “That’s what Burrell is — they’re grinders. We’re trying our best to push that into our kids: be the ones that are grinding the whole time. That’s the tradition over there, that’s what they do.

“We’re coming along. We have such a young team that this is just a learning experience.”

Burrell senior Austin Mele began the match with a decision over Highlands freshman Brock White at 160 pounds, and the Bucs got bonus points in the next four bouts: pins by McCarthy, Zach Rupert — in the final second of the first period — and Slahtovsky, plus a forfeit victory for Ricky Feroce at 182 pounds.

“It’s a long season, it’s a hard season, so I always tell my guys if you have an opportunity to pin someone, to go for it,” Shields said. “Especially in a match where the score might be out of the way, but still do bonus points not only for the team but also the longer you’re out there, the more likely an injury could happen. When we have a guy on his back, we always preach to get a pin.”

After Nelson’s pin got Highlands on the board, Burrell won the final eight bouts of the match. Edwards, Valovchik and Gaul got pins, and the Bucs added decisions from Nick Salerno at 113 pounds over Jrake Burford, from Noah Linderman at 145 pounds over Blake Clark and from Dominic Holmes at 152 over Chase D’Angelo.

Ian Oswalt and A.J. Corrado won by forfeit at 120 and 138, respectively.

Walters said his team could learn the importance of wrestling more aggressively.

“You can’t win wrestling matches sitting on your heels, and any coach in any state will tell you,” Walters said. “You can’t win backing up; it doesn’t happen. If you don’t get on your offense, he’s not going to get on his. It’s a battle out there. I learned a lot tonight as a coach, and I think we all learned a lot about what we need to do and what we need to improve on.”

Burrell won’t get much time off, as the Bucs begin the county tournament on Friday. And after that, Shields said, the real push to the postseason begins.

“Our team (has) big goals this year for the team, big goals individually for everyone,” Gaul said. “We’re just going to keep on chipping away, keep on working, taking it day by day, and accomplish our goals come February for the team and March for individuals.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Burrell, Highlands