Coach’s son sparks Greensburg Salem over Latrobe

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 9, 2019 | 9:57 PM

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Sage Parsley surprised everyone except himself.

The Greensburg Salem senior was trailing Latrobe freshman Jack Pletcher late in the first period when he hit a lateral-drop.

He stunned the Latrobe fans and Pletcher with a pin, which fired up his teammates.

It helped Greensburg Salem (4-0, 4-0 Section 1-B) rally for a 44-27 victory Wednesday and helped the Golden Lions clinch a berth in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs later this month.

The top two teams in the sub-section automatically qualify for the WPIAL tournament. Latrobe (3-2, 2-2), which should finish in third place, will have to wrestle the third-place team from Section 1-A, Franklin Regional, to qualify for the postseason.

“I knew I could beat him,” Sage Parsley said. “I’m a little heavier, and he didn’t move. I looked over to my teammates, and they were so pumped up.”

Latrobe coach Mike Ciotti said that loss hurt and probably caused a nine-point swing.

“We needed to win a couple more in the lower weights,” Ciotti said. “I knew they would score bonus points in the upper weights. Now we have to wrestle a third-place match to get into the tournament.”

Latrobe jumped out to a 15-0 lead thanks to forfeits at 106 and 113, and a 7-0 win by Marino Angelicchio at 120.

But Nico Williams stopped that early momentum for Greensburg Salem by defeating Enzo Angelicchio, 7-4, at 126. Mason Jobe made it 15-7 with a major decision win at 132, but Latrobe junior Gabe Willochell pushed to Wildcats’ lead to 21-7 with a pin at 138.

That’s when things started turning in Greensburg Salem’s favor.

“I told Nico I expected a win,” Greensburg Salem coach Randy Parsley said. “When he won and Sage got the pin, I knew the match was over.”

Dajauhn Hertzog (145) picked up a win and then back-to-back pins by Ian Ewing (152) and Parsley (160) gave the Golden Lions a 22-21 lead.

“Sage is never out of a match, and he thrives on the big moves,” Randy Parsley said. “If he doesn’t pin him there, I don’t know if he wins the match. You never count him out with the throws.

“I told Sage to be ready for Pletcher if they bumped him up, and he was. His pinned fired up the team.”

After Logan Zitterbart’s pin at 170 gave Latrobe a 27-22 lead, the Golden Lions won the final four, including first-period pins by John Meyers (195), Trent Patrick (220) and Bill McChesney (285).

The victory sets up a first-place showdown Jan. 16 at Hempfield.

“It was a great win,” Randy Parsley said. “I’m proud of all of them because I called them out. They came to wrestle and now we can focus on Hempfield.”

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Greensburg Salem, Latrobe