Derry freshmen shine at Southmoreland Holiday Wrestling Classic
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Thursday, December 28, 2023 | 9:09 PM
Derry freshman Brady Brown puts Beth-Center senior Jake Layhue on his back during the 189-pound final at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic on Thursday.
Plum senior Antonio Walker takes down River Valley senior Kaden Barnhart during the 160-pound final at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic on Thursday.
Valley’s Charles Perkins escapes the hold of Corry’s Mason Savitz during the 172-pound final at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic on Thursday.
Derry freshman Mason Horwat attempts an arm bar against Freedom’s Ryan Kredel during the 145-pound final at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic on Thursday.
Somerset heavyweight Zane Hagans takes down Mt. Pleasant sophomore Dylan Pitzer during the finals at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic on Thursday.
Mt. Pleasant senior Jamison Poklembo tries to escape the grasp of United’s Caden McCully during the 152-pound final at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic on Thursday.
Butler sophomore Santino Sloboda (left) tries to hold down Derry’s Anthony Mucci during the 114-pound final at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic on Thursday.
Mt. Pleasant sophomore Dylan Pitzer secures the winning takedown against Somerset heavyweight Zane Hagans in the finals at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic on Thursday.
Baldwin’s Rami Islamov (right) and Butler’s Kase Chopp scramble during the 139-pound final at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic on Thursday.
Two Derry freshmen turned in quite a performance at the 2023 Southmoreland Holiday Wrestling Classic on Thursday.
Both won titles with impressive victories and helped the Trojans to a fourth-place finish.
Corry, from District 10, won the team title. United was second and Somerset was third.
The Trojans had three wrestlers in the finals. Mason Horwat at 145 pounds and Brady Brown at 189 won titles and Anthony Mucci finished second, falling to Butler sophomore Santino Sloboda, 3-0, at 114.
Horwat overpowered Freedom’s Ryan Kredel, 16-4, to improve to 11-2 on the season.
Brown improved to 13-0 by taking down Beth-Center senior Jake Layhue, 8-0.
“Both are hard workers,” Derry coach Troy Dolan said. “They’re always putting in extra work and looking to get better.
“I’ve been working with them since seventh grade and it’s enjoyable to see them improve on a daily basis. We’re confident that they were able to compete against the older wrestlers.”
Horwat battled a nose bleed during his match, but it didn’t prevent him from rolling up the points.
He took Kredel down twice in the first period and then turned him for near-fall points.
Even though he dominated his five opponents — he had a pin, a technical fall and three major decisions — Horwat said he can do better.
“I feel I need to be better in the neutral position,” Horwat said. “I’m looking forward to the (Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association) tournament next week and I hope to get a chance to face (Hempfield senior) Eli Carr.”
Brown got a first-period takedown against Layhue and then picked up a three-point near-fall.
“I’m happy with my performance,” Brown said. “I didn’t think I wrestled well. High school wrestling is a lot tougher than middle school. I used to overpower my opponent and pin them.
“Here I know I have to score more points. If I do that, I can wear my opponents down. I realized early on that I needed to change my style.”
Dolan said the game plan against Layhue was to get up early and control the action on top.
“We have high expectations on both of them,” Dolan said. “Both are very dedicated. I felt we wrestled well as a team.”
Brown went 5-0 with a pin, two technical falls and two major decisions.
“I’m scoring more points this year in matches than I have my entire career,” Brown said.
Mt. Pleasant also had two champions. Jamison Poklembo defeated United’s Caden McCully, 3-0, at 152 pounds and Dylan Pitzer got past Somerset’s Zane Hagans, 4-2, at heavyweight.
Fox Chapel’s Michael Worsen won the 121-pound crown, defeating Corry’s Logan Hodak, 7-2.
Baldwin’s Ramil Islamov took the 139-pound title in an all-WPIAl final with a 10-5 win over Butler’s Kase Chopp.
Plum’s Antonino Walker won the 160-pound championship with a 7-1 victory over Kaden Barnhart of River Valley.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
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