North Allegheny wrestling off to strong start

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, December 20, 2018 | 8:09 PM

Predicting how the North Allegheny wrestling team would perform at the Panther Holiday Classic would have been difficult before the season.

The Tigers’ lineup nearly featured more wrestlers without varsity experience than those who wrestled before.

While North Allegheny isn’t close to a finished product, it has showed some promising early returns. In addition to winning the Panther Holiday Classic, the Tigers won their first two Class AAA, Section 3B matches, including a 55-12 win over North Hills last Wednesday.

“We weren’t quite sure,” said Tigers assistant coach Dan Heckert about North Allegheny’s expectations. “We have six kids starting for us that have never wrestled a varsity match before this year. We expected them to do well, but we have the expectations to go out and wrestle and the wrestling will take care of itself.”

Results from North Allegheny’s section match against Indiana, scheduled for last Friday, were too late for this edition.

One of the fresh faces made a strong first impression. Dylan Coy, a 106-pound freshman, won his weight class at the tournament by beating Glendale’s Suds Dubler, 2-0, in the finals. Dubler was ranked sixth in the state in his weight class in Class AA.

“He’s a hard worker, going after it,” Heckert said. “It’s a big thing we preach is constant attack and constant scoring. He’s a two-time Pennsylvania junior high place-winner. He’s wrestled big matches before. It wasn’t new to him to be in those scenarios.”

Senior Jon Hoover (170 pounds) placed third, while Max Stedeford (120), Freddy Junko (126) and Nick Marcenelle (160) all placed fourth.

Hoover, who has committed to the Virginia Military Institute, has his sights set on the PIAA tournament.

“I believe I, and the rest of the team, have been working extremely hard in the offseason and the season so far we have made a lot of improvements in our wrestling,” Hoover said. “I believe I am able to push the pace in my matches.”

North Allegheny (2-0, 2-0) made quick work of the Indians.

Brady Walker (106 pounds), Bobby Snyder (152), Nick Marcenelle (160) and Brady Leczo (170) all won by pin.

If things continue to improve, North Allegheny will likely end up in the section and WPIAL postseason again.

Heckert believes they have started to lay the foundation. “They’ve done extremely well,” Heckert said. “We’re very proud of these kids. To come in and hold their feet to the fire, they’ve done more than just hold their own.”

Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.

Tags: North Allegheny