Shaun Gates earns WPIAL title at 160, leads Burrell contingent into wrestling regionals
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Saturday, February 17, 2018 | 11:30 PM
Burrell senior Shaun Gates finished third at 152 pounds at last year’s WPIAL Class AA championships. His focus Saturday at Canon-McMillian was on loftier goals.
Gates went a combined 5-0 between Friday’s Section 3 tournament and Saturday WPIAL finals — all five wins by fall — and capped the effort with his first WPIAL championship. He pinned Riverview senior Christian Tamburro in the first period of the 160-pound title bout.
“This is something I’ve been working towards all year,” said Gates, who is 14-0 in the WPIAL postseason. “It’s another step to what I really want to achieve at regionals and states.”
Gates went 9-0 from the Section 3 team tournament through the state team competition in Hershey. He is 34-9 on the season.
“Shaun’s had a great year, and he really performed well (Friday and Saturday),” Burrell coach Josh Shields said. “As a senior, that’s what you want to see. He’s really clicking at the right time.”
Three Valley wrestlers — juniors David Schuffert (285) and Noah Hutcherson (170) and sophomore Travis Lasko (113) — will compete at regionals next week.
Schuffert (30-3) wrestled in the heavyweight final for the second year in a row, and for the second year, he lost in overtime, this time to South Side senior Bishop McCoy (35-1). He will try to bounce back next week at regionals.
“I really felt bad for him, but he will have a shot for a regional championship and a chance to go to states next week,” Valley coach Dane Johnson said. “He will get back in the room and work on some things to be better.”
Hutcherson bounced back from a 4-2 quarterfinal loss to eventual 170-pound champion Christian Clutter from McGuffey to win three in the consolation bracket for fifth place. He is 39-6.
“There’s a lot to take away from this weekend for Noah,” Johnson said. “He wrestled great for fifth. For him, it’s all about being consistent.”
In the win-to-advance scenario for seventh at 113, Lasko (6-3) topped Riverview’s Lucas Murphy, 10-3.
Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.
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