Falcons鈥� fury: Connellsville battles back in team state tournament
When you are part of a wrestling program in the state of Pennsylvania that has produced 14 individual state, eight WPIAL team and one team state champion, the expectations are very high, and normally, anything less than a state title is considered a failure.
When Connellsville was awarded its medals and the trophy for finishing third place in the PIAA Class 3A Team Championships last Saturday at Altoona Area School District Field House, there weren’t any exuberant celebrations, but the Falcons have plenty to be proud of in having the program’s best finish at the state dual meet tournament since 2005 when they won gold.
Connellsville’s wrestling program was established 58 years ago in 1967 by the late Tom Dolde Sr., and after several years of getting their feet wet, the Falcons started to flourish and haven’t looked back.
The WPIAL team tournament began in 1979, and Connellsville has never not been a part of it. Of the Falcons’ eight WPIAL titles, the last came a year ago.
Connellsville entered this season highly regarded after winning district gold last season, and entered the WPIAL Class 3A team tournament as the No. 1 seed with an 8-1 record. The Falcons’ lone loss in the regular season was a 43-20 setback to nationally-ranked St. Edward (Ohio) on Dec. 14.
Connellsville breezed through the first three rounds before being stunned by Franklin Regional, 32-25, in the WPIAL final.
The Falcons rebounded from the loss to the Panthers, and even though they had to drive nearly three hours on a Tuesday night, Connellsville downed District 9 champion DuBois, 57-18, in the first round of the state tournament.
The Falcons took care of Council Rock South, 38-26, in the quarterfinals on Friday in Altoona at the Field House to set up a semifinal showdown with Bethlehem Catholic.
Due to the threat of inclement weather, the action on Saturday began one hour earlier, and wrestling was contested straight through without any breaks between rounds.
The Golden Hawks were the pre-tournament favorite, as they entered as the three-time defending champions and undefeated, but the Falcons gave them all they could handle and more.
“Becahi” would prevail, 29-23, but Connellsville won five bouts, including two by fall, and had hard-luck losses at 121 and 160 pounds. Nolan Rice had a 1-0 lead over Reed Dillard late in the match at 121, but the sophomore took a shot to the nose that required not only blood, but injury time as well. Dillard scored a late takedown and back points for a 7-1 decision.
Evan Petrovich bumped up for the Falcons to 160, and was tied at 1-1 with the third period winding down against a state qualifier in Charlie Scanlan, who scored a takedown with two seconds remaining for a 4-1 win.
The Connellsville faithful roared in disappointment as it appeared Scanlan didn’t have complete control for the takedown, but the referee awarded the three points to Scanlan.
The Falcon coaching staff protested the call but to no avail.
Despite the setback and having roughly 10 minutes to warm-up, Connellsville had to prepare itself for a rematch with Franklin Regional.
The Falcons avenged the loss to the Panthers with a 28-22 victory to ensure themselves a spot in the consolation final. Connellsville’s Tommy Gretz (107), Zachary Franks (114) and Julian Ruggieri (145) gained some redemption in matches that were lost in the WPIAL final. Ruggieri was pinned in the dual meet for the district title, but earned a 4-2 decision on Saturday.
The Falcons carried their momentum into the consolation final where they beat District 1 champion Boyertown, 37-21.
Current Connellsville wrestling coach Bill Swink is a graduate of the school and returned to his roots prior to the 2021 season. He has guided the Falcons to the state team tournament three out of his first four years.
Connellsville finished one victory shy of wrestling for third place in 2022 and last season, but this year’s squad was able to get over the hump.
Of all the sports I’ve seen over my 18 years of covering high school athletics, wrestlers take losing the hardest, which is understandable given the time and effort these kids put in for many years.
Imagine having to go through adolescence not being able to eat your favorite foods, practicing several times a day, facing mental and physical challenges, and still needing to keep up with your school work. The weekends usually consist of competing in tournaments where you get up early to travel a far distance and return at night.
Winning a wrestling match can be one of the greatest feelings in the world. Losing one can be one of the worst.
I can’t read the minds of these kids that just went through a grueling season, but I hope they can take in what they accomplished and be proud.
They didn’t win a WPIAL or state title, but they went toe-to-toe with a team that won its fourth straight PIAA championship and battled back to finish best among WPIAL teams and third in the best state in the country for high school wrestling.
TikTok成人版 sports writer Jonathan Guth can be reached via email at jguth@heraldstandard.com