Klems gives Burrell 6th 'AA' wrestling title in a row
Share with others:
Cory Klems wrestled the match of his life and it could not have come at a better time.
Klems, a junior at Burrell High School, earned a 3-1 victory in the 220-pound weight class match to lift the Buccaneers to a 34-31 victory against Jefferson-Morgan in the Class AA final of the WPIAL team tournament Saturday.
His victory against Jefferson-Morgan's Ryan Mayfield at Chartiers Valley helped Burrell to a sixth consecutive Class AA WPIAL title. Burrell is the only team in the 34-year history of the tournament to win more than three consecutive titles.
"I was scared as hell," said Klems (16-15), who stepped on the mat with the team score tied, 31-31. "I've never been so scared in my life. It's clearly the biggest win of my career."
Burrell's victory was even more impressive considering the Buccaneers rallied from a 25-0 deficit.
The match began at the 285-pound weight class, which couldn't have been a worse place to start for Burrell. Brian Rush gave Jefferson-Morgan a boost with a 1-0 decision against Joseph Naviglia.
"That match was huge for us," Burrell coach Bud Sines said. "We had to keep it to a three-point loss. It was the best 1-0 match I've ever seen."
At that point, Jefferson-Morgan took advantage of its dominance in the lower weight classes. Brendan Howard, John Demaske and Jason Miller recorded three consecutive pins at 106, 113 and 120 for the Rockets. Miller needed only 26 seconds to dispose of Austin Denk at 120.
Shane Black capped Jefferson-Morgan's opening run with a 12-0 major decision of Zack Wolford at 126. That gave the Rockets a 25-0 lead.
"It's tough to stay positive when you're down that much in a match," Burrell's Dakota DesLauriers said. "We tried to keep everybody's hopes up. We believed in ourselves."
Burrell won the next four matches. Steven Edwards won via decision at 132, Phillip Marra got a pin at 138 and Corey Falleroni recorded a technical fall at 145. Jefferson-Morgan forfeited at 152 and that cut the lead to 25-20.
Jefferson-Morgan rebounded with decisions by Brandon Lesko and Dustin Conti at 160 and 170. That gave the Rockets a 31-20 lead with three matches remaining. It would be their last lead.
Burrell's DesLauriers (31-0) remained unbeaten with a technical fall at 182. Jefferson-Morgan then forfeited to John Davidson at 195, which tied the score, 31-31, and set the stage for Klems' heroics.
"It can't get any more exciting than that," DesLauriers said. "The excitement was unreal."
Burrell and Jefferson-Morgan qualify for the PIAA Class AA team tournament that begins Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.
First Published February 5, 2012 12:00 am
