North Xtra: North Hills coach darn proud of team's county showing
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Drew Walker of North Hills, top, goes against Nate Hall of West Allegheny in the 126-pound semifinal match at the Allegheny County Wrestling Tournament this past weekend at Fox Chapel.
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When the Parade of Champions was announced at the Allegheny County Wrestling Tournament, North Hills coach Jose Martinez noticed something about the teams represented in the finals.
"No team had more than three finalists," he said. "Five teams had three wrestlers in the finals and we were in that group. That means we fared as well as the top teams.
"That's something to be proud of."
Twins Tyler and Drew Walker, and Jonathan Avon advanced to the finals for the Indians, but all three had to settle for silver medals.
"We had 11 kids entered in the [40-team] tournament and four placed among the top three in their weight classes," said Martinez of his squad, which finished seventh in the team standings.
Tyler Walker had the challenging task of facing the individual who won the Outstanding Wrestler Award in his title match. Walker, a junior, was pinned by City League phenom Godwin Nyama of Brashear in the 120-pound final.
"Tyler faced Godwin in the consolation finals at last year's tournament and lost that match too," Martinez said. "Godwin has already placed at Hershey; Tyler has a good chance of joining him this year."
Drew Walker followed his twin brother in the finals at 126 pounds and dropped an 8-7 decision to Elizabeth Forward's Lukas Etzel.
"Drew has a tendency to rush it too much at times," Martinez said.
"He had a 2-1 lead with 15 seconds left in the first period and should have been happy with that. Instead, he tries for a takedown and Etzel countered the move and took him down.
"He should have gone into the second period with a 2-1 lead, and instead found himself behind, 3-2. He did the same thing in the third period, but that's something that comes with seasoning."
Avon made his title appearance in the 145-pound final and was pinned by Penn Hills' Joseph Washington at 4:57.
"Jonathan had a great weekend, but ran into a tough kid in the finals," Martinez said.
The Indians fourth place-winner was Alen Turcinhodzic, who finished third at 220.
"That [220-pound class] was the strongest weight class in the tournament," Martinez said.
"Alen lost [3-2] to Central Catholic's Zach DeLuca in the ultimate tiebreaker in the quarterfinals, then came back to beat him [3-2] in the consolation for third place."
The other four teams that had five finalists were the top four finishers Hampton, Central Catholic, North Allegheny and Upper St. Clair.
All three of the Tigers finalists came away with gold medals.
"All three of our finalists were making a return trip to the finals," North Allegheny coach Jamie Kyriazis said.
Dom Forys captured his second title for the Tigers, while teammates Alex DeCiantis and Jarred Lux claimed their first.
Forys, last year's 103-pound champion, earned his second title with a 9-1 major decision of South Fayette's Seth Carr in the 113-pound final.
"Dom wasn't taken down all weekend," Kyriazis said. "He dominated his weight class."
DeCiantis, a runner-up at 160 last year, claimed the 170-pound title when Elizabeth Forward's Justin Stonebraker forfeited due to a shoulder injury.
"I hated to see Alex win that way," Kyriazis said. "He did a great job all weekend and certainly deserved his gold medal."
Lux, a runner-up at 171 last year, won at 182 with an 11-9 win against Mt. Lebanon's Chris Vayo in the finals.
"When Jarred took [Vayo] down in the first period, I thought it might be a quick match," Kyriazis said. "But [Vayo] battled back and made it a close match."
North Allegheny had nine place-winners and finished third in the standings. Jesse Rodgers and Zach Smith earned bronze medals at 132 and 195.
"Jesse lost in overtime in the semifinals to the same kid that he beat in last year's finals," said Kyriazis, referring to Keystone Oaks' Nick Zanetta. "That was a strong weight class."
Smith, a freshman, was the surprise of the weekend for Kyriazis. He advanced to the semifinals before losing to eventual runner-up Jake Hart of Hampton.
"I was pleasantly surprised that Zach was able to make it to the semifinals, especially since he's wrestling up a weight class," Kyriazis said. "He's becoming more and more confident with each match."
First Published January 19, 2012 12:00 am
