Powerade Wrestling Tournament: Upper St. Clair 132-pounder advances
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Upper St. Clair senior Mackenzie McGuire got his first taste of the Powerade Christmas tournament at Trinity, and he was quite impressed.
"It's pretty crazy. The competition here is amazing," said McGuire, who posted three victories to earn a berth today in the semifinals. "It seems like [Thursday] should have been the final rounds. And we still have another day of competition."
McGuire, the No. 3 seed at 132, opened with a 14-5 victory against Nolan Whitely of Ohio's Walsh Jesuit. In the second round, he posted a 9-3 victory against Billy Waldeck of Huntington, W.Va. In the quarterfinals, he won, 5-2, against Dennis Gustafson of Forest Park, Va., the No. 6 seed.
"My semifinal opponent is the kid I faced in the PIAA semifinals," said McGuire, who placed second in the PIAA Class AAA tournament at 119 pounds in March. "I scored a takedown with three seconds left to win the match. I've been told it was a questionable call, but it got me to the state finals. I'm looking forward to the rematch."
McGuire was referring to Central Dauphin's Tyson Dippery, who advanced to the semifinals with a convincing 10-0 victory against Peters Township's Derrick Evanovich. Dippery, the No. 2 seed, placed third at 125 a year ago at the Powerade tournament.
"One thing about a tournament like this is that you have to be patient," McGuire said. "You can't be taking bad shots. You have to wait for your opponent to make a mistake, then take advantage of it."
Canon-McMillan sophomore Dalton Macri also was making his first appearance at Powerade. Macri transferred from Wheeling Park High School to Canon-McMillan before the 2010-11 school year, but sat the bench last season because he couldn't beat out Colton Shorts.
Macri made his debut memorable by advancing to the 113-pound semifinals with three victories, despite being unseeded in his bracket. He pinned Griffin Welsh of Maryland's St. Pauls in the first round and recorded a 20-4 technical fall against Greensburg Salem's Carl Kelley, the No. 7 seed, in the second round.
In the quarterfinals, Macri recorded an 8-2 upset of Norristown's Zach Fuetes, the No. 2 seed.
"It wasn't much fun sitting in the stands last year," Macri said. "I've been looking forward to this tournament since last year. I came in thinking that I could beat anybody in this bracket."
Macri's semifinal opponent is Jarred Simpkins of Ripley, W.Va., the No. 3 seed.
"I've never faced any of the opponents I faced [Thursday] and I haven't faced the kid I'm facing in the semifinals," Macri said. "I don't worry about my opponent. I just worry about what I want to do."
Macri will be joined in the semifinals by four Canon-McMillan teammates -- Solomon Chishko at 145, Cody Wiercioch (170), Alex Campbell (220), and Cody Klempay (285). A total of 24 wrestlers from the WPIAL and City League advanced to the semifinals.
First Published December 30, 2011 12:00 am
