South Xtra: With WPIAL title in tow, Big Macs eye PIAA gold
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North Allegheny's Blynn Shideler tries to get away from Canon-McMillan's Conner Schram during the 120-pound weight class match at the WPIAL Class AAA team tournament final Saturday at Chartiers Valley High School. The Big Macs won the title.
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Cody Wiercioch spent most of Saturday's WPIAL Class AAA team title match at Chartiers Valley High School relaxing and enjoying the show put on by his Canon-McMillan teammates.
"I love being up first," said Wiercioch, referring to the fact that the Big Macs title match with North Allegheny began at the 170-pound weight class. "It allowed me to sit back and enjoy the rest of the match. And I had the best seat in the house."
Wiercioch, a junior who transferred to Canon-McMillan after advancing to the PIAA Class AA individual finals twice while attending Charleroi Area, pinned Clay Byerly to open what would quickly become a Big Macs blowout.
It would be the first of five pins for Canon-McMillan, as the Big Macs rolled to a 53-12 victory against an outmanned North Allegheny squad. The 41-point victory was the largest margin of victory in a Class AAA final in the 34-year history of the team tournament.
"We knew we were going to win," said Wiercioch (31-0), who recorded four pins in the WPIAL tournament. "We haven't felt threatened by any team this season."
Canon-McMillan improved to 22-0 with the victory.
"This match was over almost before it started," said Big Macs junior Connor Schram, who has been a starter on all three championship teams. "When Cody [Wiercioch] started the match with a pin, I knew we would win. It was just a question of how much we would win by."
Schram (11-0) almost matched Wiercioch in his 120-pound bout against North Allegheny's Blynn Shideler. He didn't come up with a pin, but did register a technical fall.
"We went into each [WPIAL team tournament] match knowing that we were going to blow out our opponent," said Big Macs heavyweight Cody Klempay (28-1), who had three pins and a forfeit win in the WPIAL tournament. "It's a great feeling to have that confidence."
Canon-McMillan posted four victories in the 20-team WPIAL Class AAA bracket and all four were blowouts. The Big Macs opened against West Mifflin Area and came close to posting a shutout with a 69-3 victory. Then came a 66-6 domination of Hempfield Area.
It was the same story in the semifinals, as Canon-McMillan rolled to a 52-9 victory against Greensburg Salem.
"It's nice to be in that company," said Klempay, when told that Canon-McMillan was only the fourth team in WPIAL history to win three or more consecutive WPIAL team titles. "I just hope the team can continue the streak next year."
But winning a third WPIAL title is just a starting point for Canon-McMillan.
"It feels great to have three WPIAL titles, but we have loftier goals," Klempay said. "We're working for a state title."
Canon-McMillan will make its third consecutive appearance in the PIAA Class AAA team tournament today at Hershey's Giant Center. The Big Macs will face District 11 runner-up Parkland (19-3) in the first round. Parkland posted a 41-15 victory against District 3 third-place finisher Spring Ford in a play-in match on Monday.
"We faced Parkland in the semifinals two years ago and they pounded us," Canon-McMillan coach Chris Mary said. "So we're not overlooking anybody."
Mary doesn't want his squad to look ahead, but it's hard to avoid the subject of Central Dauphin and it's two streaks. The Panthers have won four consecutive PIAA Class AAA team titles and have a streak of 93 consecutive wins dating back to 2008.
"Central Dauphin has one of the most decorated teams in the country," Mary said. "It would be nice to be the team that ends their streaks, but we can't be concerned with that. Our goal is to win the state title and we must take each match one at a time. We can't afford to look ahead."
Canon-McMillan and Central Dauphin met in last year's semifinals and the Panthers posted a 36-20 victory en route to their fourth consecutive title. Coincidentally, the two teams are in the same half of the bracket as they were last year. That means the two would have to face off in the semifinals, instead of the finals.
"I think it would be a good match, if we were to meet up with Central Dauphin," said Big Macs junior Alex Campbell (29-2), who recorded four pins during the WPIAL tournament. "[Central Dauphin] has a good team, but I think we can beat them."
Wiercioch and Schram are two of three Big Macs who enter the PIAA tournament with undefeated records. Solomon Chishko, a sophomore who recently moved down to 138, is 30-0.
First Published February 9, 2012 12:00 am
