It’s been a banner season for the Bethel Park wrestling team in 2024-25.
And the Black Hawks’ success continued at the Allegheny County tournament held Jan. 17-18 at Fox Chapel.
Bethel Park placed second to Thomas Jefferson, which won the tournament with a record-breaking performance. The Black Hawks racked up 231.5 overall team points with 10 placewinners.
“I feel the Hawks wrestled pretty well,” Bethel Park coach Tyler Nauman said. “We went after our opponents in the majority of our matches looking to score points and secure falls.
“We need to continue to work and improve on our wrestling and belief in ourselves during those tight matches that become more of a fight of your will to pull those out. Those are the matches that we need to and can win through the team and individual postseason.”
Sophomore Pierce Reinhart led the Black Hawks at the two-day county event by winning the 121-pound weight class with a fall at the 2:55 mark against Mt. Lebanon sophomore Jonathan Emma in the championship round.
“Pierce had one goal and that was to come home as the county champion. He went out and did just that,” Nauman said. “Pierce wrestled very well putting himself in positions that he liked, could score off of, and wasn’t in danger of surrendering points. Pierce also stayed offensive. When Pierce is wrestling like this and like he can, he is challenging to beat.”
It was Reinhart’s seventh consecutive victory and gave him a 21-5 record for the season. He started out 12-1 in 2024-25.
“I was happy to win the championship and knew I was more than capable of winning it as long as I wrestled well,” Reinhart said. “I’m hoping we make it to states as a team this season, and I’m also hoping individually, as well.
“I’m continuing to improve each week and only looking to get better from here.”
Reinhart dominated at the tournament with pins against Plum’s Karter Gilliland and North Hills’ Logan Milligan, a 15-0 technical fall against West Mifflin’s Leshawn Haley and a 5-4 win versus Avonworth’s Austin Kosanovic prior to the final round.
“Pierce is a very strong wrestler who wrestles hard and forces you to wrestle the position that he likes and can score off of,” Nauman said. “He’s talented in all three positions which helps him in a lot of matches as he can score from wherever he needs to.
“Pierce showed this in the semifinals against his Avonworth opponent, who is a very very tough wrestler, as well. These two also wrestled in the Char-Houston semifinals and once you start wrestling anyone more than once it becomes harder and harder to beat that individual. They had a game plan for Pierce, but he was able to wrestle through his opponent’s attacks and find a very important last second first-period takedown and last second second-period escape. These became the difference in the match.”
Sophomore Colton Fisher and senior Seth Miller complemented Reinhart in the Black Hawks’ scoring column with runner-up finishes at 127 and 133, improving to 16-8 and 19-9, respectively.
Ethan Higgins placed third at 145, Hunter Goelz fourth at 215, Jaden Palombine fifth at 114 and Michael Gibson sixth at 285. Higgins (26-6), Goelz (18-11), Palombine (5-3) and Gibson (21-10) are seniors.
Bethel Park’s veteran coach offered tailor-made recognition for Goelz, who is in his third year of wrestling competition. Goelz won 23 matches as a sophomore, 19 last year, and had 18 as of Jan. 20 this season.
“I’d like to give special acknowledgment to Hunter Goelz, who was unseeded after placing at the tournament last year,” Nauman said. “Hunter didn’t let that discourage him and wrestled the second-seeded kid twice to close losses en route to a huge fourth-place finish for the Hawks.
“Hunter also avenged a questionable loss from our Fox Chapel dual with a pretty dominant win (at the county event). These are the type of performances our Hawks are capable of.”
Three Bethel Park grapplers ended up seventh — senior Aden Stout (21-9) at 139, and sophomores Caleb Crawford (14-9) at 145 and Ian Bucheli (20-12) at 152.
“As always, we as a coaching staff are beyond proud of our wrestlers, as we know the work they put in and that has been paying off,” Nauman said. “This team doesn’t have any top 5 or even top 10 wrestlers in the state, currently by rankings, but that doesn’t stop them from working and pushing to show that each of them, and they as a team, are just that.”
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Bethel Park, 8-1 overall and 3-0 in section action with convincing wins against Peters Township, Mt. Lebanon and Baldwin, looked to secure back-to-back section titles Jan. 22 at Upper St. Clair.