Gateway wrestling coach Ryan Sula said he didn’t see a lot of good things early on during the two-day Allegheny County tournament Jan. 17 and 18 at Fox Chapel High School.
“I thought we got out to a slow start in the first round or two and didn’t wrestle very well,” Sula said.
“I thought the weather had a part to play in that, not being able to get everyone to practice. We weren’t able to get a full week of prep work in.”
But once the Gators wrestlers settled in, Sula said, they wrestled tough and responded well.
“We had multiple guys win a decent amount of matches on the way back after losing in the first round,” he said.
“It was nice to see the way they fought back.”
Gateway finished 28th overall with 48 team points. Senior Luke Pawlowski (139) and sophomore Braden Washington (133) each finished 5-3 in tournament competition and found themselves on the medals podium in seventh place.
Juniors T.J. Mitchell (172) and Donovan DeLuco (189) won three and two matches, respectively.
Fellow junior Kittim Highsmith (285) picked up a victory in the consolation bracket.
Pawlowski improved to 15-8 overall after the five wins at the county tournament and a technical fall victory in a section dual match at Penn-Trafford on Jan. 22.
Three of his five county tournament wins came by pin. A 1-0 decision over Fox Chapel’s Adam Haines in the fourth round of consolations guaranteed Pawlowski a medal.
“That first day, Luke got out slow but fought back,” Sula said. “He wrestled really well on Saturday with a couple of pins.
“Luke is working on being more consistent and sticking with what works for him. He is visualizing his match and seeing how he wants it to go instead of seeing how the match comes to him. He’s been wrestling for a long time, and he knows what he needs to do to be successful. Sticking with the basics and what he’s good at is going to be what propels him into the postseason.”
Washington, 9-13 overall after the match with Penn-Trafford, went 1-1 in his county championship bracket before winning four consolation bouts in a row — two by pin, one by major decision, and one by regular decision — to clinch a medal.
“Now that Braden is down to the right weight class for all of the certification stuff, he is seeing better results,” Sula said. “These are kids his weight. He was wrestling up a weight class and was struggling earlier in the season. I think he might have lost a little confidence early on. He’s been wrestling tough down at 133 and has produced some good offense. When you have good offense, things string together.
“Braden is so mature. I keep forgetting he is only a sophomore. It feels like he’s been on the team for four years. He’s worked so hard and has gained that confidence back.”
Mitchell’s three wins at the county tournament were by pin, major decision and regular decision.
He kept up the momentum in the match with Penn-Trafford with an 18-4 major decision over Bryce Klingensmith at 172.
The Warriors ended up posting a 46-21 victory.
“T.J. is really starting to put it together right now,” Sula said. “He wrestled really sound at the tournament. He tries to wrestle to not make mistakes, and I think that’s important for him. He wrestled when he was younger and didn’t start wrestling again until last year as a sophomore. It is hard to pick this sport back up, but he is doing a really nice job rounding into form.
“He got on the mat a little bit this summer at an AAU program while he was working towards the football season. I think he enjoys the sport. He’s one of the hardest workers in the room, and it’s paid off for him.”