Kiski Area coach Chris Heater always looks for opportunities to put different guys in the lineup to earn varsity experience. Payton King and Dom Roland took advantage of their opportunities Wednesday night at Fox Chapel.
The Cavaliers put an exclamation point on their Section 5-3A title with a 60-9 win over the Foxes.
“It was really good to see our guys wrestle aggressively,” Heater said. “I liked how much we wrestled on the edge. We’ve had some matches where I felt we weren’t wrestling aggressively on the edge.”
Kiski (15-2, 4-0) was upended by Connellsville last Thursday and wanted to get another win under its belt. King, who wrestled at 121 pounds, improved to 3-13 and snapped a four-match slide by beating Alex Krushinski, 16-7.
“It’s been kind of difficult learning,” King said. “It’s my third year. I like the coaching. It’s really good.”
King said he tried to implement some new tricks during the match. King’s two previous wins this season came by pin.
“I did try a new thing, the slide-by right there,” King said. “Mostly, I appreciated my teammates motivating me.”
Heater said he was happy to see King get a win. Roland also returned from an injury at 152 pounds and beat Fox Chapel’s Anthony Nguyen by technical fall, 16-0.
“I’m happy for (King),” Heater said. “He’s worked hard and has improved over his couple of years of wrestling. He’s listening more and has more in his toolbox. There’s times where guys don’t have the experience, they are doing things out there they shouldn’t be doing. We’ve cleaned some of that up, and I’m happy with how he wrestled tonight.”
Kiski built a 15-0 lead in the first three matches when Gavin Litz (107 pounds) won by pin and was followed with a tech fall from Paxton Newell (114) and King’s win.
Fox Chapel’s lone win on the mat was a 7-4 decision win from Calyx Kimbrough at 160 pounds. Luke Krushinski also picked up a win via forfeit at 127 pounds for the Foxes (7-10, 0-4).
Fox Chapel coach Michael Frank said he knew it was going to be a tough match.
“Kiski’s tough,” Frank said. “Heater always puts out tough kids. Their technique is matching their overall intensity and toughness.”
Gavin Murphy (133) and Cooper Roscosky (215) also won by tech fall for the Cavaliers. Jackson Pollick (139), Ben Murphy (145), Travis Shearer (172), Mario Hutcherson (189) and Alex Akerley (285) collected pins for Kiski Area.
The Cavaliers will be ready to get back to work this weekend.
“We’re going to have a tough tournament going to the Fred Bell (Wrestling Tournament),” Heater said. “It’s going to be another tough, two-day grind for our guys.”