The Thomas Jefferson wrestling program introduced its “Zach Attack” at this year’s county championships.
TJ’s Zach Rehak and Zachary LaBryer began their run to the postseason as both won individual titles at the 2026 Allegheny County wrestling tournament held Jan. 16-17 at Fox Chapel.
Rehak, a junior, defeated Baldwin freshman Shamil Islamov, 7-1, in the 114-pound weight class final.
“Zach wrestled well all weekend,” said Marc Allemang, the Jaguars’ first-year coach. “He was dominant through the quarterfinals where he had two pins and a tech fall. He was on his offensive in those matches and stayed on his attacks.
“Zach met the two seed in the semifinals and wrestled a really clean match. The Pine-Richland wrestler never was able to get anything going and establish any momentum. Zach did a great job of getting his points and staying low in his stance to take away a lot of opportunities to get scored on.”
Rehak improved to 25-3 with his eighth consecutive victory and 13th in his last 14 decisions. Islamov fell to 19-3 overall.
“(Islamov) is a young guy and was unseeded,” Allemang said, “but we knew he was a good wrestler. Zach would have to get to his legs a lot and build a lead and that is what he did. Zach had a couple of takedowns and was able to get off the bottom to build his lead.
“Zach wrestles a lot throughout the year and has probably wrestled against just about everyone, so he has a lot of confidence going into his matches that he can get the job done. Zach’s a great kid who works hard, and I was really happy for him to win the championship.”
LaBryer secured a 9-1 major decision against Moon junior Liam Costa in the county 172-pound championship round. Costa attained his 100th career victory earlier in the tournament.
“Similar to Zach Rehak, I thought Zach Labryer wrestled great all weekend,” Allemang said. “He was down at 174 and looked really good at that weight. I thought he got himself down to the weight the right way with a clean diet and a few extra workouts throughout the week. He was able to keep food and water in his system and was able to stay focused on wrestling and improving instead of just making weight.
“He was able to see some tough kids at the county tournament to really test the weight and I thought he looked the best he had wrestled all season. He was really effective in the semifinals at hand fighting hard and getting to leg attacks and snap downs from there. He put up 18 points in the semis against a tough kid from North Hills.”
LaBryer, a senior, boosted his record to 26-4 with his seventh straight win. Costa wrapped up the tournament 29-4 overall and 102-28 for his career.
“That was going to be a really good opportunity for Zach to see how he would compete against a top-ranked kid at that weight,” Allemang said, “and he looked awesome again hand fighting with a purpose and great movement with his feet and setting up his leg attacks.
“Zach wrestles with a lot of confidence and in his mind he knows he can beat you and wrestles that way in the match.”
Two attributes that have contributed to Rehak’s and LaBryer’s success in 2025-26 are they both are skilled grapplers and both love to compete.
“Zach is just an all-around great kid,” Allemang said. “He trains year-round and he competes at a high level in tournaments throughout the year, so you know he knows what it takes to win matches.
“He is a veteran and never lets the moment get too big. I think he was a little disappointed in himself not reaching the podium at Powerade (in December) and then followed it up with a great Mid-Winter Mayhem tournament where he finished in third place. He just looked really good at IUP, and I think he will continue to stay in that groove as we hit the final stretch of the season.”
Allemang noted that LaBryer is fun to watch on the mat.
“Zach has a big personality and he wrestles that way, too,” the TJ coach said. “He wrestles with purpose and intent and wants to dominate the tie-ups and control the pace of the match, and has really great movement for a big, strong kid.
“He continues to make improvements weeks to week. He works hard, wrestles hard, loves to compete, and gets excited for matches that might make others a little nervous.”
The TJ grapplers placed third in the county event with 201 team points behind only North Allegheny (262.5) and Moon (260.5).
The Jaguars also ended up third at the Trinity Duals and Hampton Duals, and 10th in the Mid-Winter Mayhem tournament held at the Kovalchick Convention Complex on the IUP campus.
TJ finished 4-0 in section action with victories over West Mifflin, 40-31, Belle Vernon, 50-22, Ringgold, 42-24, and McKeesport, 74-0.
“This group obviously lost some big names from last year’s roster and many of the weight classes that were occupied by some really talented TJ wrestlers became available at the end of last year,” Allemang said. “The guys in the room were a part of last year’s historic season and they want to continue that standard of excellence.
“This team has really done an excellent job of creating their own identity and writing their own story. It really comes down to the character of the kids in the room and how coachable they are, and how well they get along and build each other up and fight for one another. They are brothers and a wrestling family, and it has been really fun in my first season to experience it with them.”
The TJ coaching staff greeted 33 athletes to the wrestling program this year.
While the Zach Attack has led the way for the Jaguars, other top competitors include sophomore Jacob LaBryer (17-11), senior Cameron Timko (17-12), sophomores Robert Cordova (15-7) and Dominic Costa (14-11), junior Deacon Kamberis (12-7), sophomores Dominic Cadwallader (12-9) and Connor Ganley (12-12), senior Shane Thurner (10 wins) and sophomore Ethan Koett (4-4).
“We have a big roster and a lot of underclassmen,” Allemang said, “and our depth at a lot of weight classes has allowed us to move guys around. It allows guys to rest at times and not miss a beat because the ‘next man up’ has been working just as hard in the (wrestling) room and is ready to step into the lineup.”
Underclassmen such as Ganley (107), Cordova (121), Labryer (127), Koett (133), Dom Costa (139) and Cadwallader (152) all have displayed they can compete with anyone as sophomores.
“We have really put together a full JV schedule for our wrestlers that are not always in the varsity lineup,” Allemang said. “We wrestled in the Norwin, Butler, Connellsville, Mid-Winter Mayhem, Chartiers Valley and Fox Chapel JV tournaments.
“Those competitions and extra mat time has been huge in the development of our wrestlers.”