Members of the Gateway wrestling team didn’t wait around until right before the start of the season to prepare for matches and tournaments.
Coach Ryan Sula said work began months in advance with close to three dozen wrestlers, including some in junior high, coming to the wrestling room to work out.
That, he said, gave him optimism this season would be unlike others in recent memory.
“Everyone is having a blast this season,” Sula said.
“It all goes back to a culture shift where a lot of guys had success toward the end of last year. They were excited about coming into this year and were dedicated to putting in the time. The offseason work started in September with solid turnouts and guys holding each other accountable for the work they knew they needed. They have kept up the level of focus from then to now. The results are the payoff for the hard work.”
Dual match wins and individual successes have highlighted the season from early December to now, and Sula said he is excited to see what still can be done starting with the Eastern section tournament Saturday at Norwin where the top six finishers in each weight class will advance to the WPIAL championships.
The Gators were to test themselves last Saturday at the Plum Duals, and part of that day of wrestling was a third scheduled matchup with the host Mustangs.
Gateway hadn’t found a lot of success against Plum in recent seasons, but they won the first two matches with the Mustangs this year in close fashion: 32-30 at the North Hills Duals on Dec. 13 and 35-33 in a section match on Plum’s senior night Jan. 14.
“Both were really close and competitive matches,” Sula said.
Sophomore Andrew Gabriel’s 2-1 overtime victory over Plum’s Frank Grazulis at heavyweight clinched the first victory.
Gabriel met Grazulis again in the rematch at Plum, and while Grazulis won the heavyweight bout, it was only a 6-0 decision which sealed the two-point win. Senior Donovan DeLuco scored a tech fall at 215 which put Gateway ahead by five.
“That was the first match Donovan made 189, and he wanted to wrestle 189,” Sula said.
“He had wrestled that 215 pounder (Kameron Dietrick) already and pinned him at North Hills. We bumped him up, and he was kind of tired from cutting weight. But he wrestled hard and got the tech fall.”
Sula said he wasn’t 100% sure when the last time someone from Gateway was in the finals at the Allegheny County Tournament. He said it might go back two decades to the likes of Elliott and Ian Stewart and Jay Ivanco.
But senior Braden Washington came close to standing at the top of the 139-pound podium Jan. 17 at Fox Chapel.
Washington used three decisions and a tech fall to reach the finals before falling, 8-0, to South Fayette’s Peter Leventis.
“It was a little stressful at times, but it was a pretty good tournament for me overall,” Washington said.
“I really wanted to make it to the Parade of Champions no matter if I won or lost that (championship) match.”
Washington and Leventis also wrestled in the seventh-place match at counties last year with Leventis winning by fall at 4:35 despite Washington getting the first takedown.
“I have been feeling pretty good,” said Washington, who said he planned to add some additional workouts at Young Guns in advance of the section tournament.
Washington’s 4-1 day at ACT was a part of his 18-3 overall record through wins in matches against Brownsville and Yough on Jan. 31. Of those 18 wins, four were by fall, five by tech fall, three by major decision and five by decision.
“His offense, which has been working well for him all year, helped him do well at counties,” Sula said.
“He is so good on his feet, and he’s been so hard to take down. He gets after it with his shots. He just wrestled a good, solid tournament. Every match, except for the first one, was pretty close. He wrestled solid and didn’t give up anything cheap. He worked hard to get off bottom. It was just great to see.”
Washington is hoping for good results after taking fifth at 133 at last year’s section tournament. He didn’t place at WPIALs.
“We talked to the guys after the matches (with Brownsville and Yough) about peaking at the right time with picking up our practice habits and our attention to detail,” Sula said.
“Braden and a lot of others are just wrestling really well right now.”
Six Gateway wrestlers — Washington, DeLuco (18-5 at 189/215), Gabriel (17-5 at 285), sophomore Envy Cook (14-8 at 145), freshman Everett Kuehn (12-8 at 114/121) and senior Theodore Mitchell (11-3 at 172/189) entered a home tri-match with Woodland Hills and Penn Hills with more than 10 victories.