Brady Brown knew how to utilize the intel he had on his opponent for the 189-pound final during the WPIAL Class 2A wrestling championships Saturday at Chartiers Valley.
Brown, a junior at Derry, knew he couldn’t take any half measures against Beth-Center’s Malachi Peak.
“He’s been at the club recently, so I’ve gotten a taste of what he’s like,” Brown said. “He is super strong. I had to be sharp with my attacks. I can’t just shoot crappy shots and expect to score. This guy will sprawl me out.”
Brown didn’t make many mistakes on what was a dominant day for the Trojans. He beat Peak by technical fall, 17-2, to earn his third WPIAL championship. Six Derry wrestlers reached the top of the podium.
Brown and Mason Horwat (172 pounds) became three-time champions. The duo became the fifth and sixth wrestlers from Derry to win three WPIAL titles. Troy Dolan Jr., James Gullibon and Micky Phillippi were all four-time champions, while Ty Cymmerman was a three-time champion.
Horwat pinned Laurel’s Domenic Willis in 1 minute, 44 seconds in the final.
“It’s cool,” Horwat said. “I work toward winning everything, so this is part of it.”
Horwat, who is 47-3 on the season, said he wanted to have more energy in the final after grinding out a win over Burrell’s Ben Catullo, 10-5, in the semifinals.
“I feel like I was just a little too lax,” Horwat said. “Before the other match, I was telling myself I was going to get whatever I wanted.”
Mason Keesecker (107), Patrick Bulger (114), Michael McNeal (139) and Ewan Olson (160) also won championships for the Trojans. Derry will send 10 wrestlers to regionals next week.
Brown was proud of everyone’s effort, but said he is ready for the next step.
“I think we wrestled well,” Brown said. “It’s the same thing, I say we need to go back to the lab, right? You’re never going to be good enough. We want to try and come to practice tomorrow and get better and better, whether it’s with recovery or wrestling.”
Elizabeth Forward’s Preston Brubash (121), Burrell’s Cam Baker (127), McGuffey’s Lucas Barr (133) and West Greene’s Colin Whyte (285) became two-time champions. Baker missed out on the individual postseason last year after breaking his hand during the team duals.
Baker, who beat another former champion, Avonworth’s Auston Kosanovic, 16-5 in the finals, said he was upset about missing out on a chance to compete last year.
“It was really hard,” Baker said. “It was just days in my room feeling upset because I couldn’t do what I trained all year to do. I did the next best thing and still made it to all the tournaments with my team. I tried to coach the guys or give them (advice) or whatever. Whatever it took to help out.”
Burrell’s Julian Bertucci (145), Frazier’s Jonah Erdely (152) and Beth-Center’s Noah Layhue (215) also claimed titles.
It was a tough day of wrestling for Bertucci, who beat McGuffey’s Emmett Wolfe, 7-3, in the final.
He needed a takedown in overtime to win in the semifinals. Against Wolfe, Bertucci was ahead 3-2 going into the third period and secured a takedown with 33 seconds to claim the title.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” Bertucci said. “It’s been my goal since freshman year to become a WPIAL champ. It feels really nice right now.”