The Connellsville wrestling team will have to wait at least one more season for a shot at its eighth WPIAL Class AAA championship.
On Friday, the young Falcons fell to North Allegheny, 29-28, in the semifinals of the WPIAL Class AAA team tournament.
The Tigers (17-3) rallied from a 19-0 deficit and won seven of the final nine bouts.
"They slowly chipped away at us," Connellsville coach Tommy Dolde said. "But I feel good about our team, and I feel good about our season so far. We start seven freshmen, and we're the only team here that can say that."
Trailing, 28-25, heading into the final bout, North Allegheny was able to pull out the win when Mike Wanner scored a 10-1 major decision over Connellsville's Tyrone Brown at 126 pounds.
The Tigers advanced to today's final at 6:30 p.m. against top-ranked Canon-McMillan at Chartiers Valley High School. Canon-McMillan earned its spot in the final by defeating Greensburg Salem, 52-9.
"Canon-McMillan is obviously the defending WPIAL champion, and it's the old cliche that we're going to go there and wrestle with nothing to lose," North Allegheny coach Jamie Kyriazis said.
The Falcons (15-4) are out of the running for a team title, but they have a reason to put yesterday's loss behind them quickly. At 2 p.m. today, Connellsville will face Greensburg Salem in the consolation final at Chartiers Valley. The winner will earn a spot in next week's PIAA Class AAA tournament against City League champion Allderdice.
"It's going to be tough for us," Dolde said of bouncing back today. "We've been on a nice roll the last part of the season and, with an experienced team, I could see coming back from this. But we're a young team, and we'll see how they come back."
For the majority of yesterday's match, it didn't appear the Falcons would have to worry about such things. Connellsville raced to a big lead thanks to a major decision by Tanner Wiltrout (138) and decisions for Ethan Kenney (132), Brandon Umbel (152) and Dale Provance (160). Alex Knopsnider (145) received a forfeit to help the Falcons grab a 19-point lead just five bouts into the match.
The Tigers began their comeback at 170, when Alex DeCiantis won on a decision. Jarred Lux (182) followed with a pin before Zach Smith (195) earned a major decision to make it 19-13.
Connellsville's Dylan Miller (220) stopped North Allegheny's run with a pin, but the Tigers rattled off the next three wins. Kevin Clemens (285) and Scotty Stossel (106) posted back-to-back decisions before Demenic Forys (113) won by fall to tie the match at 25.
Connellsville regained the lead when Ryan Burkholder (120) notched a decision, but Wanner prevailed to send North Allegheny on.
"It played out the way I thought it could," said Kyriazis, who noted it was tough for his team to give up a forfeit at 145 and a pin at 220. "It was important for us to stay in it at those points."
