Within the longstanding rivalry between Burrell and Kiski Area's wrestling teams, there's now a healthy head-to-head competition between two of the WPIAL's elite heavyweights.
While some of the excitement surrounding Thursday's nonsection match stemmed from the possibility of Burrell securing a rare team win, much of the buzz came from the expectations for the 285-pound bout between defending WPIAL Class AAA champion Shane Kuhn and defending WPIAL Class AA winner Al Beattie.
The Bucs' upset never materialized as Kiski Area (9-0) won 35-22 by producing several pins at the upper weights and avoiding pinfall losses when the best wrestlers from Burrell (2-1) stepped on the mat. But Beattie, a junior, came close to stunning Kuhn, a senior who won twice when they met last season.
Kuhn, the PIAA's third-place finisher as a junior, managed a reversal with six seconds left in the third period to win 4-2. He hit a cartwheel-like maneuver known as a Granby roll.
“I love tough matches and letting myself know where I stand,” said Kuhn, who beat each of his previous opponents this season by pinfall. “I don't want to go into the big matches at the end of the year just wrestling kids that I can blow through.”
Beattie, who lost by pinfall to Kuhn at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association championships last season and then endured a 2-0 loss in a dual match a week later, gave up a reversal early in the second period Thursday and trailed 2-0. He muscled his way to a tying takedown amid a scramble early in the third period.
“I wanted to slow him down and work him,” Beattie said. “I knew I had a weight advantage over him, so I tried to tire him out because he's so strong.”
Said Kuhn: “He's gained a lot of weight since last year, and he was bigger and stronger. … He's probably the most physical kid I'll wrestle all year. That's his style.”
Kiski Area coach Chuck Tursky missed the latest Kuhn-Beattie installment — as he did not attend the match. Longtime assistant Chris Heater, who filled in as coach, said Tursky had to handle a personal matter.
“We've been together for 23 years, and it was really weird to be sitting on the bench, coaching a dual, look to my right and see him not sitting there,” Heater said.
By the time Kuhn and Beattie's bout arrived, Kiski Area had won four in a row to take an 18-4 lead.
“What I'm looking for is effort out of 14 guys, and I just didn't see that tonight,” Burrell coach Josh Shields said. “To see us lose three matches in the third period by a point, it's tough.
“It's hard to come back from that as a team.”
Burrell senior Steven Edwards, a 2013 PIAA placewinner, opened the match at 160 with a 16-5 major decision over Cavaliers freshman Vinny Romano.
Kiski Area's underclassmen — the team started four freshmen and four sophomores — continued to deliver favorable results throughout the match.
Sophomore Alex Delp (182) rallied to get a 6-4 decision. Sophomores Tyler Worthing (195) and Chad Kuhn (220) had back-to-back first-period pins. Freshman Matt Siszka (106) won 5-0, and freshman Joey Blumer (120) prevailed 7-0.
“How quickly we bring these guys along will determine how good we can possibly be,” Heater said.
Bill West is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at wwest@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BWest_Trib.
