Halfway through his 189-pound championship match Thursday at the Southmoreland Holiday Wrestling Classic, Scotties junior Jordan Kitta was thrown out of bounds by Jefferson-Morgan's Joe Phillips.
After smacking the rubber floor — and nearly ending up in a garbage can — Kitta jumped to his feet and quietly walked back to the center of the mat. He wasn't rattled.
Three minutes later, Kitta had a 2-1 victory, the second tournament win of his breakout season.
"It doesn't bother me at all," Kitta said of the push out of bounds. "If he wants to wrestle cheap, that's his problem. There's no reason to get upset over it."
It wasn't always that simple for Kitta. Last winter, coach Mike May said, Kitta would let emotions get the best of him, and it would disrupt his normally sound technique. This time, Kitta was able to stay smart and not let Phillips rally.
"The past two years, he would get frustrated," May said. "When he gets like that, he doesn't wrestle very well. That's been a big part of his success this year. Mentally, he's been a lot stronger."
In the team standings, Southmoreland was 12th with 82 points. Jefferson-Morgan became the first WPIAL team since Norwin in 2007 to win the event.
Mt. Pleasant placed 23rd with 48 points. The Vikings were led by Nick Hough, who finished third at 112 pounds. Nick Kloos was fourth at 140.
Uniontown had 35.5 points, good for 25th, and one wrestler made the final: Heavyweight Nathan Spinetti was pinned by Corry Area's Alec Gluvna 1:20 into the bout
South Fayette's Nick Carr won at 152 pounds, taking another step toward defending his PIAA title, and Norwin senior John Pezze won his third straight Southmoreland title, this one at 130 pounds. Both Pezze and Carr each need three wins to reach the century mark for their careers.
Other local winners included Kittanning's Jason Nolf at 103, Tyler Rommes from Burgettstown at 119 and Norwin's Matt Tadich at 140. Jefferson-Morgan's Quincy Hathaway took top honors at 160, and August Mizia of Bentworth was victorious at 171.
North Star's Nick Roberts, a PIAA champion last year at 103 pounds, won at 112, and Austin Gillihan of Corry Area won by technical fall at 125. Greenville's Cody Copeland was a repeat winner at 145. Northern Bedford had two champions: Drew Gartland at 135 and Joel Sutter at 215.
