CM Wrestling Team Wins WPIAL Title

The Canon-McMillan Big Macs’ timing was perfect on Saturday night.

Vying for their second consecutive WPIAL Class AAA team championship, and a record-tying seventh title overall, the Big Macs got whatever they needed whenever they needed it.

Whether that came in the form of an unexpected kick-start from freshman Alec Hutchin, a momentum-turning win from junior Cody Klempay, a highlight pin from junior Colton Shorts or a meet-sealing victory from state champion Connor Schram – Canon-McMillan always had just the right wrestler step up at the best possible
moment.

And because of that, the Big Macs were able to beat Greater Latrobe, 36-19 to not only reclaim their WPIAL crown, but also secure a top seed in this week’s PIAA state team tournament.

“It feels great. The kids really stepped up,” Canon-McMillan coach Chris Mary said of his team’s championship. “I couldn’t be happier for them.”

Mary later added: “I really want to thank my coaching staff for the preparation these past couple of weeks. We train extremely hard for these kinds of matches.”

Speaking of that preparation, at a noon, pre-meet team meeting, Mary had assigned a particular job to each of his wrestlers—making sure that everyone on his team knew what was expected of them. He challenged some to pin, others to find a way to win, and some to simply avoid getting pinned or giving up bonus points.

“We all did our jobs,” Klempay said. “The coaches told us what our job was, and I feel that every kid did that job tonight.”

But then there were the ones who went above and beyond. Wrestlers like Hutchin, for example.

Kicking off the finals in the 130-pound weight class a well-rested Hutchin, who hadn’t competed regularly since early January, got the top-seeded Big Macs (20-2) rolling early—picking up a surprise pin over Latrobe’s Mitch Lesko in the waning moments of the first round.

“His moment came and he answered,” Mary said of Hutchin. “We knew they had a hole there at [130] and we took advantage of it.”

Hutchin’s quick start allowed Canon-McMillan to build up an early 12-0 lead before third-seeded Latrobe (16-3) went on a four-match run through the 160-215 pound weight classes. The streak put Latrobe up 16-15. But it also brought the Wildcats up against the heart of the Big Macs’ lineup—where Canon-McMillan’s string of timely contributions began to play out.

First it was Klempay (32-0), who put Canon-McMillan back on top with a forcible first-round pin of Latrobe’s Dylan Colucci.

“I wanted to go out and take things slow,” Klempay said. “But then I got him on his stomach, flipped him over, and my adrenaline got going.”

Then it was Shorts (34-1), who shocked the attending audience with a figure-four pin in the last second of the first round against the Wildcats’ Eric Mills in the 103-pound division.

“I remembered the arm bar, ran it and then stepped over the head,” Shorts said of his stunning pin. “I’ve been hitting that a lot this year. I was belly-down, moved his foot out and arched my back.”

And finally it was Schram, a state champion at 103 pounds last year, who put the meet out of reach for the Wildcats by scoring in the first two rounds before playing it safe and riding out the remaining time to take a 5-1 decision over Chase Small.

With two matches still left on the docket, Schram’s win gave Canon-McMillan a 30-16 lead and the championship, a fact that the Big Macs celebrated briefly, but with exuberance at the time.

“It was awesome. We all stepped up just at the right time,” Shorts said. He later added, “Everything worked out very well. We started off way better than we planned, and we closed it out just like we should have.”

The Canon-McMillan wrestlers will now turn their attention from defending their WPIAL title to winning a state championship, as they prepare for their first PIAA team tournament match on Thursday.

In fact, winning a state title would mean so much to the Big Macs, that even the thought of it makes their accomplishments on Saturday pale in comparison.

“It will mean a lot more if we win a state title,” Klempay said of his feelings when it came to repeating as WPIAL champions and tying Connellsville with seven team WPIAL championships. “That’s our goal starting Monday.”

And no matter who Canon-McMillan draws in the first round at Hershey, there can be little doubt that the detail-oriented Mary and his coaching staff will have the Big Macs as prepared as possible.

Because, as Mary said, “We want to make some noise with this bunch of kids.”