CM Wrestling Ousted From Semifinals

The Canon-McMillan wrestling team was ousted from the semifinals of the PIAA state team tournament for the second year in a row, as the Big Macs fell to eventual state champion Central Dauphin 37-20 on Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

“They’re a solid group,” Canon-McMillan coach Chris Mary said of Central Dauphin in a phone interview. “They’re tough on top and they have no holes in their lineup.”

That much certainly seemed to be certain early, as the Big Macs (22-4) lost the first three matches of the meet, dropping into a 13-0 hole. But, Canon-McMillan was able to fall back on the strength of its lineup once again, as Cody Klempay (285), Colton Shorts (103) and Connor Schram (112) rallied the team with three straight wins of its own. Klempay won by injury default and Schram picked up a technical fall to
help catapult the Big Macs back into contention and a 14-13 lead.

But Central Dauphin (24-0) took four of the final five matches to advance to what would eventually become a championship win over Easton in the finals, 36-18. The Big Macs had no pins in the contest.

“We just lost a couple of close ones,” Mary said of his team’s effort in the semis, during which the Canon-McMillan wrestlers lost a pair of matches by a total of three points.

Following their semifinal defeat, Canon-McMillan dropped into the tournament’s consolation bracket, where the team was again matched against Nazareth—a team that the Big Macs had beaten by a point just two days prior in the tournament’s second round.

It wasn’t as close this time around.

Canon-McMillan again got wins out of Klempay, Shorts, and Schram—decisions all.

And Dalton Macri stepped in at 119 to give the Big Macs four early wins in a row as well as a 13-6 lead before Nazareth took over. Nazareth won seven of the final eight matches, the exception being Nick Catalano’s pin in the 145-pound weight class, to take a decisive 33-19 win.

Nazareth went on to win third place in the tournament, beating Council Rock South 33-24. But the Big Macs had to settle for a long bus ride home with an eye toward the upcoming individual postseason tournaments.

“The kids wrestled well. They’re just a solid team,” Mary said of his Big Macs. We’re real proud of the kids’ efforts and what they accomplished all year.”

Mary continued, “We’re going to take a day or two off and get ready for the individuals. We’re going to enjoy what we’ve accomplished thus far.”