Making marks on mat

By SAM TALLARICO Eagle Staff Writer

February 22, 2008 Last Updated: February 22, 2008 03:04 PM High School

Seneca Valley's Nate Cully, right, earned a 5-2 decision over Vincent Camps of Waynesburg in their 135-pound, preliminary-round match at the WPIAL championships Thursday.

4 county wrestlers advance to quarterfinals

CANONSBURG — Butler got off to a good start Thursday at the WPIAL Southwest Region Wrestling Championships.

Now, the question is can the squad can sustain it?

Three Golden Tornado wrestlers, Cole Baxter (130 pounds), Alex Evanoff (145) and Josh Pascazi (152), reached the quarterfinals after wins in the preliminary round at Canon-McMillan High.

Baxter (32-6) scored a takedown 13 seconds into overtime to pull out a 4-2 win over Bethel Park's Rico Borz (27-9).

Evanoff (37-1), the No. 3 seed, held off McGuffey's Frank Bavaro (25-13) by a 5-2 decision while No. 2 seed Pascazi (31-6) pinned Norwin's Franklin Alvarez in 46 seconds.

"They wrestled all three of those matches before," said Butler coach Scott Stoner. "Those three guys have the best shot. They're still in the championship bracket."

Baxter held a 2-0 lead after a takedown midway through the first period, but Borz used escapes in the first and second periods to pull even. After a scoreless third, Baxter became the aggressor, taking Borz to the mat early to secure the win.

Evanoff trailed 2-0 until late in the first period when he earned an escape before adding a takedown in the closing seconds to take a lead he would not surrender.

"Alex started slow, but he's done that before," said Stoner. "He has to get himself ready to go out and wrestle."

Seneca Valley's Nate Cully earned a 5-2 decision over Waynesburg's Vincent Camps to advance to the quarterfinal round as well.

Cully (24-5) held a slim 2-1 lead entering the third period, but an early escape followed by a takedown keyed Cully's triumph.

"He wrestled the full three periods and really took it to (Camps)," said Seneca Valley coach Lee Mullett.

Cully, however, will face top-seeded Colin Johnston of Canon-McMillan (34-1) in Friday's quarterfinal round.

Butler had six of its eight wrestlers capture one win Thursday. Eric Tuck (103), Jon Sanko (140) and Marino Quercio (215) each secured a win in the pigtail matches.

Tuck pinned Mount Lebanon's Andy Buttlar in 29 seconds, Sanko decisioned Waynesburg's Alex Teagarden 8-3 and Quercio decisioned Ambridge's Brent Sutton 11-4.

All three lost in the preliminary round, which drops the trio into today's first-round consolation finals.

Tuck lost a 10-4 decision while Sanko and Quercio were each pinned by No. 2 seeds, Donnie Tasser of Belle Vernon and Adam Lazenga of Bethel Park, respectively.

Seneca Valley's Grant Evans (119) also registered a win in the pigtail matches. Evans pinned Cody Rubin of Belle Vernon at 3:16, then was pinned by Central Catholic's Lorenzo Thomas in the preliminary round."Grant got to the round of 16. He did a great job in his pigtail match," said Mullett.Also in the prelims, Butler's Mike Crawford, the Section 3-AAA champion, lost a tough 5-4 decision to McGuffey's Tyler Mayer in the 125-pound division.Seneca Valley's Jordan Williams (189) and Zack Eckstrom (285) also lost their matches to fall into the first-round consolations.Williams was pinned by North Hills' Tom McElwaine while Eckstrom lost an 18-9 major decision to Kiski Area's Dallan Cline.Three other Butler County wrestlers lost their pigtail matches and were eliminated from the tournament: Knoch's Grayson Hixon (112), Butler's Daman Redenbach (112) and Seneca Valley's Dan Papst (130).Notes: Friday's quarterfinals and first-round consolation round are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. However, if inclement weather cancels Friday's events, the remainder of the tournament will be pushed to Saturday. If that happens, quarterfinals and first-round consolations will begin at 9:30 a.m., second-round consolations at 12:45 p.m., semifinals and third-round consolations at 2:30, fourth-round consolations at 4:30, consolation and championship finals at 8.Pigtail matches(winners advance to preliminary round)103 pounds: Eric Tuck (Butler) pinned Andy Buttlar (Mount Lebanon): 29112: Ryan Williams (Connellsville) def. Grayson Hixon (Knoch), 13-6; Dean Mathies (Ringgold) major decision over Daman Redenbach (Butler), 12-2119: Grant Evans (Seneca Valley) pinned Cody Rubin (Belle Vernon), 3:16130: Rocco Ragano (Montour) dec. Dan Papst (Seneca Valley), 6-4140: Jon Sanko (Butler) dec. Alex Teagarden (Waynesburg), 8-3215: Marino Quercio (Butler) dec. Brent Sutton (Ambridge), 11-4Preliminary round103: Mike Lugaila (Montour) dec. Eric Tuck (Butler), 10-4119: Lorenzo Thomas (Central Catholic) pinned Grant Evans (Seneca Valley), 4:39;125: Tyler Mayer (McGuffey) dec. Mike Crawford (Butler), 5-4130: Cole Baxter (Butler) dec. Rico Borz (Bethel Park), 4-2 (OT)135: Nate Cully (Seneca Valley) dec. Vincent Camps (Waynesburg), 5-2140: Donnie Tasser (Belle Vernon) pinned Jon Sanko (Butler), 3:10145: Alex Evanoff (Butler) dec. Frank Bavaro (McGuffey), 5-2152: Josh Pascazi (Butler) pinned Franklin Alvarez (Norwin): 46189: Tom McElwaine (North Hills) pinned Jordan Williams (Seneca Valley)215: Adam Lazenga (Bethel Park) pinned Marino Quercio (Butler): 45285: Dallan Cline (Kiski Area) major dec. over Zack Eckstrom (Seneca Valley), 18-9

Butler's Eric Tack, left, has Montour's Mike Lugaila in his grasp in their 103-pound match at the WPIAL meet Thursday. Lugaila eventually recorded a 10-4 win over Tack.