Hannon Bortmas fall short

By Josh Rizzo Eagle Staff Writer

March 03, 2014 Last Updated: March 03, 2014 01:09 PM High School

CANONSBURG — Ryan Hannon and Will Bortmas both made career-best runs at the WPIAL Class AAA wrestling championships Saturday at Canon-McMillan.

Both Butler seniors fell just short of ending their careers with their first PIAA bids.

Hannon lost 3-2 in overtime in a 182-pound third-place match to North Allegheny’s Clay Byerly, while Bortmas dropped a 13-9 match to Hempfield’s Fred Mantsch.

Hannon’s match was similar to his 4-3 loss to Byerly in the Section 3-AAA last Saturday. This time, Hannon led 2-1 in the third period after opening the period with a reversal. Byerly evened the match with an escape with 52 seconds remaining.

He escaped again in the second overtime and then rode out Hannon to seal the win.

Butler coach Scott Stoner felt Hannon wrestled a good match.

“Ryan’s match is moreso disappointing because he did enough to win,” Stoner said. “He showed a lot of character and heart in the way he performed as an athlete. I’m glad I coached him and obviously I wanted to get him further. I feel somewhat responsible for not getting him there.”

Bortmas, who finished the season 33-7, also had to face a familiar foe.

Mantsch beat Bortmas 7-0 in the quarterfinals Friday.

Mantsch controlled the match earlier before Bortmas nearly caught him in the third period.

Trailing 11-4, Bortmas executed a roll and put Mantsch on his back.

He cut the lead to 11-9, but Mantsch got another late reversal to seal the win.

“Nothing he really does follows a safe or a solid foundation-type offense,” Stoner said. “He does all kinds of unorthodox stuff. There’s been times where he’s come up short, but he’s created a lot of opportunities and won a lot of matches that way.”

Only one other Butler County wrestler of the nine that started that day made it to the third round of consulations.

Tyler Miller just wasn’t the guy people expected to get there.

The 220-pound Seneca Valley senior beat Belle Vernon’s Pat Mayernik 3-1 and pinned Fox Chapel’s Rich Giovannetti to advance to the third round of the consolations.

“I knew I was an underdog. I just went out there and tried my hardest,” said Miller, who finished the season 20-14. “My goal was just to make it to Saturday. To win two matches on Saturday was a surprise in itself.”

Miller’s run fizzled out with his second 1-0 loss of the tournament to Mantsch. In the second period, Mantsch got an escape and rode Miller out in the third period to seal the win.

“Tyler definitely exceeded my expectations. We try to preach a lot to the kids that at a tournament like this anything can happen,” Raiders coach Kevin Wildrick said. “That’s why they don’t just take the seeds to the end and not wrestle anything. Go out and expect you can win the match, that’s what he did this week.”

Third-place matches

(Winners earn PIAA bid)

182: Clay Byerly (North Allegheny) dec. Ryan Hannon (Butler), 3-2

220: Fred Mantsch (Hempfield) dec. Will Bortmas 13-9

Consolation semifinals

182: Ryan Hannon (Butler) dec. Mac Oberschelp (Peters Township), 7-0

220: Will Bortmas (Butler) pin Dereck Berberick (Greensburg Salem), 3:24; Fred Mantsch (Hempfield) dec. Tyler Miller (Seneca Valley), 1-0

Third-round consolations

106: Gage Nicolella (McGuffey) dec. Alex Lynch (Seneca Valley), 1-0 OT

138: Italo Merante (Peters Township) dec. Cody Houston (Butler), 3-2

152: Jake Aredllitz (Kiski) dec. Austin Leon (Seneca Valley), 3-2; Paul Dunn (Bethel Park) dec. Jeremiah Bortmas (Butler), 4-1

220: Will Bortmas (Butler) pin Michael Bonsmann (North Hills), 4:58; Tyler Miller (Seneca Valley) pin Rich Giovanetti (Fox Chapel), 2:00