After coming off of a rough loss the night before to Peters Township, the Bethel Park wrestling team would need to regroup and prepare for battle against the Blue Devils of Mt Lebanon at home on Wednesday, Jan. 15 in a must win situation for a chance to make the team playoffs.

The weight 170 was drawn at weigh ins, so that’s where the uphill climb would begin for the grapplers of Bethel Park. They sent Jeremy Huwe out to scrap with Cam Giometti of Mount Lebanon. Huwe handled Giometti without much trouble defeating him 8-3 and starting the match off with a Bethel Park win. (3-0 Bethel Park)

Matt Nolan would follow up that match as he was set to due battle with Kellan Stout of Mount Lebanon in the 182-pound weight category. Nolan put up a tough fight but Stout proved to be too much to handle as he defeated Nolan by a score of 14-4, giving the Blue Devils the lead. (4-3 Mount Lebanon)

At 195 pounds, the Hawks’ Adam Montgomery drew a tough task in wrestling Powerade place winner, Bakhtiyar Zaynullayev. Montgomery rose to the occasion though and wrestled well, but lost a very close match to Zaynullaev who won the bout 4-1. (7-3 Mount Lebanon)

The Hawks then turned to their 220 pound wrestler Sam Gercak for some points, who delivered them against Mount Lebanon’s Chas Blango. It was a tight match, but Gercak squeaked out a 2-0 decision and brought the Hawks back to within 1 point of their opponents. (7-6 Mount Lebanon)

The 285-pound weight class called for Bethel Park’s Chris Pauley to take the mat against Mount Lebanon’s Zeynul Zaynullayev. Zeynul ended up scoring the fall over Pauley in 3 minutes and gave the Blue Devils a little more breathing room. (13-6 Mount Lebanon)

The Hawks forfeited the 106-pound weight class to Jake Buono of Mount Lebanon, thus putting the Hawks into a hole. (19-6 Mount Lebanon)

At 113 pounds, the Hawks summoned Theodore Gates to wrestle Blue Devil Brian Perri. Both grapplers set a high pace in the matchup, but Perri prevailed with a fall in the second period over Gates. (25-6 Mount Lebanon)

Michael Smith weighed in at 120 pounds for Bethel Park, and he was set to wrestle, senior, Kevin Kinyua. Smith had a tough time with the Blue Devil as Kinyua made it the fourth straight match Mount Lebanon scored six points with a fall in one minute three seconds. (31-6 Mount Lebanon)

With their playoff chances fading right in front of them, Bethel Park turned to rookie Brandon Drusbasky to turn the tide against Sam White of Mount Lebanon in the 126-pound bout. Unfortunately, Drusbasky surrendered a fall to White in the first period. Thus sealing the dual meet for Mount Lebanon. (37-6 Mount Lebanon)

The 132-pound weight class was the feature matchup of the night as two veterans of the sport, Nino Bonaccorsi from Bethel Park and Sean Perri from Mount Lebanon, were set to scrap. It was a very back and forth match, well wrestled by both athletes, but Nino Bonaccorsi edged out Perri by a score of 5-2.  (37-9 Mount Lebanon)

The Hawks were then forced to forfeit the 138-pound weight class to Mount Lebanon native Turner Gray. (43-9 Mount Lebanon)

At the 145-pound weight class, senior Tom Kolodziej took the mat for Bethel Park, and his opponent RJ Fitzgerald lined up across from him for Mount Lebanon. Kolodziej took a decision as he won the match by a final score of 5-1 over Fitzgerald. (43-12 Mount Lebanon)

The 152-pound weight class featured Bethel Park junior Paul Dunn against Mount Lebanon’s John Marshall. Dunn ended up scoring the fall in the first period against Marshall. (43-18 Mount Lebanon)

To close out the night, the Hawks sent Alex Gates out to represent the 160-pound weight category against Blue Devil Darrell Sanders. Gates finished the night on a strong note for the Hawks pinning Sanders in one minute ten seconds. (43-24 Mount Lebanon)

So, after a rough week in Section competition, the Hawks were eliminated from playoff contention in the team portion of the season. Bethel Park will now have to focus on individual postseasons coming up in late February and early march.

Their next dual meet is at Keystone Oaks High School on Wednesday, Jan. 29 where they will look to knock off the Golden Eagles.