Written by: Andrew John Saturday, December 7, 2024 | 11:01 AM Andrew Palla | For TribLive Owen Campbell of Plum secures a victory against North Allegheny’s Gus Stedeford in the finals for the 107-pound category at the 2023 Allegheny County wrestling championships. Previously, the Plum wrestling team had several athletes qualify for the WPIAL tournament […]
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Saturday, December 7, 2024 | 11:01 AM
Andrew Palla | For TribLive
Owen Campbell of Plum secures a victory against North Allegheny’s Gus Stedeford in the finals for the 107-pound category at the 2023 Allegheny County wrestling championships.
Previously, the Plum wrestling team had several athletes qualify for the WPIAL tournament last year. Despite most of them being seniors, the Mustangs are optimistic about having a new group qualify this season.
Plum aims to fill the gaps left by Antonino Walker (152) and Rylen Campbell (127), who both captured section titles in their final year. Walker, now at Edinboro, placed third at the WPIAL tournament and led the team with a record of 39-7.
Campbell, currently at Ashland, secured sixth place at the WPIAL tournament.
Carson Yocca (133) was a section tournament runner-up last season and came in sixth at the WPIAL level. Yocca, who recorded 36 wins last season, is now wrestling alongside Campbell at Ashland.
Jack Tongel (172) earned sixth place in the section and fourth at WPIAL. Tongel, who concluded his senior season with a 26-14 record, is now competing at Pitt.
In the prior season, the Mustangs achieved an 8-5 overall record and were crowned Allegheny County Champions. Plum finished as runners-up out of 26 teams at the Chartiers-Houston Invitational and placed fifth at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic.
Returning for the Mustangs is junior Frank Grazulis (285), who ranked fourth at the section tournament and achieved 22 wins last season.
Junior Owen Campbell also returns after finishing third in the section at the 121-pound class. Campbell, with a 28-12 record last season, faced an injury while prepping for the regional tournament, resulting in an early end to his season. He placed sixth at the WPIAL tournament during his freshman year.
“Owen suffered a concussion just before WPIALs. He’s quite upset since he believed he had a chance to finish in the top four and advance to states,” stated coach Mike Supak. “He’s eager to return and aims to have another opportunity at that. Being just a junior, he feels the need to make progress now.”
The Mustangs will also welcome back two significant wrestlers from last year’s squad whose seasons were cut short by injury — seniors Trent Reese and Julien Sepelyak. Reese plans to compete at either 145 or 154, while Sepelyak will wrestle at 172.
Supak is optimistic about freshman Jacob Ligo making contributions this season for the Mustangs, competing at either 152 or 160 pounds.
Juniors Kam Dietrick and Matt Nelson are in competition, striving to secure spots in the lineup for the 215-pound category.
“They may be relatively inexperienced, but their work ethic is evident,” remarked Supak.
The Mustangs are set to compete in Section 9-3A, including teams like Penn-Trafford, Franklin Regional, Norwin, and Gateway.
“As the season progresses and the time comes for qualifying for individuals or as a group, it fundamentally rests on the effort you put in during practice to prepare,” Supak explained. “There’s little that can be controlled regarding the talent level of other teams to optimally prepare and mentally condition your own team.”
The Mustangs were slated to kick off their season at the Chartiers-Houston Invitational on Dec. 6 and 7.
Tags: Plum
