Five Takeaways From The Southmoreland Holiday Classic

A month into the season, we might have found the most improved wrestler in the state. That’s one of the biggest takeaways from the Southmoreland Holiday Classic, which wrapped up on Friday.

Here’s what we learned at the two-day tournament, which Greensburg-Salem won:

Big Impression

The 195-pound weight class featured the Nos. 2, 5 and 17 wrestlers in the state, but it was an unseeded wrestler with a 0-0 record who walked away with the title.

Luke Montgomery, who burst onto the scene by winning The Surge title last month, made another splash here. Until then, the Bethel Park junior had flown under the radar. After going 25-14 as a freshman, he slipped to 13-12 last season.

So it wasn’t a surprise that Montgomery was unseeded going into the Southmoreland tournament. After a tech fall over Burgettstown’s Ethan Brothers in the first round, he stunned No. 2 Dominic Fundy of Beth-Center, 10-5, in the second-round. Montgomery needed just 58 seconds to pin Jefferson-Morgan’s Jonathan Wolfe in the quarterfinals, then took out Upper St. Clair’s Harvey Rauch – No. 17 in AAA – by a 12-5 score to reach the finals.

Montgomery capped his stunning run with a 5-0 victory over North Star’s Hunter Tremain – No. 5 in AA – in the finals.

After that performance, Montgomery is about to shoot up the rankings – and onto everyone’s radar.

Underdogs’ Day

Montgomery’s victory might have been the most extreme in overcoming odds to win a title, but he was far from the only underdog to leave Southmoreland with a championship.

Of the 14 champions only four – South Park’s Joey Fischer, Burgettstown’s Shane Kemper, Butler’s Jack Codispot and Beth-Center’s Jacob Baker – did it as the top seed.

A few of the wrestlers to fall from the top line were from outside of the Keystone State, and it’s often hard to determine where to seed those wrestlers. Some of it also is due to the fact that we’re still early in the season, and some very talented young wrestlers don’t yet have enough on their resumes to warrant a high seed.

Whatever the reason, it was a great tournament in which to have the odds stacked against you.

Pleasant Future

Mount Pleasant might not be the most formidable dual meet team, but the Vikings showed that they have some very strong individuals, and the program appears to be headed in the right direction.

Located just a few miles from Southmoreland, Mount Pleasant looked right at home in the Scotties’ gymnasium. Six of the seven Vikings entered in the event placed – including first-place finishes by Noah Gnibus (113), Noah Teeter (120) and Dayton Pitzer (182). Throw in Luke Geibig’s second-place finish at 106, and Mount Pleasant had a wrestler in more than a quarter of the finals.

Even more impressive is the fact that all four of those are freshmen. The Vikings haven’t had a single senior wrestle a match this season.

Cassidy’s Cruise

The 132-pound bracket wasn’t the strongest at Southmoreland, but Kaden Cassidy’s performance was still quite impressive. The Bedford junior went 4-0 with four technical falls, outscoring his opponents by a combined score of 62-0.

The George Mason recruit regularly scored first-period takedowns, and quickly built insurmountable leads with his top game. The scary part? Cassidy said he’s still not back to where he wants to be after missing almost all of last season with a thumb injury.

While he’s now healthy, Cassidy estimated that he’s only about 80 percent in terms of execution. He said he should be completely caught up to speed by mid-January – just in time for a possible rematch with Everett’s Garret Cornell, the only wrestler to beat him in 14 matches this season.

(Gun)Slinger

While Cassidy was teching his way to a title, Upper St. Clair’s Jake Slinger was pinning his way to a championship in one of the tournament’s toughest weight classes. The No. 3 heavyweight in AAA emphatically made his case for being best in the state.

A seventh-place finisher at 220 pounds a year ago, Slinger is now 15-0 with 14 falls and one win by injury default. On Saturday he pinned Burgettstown’s Riley Kemper and Meyersdale’s Jalen Stephens – ranked Nos. 17 and 15 in AA, respectively. The weight also included No. 2 Dave Schuffert, but Stephens upset the Valley heavyweight in the semifinals.