Cathedral Prep head coach Mike Hahsey wanted his team to show him guts in Pittsburgh at the Steel City Duals and by the end of the day he was satisfied with their performance. After all, the Ramblers have been through a multitude of tough tests this season.

They opened up the season with a trip into the WPIAL and one of the top Tournaments in the Nation with POWERade, a tournament Coach Hahsey said “opened their eyes.” 

“We were tested, pushed by that competition at POWERade” Hahsey said. And they didn’t slow down, heading to the Pin City Tournament in Ohio where they had 11 finalists including 5 Tournament Champions. The competition only heated up from there as the District 10 program competed in the Virginia National Duals where they took on some of the Nation’s top talent.

In the VA Duals they downed a tough fellow Keystone State program in Bethlehem Liberty by a point (31-30) and also earned an impressive victory over Christiansburg (VA) (33-27). Hahsey was pleased with the VA Duals but thought there was much room for improvement.

“We faced some tough competition down in Virginia and we dropped two close duals to South Plainfield (New Jersey) – in the quarterfinals and the third place match. We wrestled tough but there were some matches I thought we could have battled more.”

Last week also played a role in the way the Ramblers performed in Pittsburgh. Hahsey’s team took on one of the best programs in all of Pennsylvania and the #1 ranked dual team in the PIAA Class AA – District 10 power Reynolds. It was a match that came down to the final bout of the evening.

“We went out and wrestled tough against Reynolds. The match came down to a one-point tiebreaker match. If we win that match (at 145 lbs.) the dual is tied 30-30 and we win on criteria.” It was a good performance against a stout opponent but Hahsey knew they could be better.

That came when Prep competed in the Steel City Duals hosted by Central Catholic in Pittsburgh. There the Ramblers had no issues getting by Central Catholic, Carrick, and Wheeling, WV outscoring the three opponents (199-23). It would be a tougher match when #12 Cathedral Prep took on #8 Cumberland Valley.

“We opened the dual with Tyler (McKinney) getting a win over Russell Zimmerman (CV) who is a tough kid. I think 145 lbs. really got the momentum going for us. Albert Taylor was up (7-1) in the third when he earned a pin. We didn’t lose another match until 106 lbs. after that.”

There were two crucial bouts that featured wrestlers all ranked in the Top 10 of the State. The first match came at 160 lbs. where sophomore and returning PIAA State Medalist Carter Starocci, ranked #4 in the State, faced 3x PIAA State Qualifier and Cumberland Valley senior Will Kaldes. After earning a reversal Kaldes held a (2-1) lead in the third period but Starocci escaped and got a takedown to make it (4-2). With time running out Starocci put an exclamation point on the win with 3 back-points to end it (7-2).

Starocci’s win was followed up with a meeting between #5 Quentin Millikin (CV) and #8 Dazion Casto (Prep).  Both juniors were PIAA State Qualifiers a season ago. Casto was superior from neutral picking up  two takedowns in the first period and a third in the second period. An escape by Casto and his fourth takedown of the match ended the bout (9-3) in an impressive and crucial performance.

“I was pleased with the way both Carter and Dazion wrestled against some very tough opponents. Cumberland Valley is always one of the best teams in the State and I thought we wrestled really well” stated Hahsey. The Ramblers could be peaking at the right moment as they are the top seed in the District 10 Duals this weekend.

“The win against CV, I think, made our guys believe in themselves and make them realize – we are that good. I don’t think we are going to be intimidated by anyone.”

The event also benefited the Ramblers in another way as the 50/50 proceeds went to a fund for injured grappler Ian Malesiewski.

 

#12 Cathedral Prep over #8 Cumberland Valley (45-22)

 

126:  #13 Tyler McKinney (Cathedral Preparatory) over #25 Russell Zimmerman (Cumberland Valley) (Dec 5-2)

132:  Mason Viehman (Cumberland Valley) over Andrew Stark (Cathedral Preparatory) (Dec 3-0)

138:  #4 Wyatt Long (Cumberland Valley) over Spencer Staab (Cathedral Preparatory) (Fall 0:34)

145:  Albert Taylor (Cathedral Preparatory) over Jacob Hart (Cumberland Valley) (Fall 4:46)

152:  #11 Cal Reichart (Cumberland Valley) over Unknown (For.)

160:  #4 Carter Starocci (Cathedral Preparatory) over #6 William Kaldes (Cumberland Valley) (Dec 7-2)

170:  #8 Dazjon Casto (Cathedral Preparatory) over #5 Quentin Milliken (Cumberland Valley) (Dec 9-3)

182:  Luigi Yates (Cathedral Preparatory) over Quinn Bonney (Cumberland Valley) (Fall 5:43)

195:  Evan Selker (Cathedral Preparatory) over Austin Kupko (Cumberland Valley) (Fall 1:30)

220:  #11 Michael Hughes (Cathedral Preparatory) over Galen Witmer (Cumberland Valley) (Fall 1:30)

285:  #4 Kawaun Deboe (Cathedral Preparatory) over Unknown (For.)

106:  Patrick DeMark (Cumberland Valley) over Jacob Brumett (Cathedral Preparatory) (Dec 4-0)

113:  #21 Brady Sittinger (Cathedral Preparatory) over Unknown (For.)

120:  Ben Monn (Cumberland Valley) over Alex Chelton (Cathedral Preparatory) (MD 11-2)