PITTSBURGH -- Their wrestling seasons paralleled eached other, so why shouldn't their final bouts in high school end in a similar, dramatic fashion?
That's what happened to Canon-McMillan's Brad Mockler and Trinity's Andy Migyanko Saturday in the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic.
At 125, Mockler rolled to an 11-1 decision over Witt Durden, a four-time Georgia champion who had won his last 153 bouts. At 112, Migyanko grabbed a 4-3 victory from T.J. Hill, a four-time Missouri champion who had won 122 straight matches.
The wins by Mockler and Migyanko came one week after they won PIAA Class AAA Championships in Hershey. But they couldn't save Pennsylvania from losing 23-19 to the United States before about 3,000 fans at the A.J. Palumbo Center. In the preliminary match, the WPIAL defeated District 10, 28-12.
Durden, who will attend Oklahoma University next fall, had a 155-4 career record. He lost four of his first six bouts before running off the next 153.
"He can start a new string now,'' Mockler said. "If he's a four-time state champion, then he has to be good.''
Mockler broke the bout open with a five-point in the second period, nearly pinning Durden twice before the bout was stopped for injury. Mockler, who is headed to Clarion, turned Durden again in the third period for two more points.
"When I'd come up here before, my dad always said that that could be you out there,'' said Mockler, who was 136-20 at C-M. "It's a privilege to wrestle here and I just wanted to go out and have some fun. I wanted to win it and here I am.''
Migyanko used an escape in the third period to make the difference in his match against Hill, who is being recruited by Iowa and Hofstra.
"A lot of kids were just as good as me at states who just didn't have the opportunity that I did,'' said Migyanko, who is undecided on a college. "This puts the cherry on top of the icing for me.''
Hill's short and stocky form was in contrast to Migyanko's tall, lean frame. Hill also came into the match with a 151-3 record at Farmington High School.
"I didn't want to go upper body with him because I knew I would lose that battle,'' said Migyanko, who had a 141-13 record at Trinity. "When I first saw him, I thought that it would be hard to shoot in on him because of his big legs.''
"I knew I was in trouble with him,'' said Hill, "because most of my matches never made it to the second period.''
Area wrestlers split the four bouts in the WPIAL's 28-12 victory over District 10 in the preliminary bout. West Greene's Shawn Whyte (125) was named Outstanding Wrestler after pinning Justin Fischer of Sharon in 2:35. Whyte was on his back first, in the first period, but recovered and pinned Fischer.
"He was real strong and a bit defensive,'' said Whyte, who also beat him in last week's PIAA Championships, 6-5. "I had to make up something for being down five points.''
Whyte's win came one bout after Waynesburg's Mike Seybold (119) decisioned Dion Pullium of Erie Central, 11-2.
"It was just an honor to wrestle here,'' Seybold said. "I came up here a couple of times and always wondered if I could win here.''
Scott Belcastro (152) of Washington lost by rideout to Ted Carrington of Warren and Fort Cherry's Tim Bennett lost 2-1 to Mike Carroll of Erie Prep at heavyweight.
TOURNAMENT NOTES - Five individuals were inducted into the Southwestern Pennsylvania Wrest-ling Hall of Fame last night. They included Burgettstown graduate Floyd Marshall, who won an NAIA title before going on to a successful coaching career; Floyd's brother, Robert Marshall, a state champion from Burgettstown who has a 302-51 record as coach at Delaware Valley College; Pitt wrestling coach Rande Stottlemyer; Mt. Pleasant coach Rob Waller; and Stan Dziedzic, a three-time NCAA college division and one-time University Division champion from Slippery Rock University
Copyright ©1998 Observer Publishing Co.
Last updated 3-16-98
Local wrestlers victorious at classic
BY JOE TUSCANO
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AP: THE WIRE