The School Board unanimously voted to reinstate Junior High Wrestling (7th-9th Grade) to South Fayette for the 2006-2007 season! One of the main reasons is that under the PIAA By-Laws, no South Fayette child that is currently in K-6 can join the co-op with Chartiers Valley's Wrestling Program starting in 2006-2007 and onward. This will be the first time that South Fayette fields their own wrestling teams since the 1998-1999 season. Since the 1999-2000 season, both the Junior High and Varsity Wrestling program has been in a co-op with Chartiers Valley as the host school. In regard to the current High School Varsity wrestlers, they will currently stay in the co-op with Chartiers Valley until the South Fayette School Board makes a decision about reinstating Varsity Wrestling at South Fayette.
To further rebuild the wrestling program, the school board voted unanimously to hire Mark Angle as the new Junior High Wrestling Head Coach. Coach Angle comes with an impressive resume, the least of which is being the nephew of 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle. Some of Coach Angle’s impressive stats include;
6x Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling State Champion. (One of only two ever.)
- PIAA State Champion (Canon McMillan High School)
- High School National Champion
- 5x Freestyle National Champion
- 2nd Place at World Championships (Cadet/High School)
- 3x NCAA Division 1 All-American
- Career Records: College = 126-11; High School = 148-3
- 2000-2001; Assistant Wrestling Coach at Clarion University
- 2001-2002; Assistant Varsity Wrestling Coach at North Allegheny High School
- 2002-2004; Head Varsity Wrestling Coach at Seneca Valley High School
Another thing about South Fayette Wrestling that many people may not be aware of, again the foresight goes to Dr. Linda Hippert & the South Fayette School Board who voted years ago to totally renovate the South Fayette Wrestling room in the Middle School during its renovation. (FYI, the Middle School used to be the High School.) This room opened in December 2004 & has a brand new ceiling, lights, windows, doors, paint & mats. The only people using this room now are the South Fayette Youth Wrestling Team. So there is a brand new South Fayette Wrestling Room just waiting for the Junior High Wrestling Team to start practicing on it for 2006-2007!
So the future looks bright for the return of South Fayette Junior High Wrestling. If any student has ever wanted to see what wrestling is about or to give it a try, this is the year to go out. With 18 weight classes available from 75 pounds to 250 pounds, there is a weight for just about any student.
What many of you should also know is that there is a fine tradition of wrestling over the past few decades at South Fayette. You can find out about all of that and more here on this website at http://www.southfayettewrestling.com/wrestlingstats.html
2007-2008 South Fayette Junior High Wrestling Team
Jared Cardillo (75 pounds)
Ben Anton (85 pounds)
Seth Carr (90 pounds)
Mike Fetchet (95 pounds) - co-captain
Tyler Manion (100 pounds) - co-captain
Hunter Curl (105 pounds)
Chris Sarnowski (110 pounds)
Brad Haney (115 pounds)
Jimmy Smith (115 pounds)
Ben Bryan (122 pounds) - co-captain
Branden Keck (130 pounds)
Kevin Hitlan (155 pounds)
Michael Shildtt (155 pounds)
Arek Allen (165 pounds)
Tony Eggers (185 pounds)
Mike Smith (185 pounds)
2007-2008 Junior High Individual/Team Records, click here;
(Note: You must have Microsoft Excel to view)
2006-2007 Junior High Individual/Team Records, click here;
(Note: You must have Microsoft Excel to view)
