Mat Madness 2018: And Your Winner. . .
After two weeks of voting, Mat Madness 2018 is completed. 64 of the best wrestlers in Canonsburg and Canon-McMillan wrestling have been narrowed down to just 1 champion. With a record 246 votes throughout the tournament, the champion of Mat Madness 2018 is. . . Mark Angle!
And your winner. . .
Mark Angle
After two weeks of voting, Mat Madness 2018 is completed. 64 of the best wrestlers in Canonsburg and Canon-McMillan wrestling have been narrowed down to just 1 champion. With a record 246 votes throughout the tournament, the champion of Mat Madness 2018 is. . . Mark Angle!
Angle was a wrestler at CMHS in the 1990’s before he attended Clarion University. The #1 seed of the Gold Age Division (80’s & 90’s) made his way through the tournament by defeating Jim Harriot, Brad Mockler, and Ron Rothka. A win against Bruce Cridge in his division finals sent him to the final four against Colin Johnston. The final victory came in the championship bout by defeating Joe Solomon of the Gunners Division. Mark Angle was the ultimate victor amongst 64 other competitors across four divisions. In his personal career, 4 Section titles, 4 WPIAL titles, 1 State title, and 3 NCAA placings place Angle as one of the greatest Pennsylvania wrestlers of all time.
Click here to download the completed bracket. The CMWAA would like to thank all 303 voters who participated in the six rounds of the tournament. There were some tough voting decisions that had to be made, but the fans engaged in a positive conversation to make their favorite choices. We certainly had a great time, and we hope the fans did too.
Congratulations to the fan’s champion and “Best CM Wrestler of All Time,” Mark Angle!
Mat Madness 2018: Championship
The field has been narrowed down from 64 wrestlers to 2 of the big guns. 265 votes across 5 rounds has brought us to this matchup: Joe Solomon versus Mark Angle.
The field has been narrowed down from 64 wrestlers to 2 of the big guns. 265 votes across 5 rounds has brought us to this matchup: Joe Solomon versus Mark Angle. Download the updated bracket here.
Joe Solomon, the #1 seed from the Gunners Division, stampeded his side of the bracket with the most amount of votes. The Gunner wrestled for Canonsburg High School in the late 1940’s through the early 1950’s. During that time, he amassed 3 WPIAL titles and 1 PIAA title at 145 lbs. He might have earned some Section titles, too, if the tournament was around back in his day. What Solomon holds over Angle is a NCAA Division I title when he wrestled at Pitt.
One of the other four #1 seed’s, Mark Angle, also advanced to the championship match. He has received the most votes in the tournament thus far, and doesn’t look to stop his domination. Angle was a 4X Section champ, 4X WPIAL champ, and 1X State champ during his high school tenure in the 90’s. Additionally, he was a 3X NCAA All-American at Clarion, earning two 4th place finishes and a bronze medal.
It’s only fitting that the last match of the tournament is the most difficult to decide. Crown the Mat Madness Champion:
Mat Madness 2018: Final Four
Four rounds of voting have finally decided the Division Champions. Joe Solomon (Gunners), George O’Korn (Blue), Mark Angle (Gold), and Colin Johnston (Modern) have been crowned individual division champs of their respective eras. Now comes the tough part: cross-era matchups.
Four rounds of voting have finally decided the Division Champions. Joe Solomon (Gunners), George O’Korn (Blue), Mark Angle (Gold), and Colin Johnston (Modern) have been crowned individual division champs of their respective eras. Now comes the tough part: cross-era matchups. Download the updated PDF bracket here.
On the left side of the bracket, #1 Joe Solomon is up against #1 George O’Korn. Solomon is a 3X WPIAL champ and State champion at 145 lbs, in addition to being an NCAA Champion at Pitt. O’Korn has 3 Section titles, 1 WPIAL title, and 2 PIAA titles at 165 and 167 lbs. To be fair, the Section tournament was not around in Solomon’s day, but this is going to be a close match.
#1 Mark Angle takes on #4 Colin Johnston on the opposite side of the bracket, and this matchup is a doozy. Both wrestlers have 4 Section titles, 4 WPIAL titles, and 1 State title in the lightweight classes. The two are also members of the 100 win club, Johnston with 163 wins and Angle with 148 wins. Johnston continued his career at WVU and Angle at Clarion, becoming a 3X All-American. Good luck, voters.
It’s up to you who advances to the Mat Madness Championships: