90 Days Until CM Wrestling's Home Opener

It's the 90th anniversary of the Canon-McMillan wrestling program, and what better way to kick off this season's events than with a countdown to the first home match! In just 90 days, the Big Macs will face off against Montour in its home opener on Wednesday, December 13. 

The high school team will compete in six dual meets this year, with four home matches against Montour, Kiski, Waynesburg, and Central Catholic. The team will also wrestle at the Cumberland Valley, North Canton, Powerade, TRICADA, and Escape the Rock tournaments throughout the season. Make sure to check out CM's full schedule here, including important dates for scrimmages, matches, and tournaments.

With the first match quickly approaching, the Alumni Association had the opportunity to sit down with new Head Coach Jeff Havelka to get his thoughts on the upcoming season. Coach Havelka was hired back in May of this year, and the wrestlers had the chance to meet him at a picnic in June. Watch the video below to understand his coaching mentality, and get ready to support him in 90 days as he leads the CMHS Big Macs into battle.

A Successful Week for Canon-McMillan Wrestling

The season hasn't started yet, but that does not mean that the CM wrestling program can't find success in the off-season. Last week, August 9-11 was the 3rd annual CM Wrestling Alumni Camp and August 12 was the inaugural Mac Open Golf Scramble.

The Alumni Wrestling Camp is a summer wrestling camp for Big Mac wrestlers only that is put on each year by the school's alumni. It started three years ago when Camp Director Josiah Hritsko pulled together some of his closest high school teammates to bring technique, motivation, and team bonding to the current generation of CM wrestlers through ages K-12.

This year, the camp was put on by a similar bunch, but with newcomer camp counselors Brendan Furman (Cornell), Nick Konyk (Mercyhurst), Matt Oblock (Wheeling Jesuit), and Declan Lewis. On day 1 Connor Schram (Stanford) and Colt Shorts (Cal Poly) returned to show off some of their west coast knowledge. Bobby Patnesky (Coach Penn State Behrend) and Dalton Macri (UNC) came in for day 2 sessions, teaching moves from the top and neutral positions. Day 3 was one of the camp's best days in its history with 2016 NCAA Champion Nico Megaludis (Penn State) demonstrating detailed moves from his time as a Nittany Lion and local WPIAL wrestler. Also on that Friday, Angelo Broglia (Clarion) taught Jiu Jitsu, a mixed martial arts form, to the boys in a means to discuss a different path for life post-wrestling. The broad history of Big Mac wrestlers that the camp can pull from is truly incredible.

In addition to the technique, the wrestlers were taken to North Strabane Park and Angel's Acres to talk about goals and to do some team bonding activities. Camp Counselors, Coach Slack, and new HS head coach Jeff Havelka spoke to everyone about the upcoming season and finding an identity. And as for the coveted camp championship belt? In its second year of existence the three teams -- Gold (Furman), Blue (Konyk), and White (Oblock) -- competed with all age groups by earning points in relay races, games, and a final triathlon event to decide a winner. Gold team emerged victorious for the second year under a new captain and hoisted the team belt. Final awards were given to Tanner Mizenko (Junior High) for being the Team Motivator and to Tim Hritsko (High School) for being the Hardest Worker. View the Wrestling Camp gallery HERE.

After the younger generation of CM wrestlers took part in camp, the older alumnus took to the golf course on Saturday for the first annual “Mac Open” Golf Scramble. The event was put together in conjunction with Chad Maggi and Brian Hritsko of the Canon-McMillan Wrestling Alumni Association. 84 wrestlers, fans, family, and friends gathered at the Village Green Golf Course to golf 18 holes, compete for prizes, and eat and drink. Prizes were awarded for “The Kyle Deliere” longest drive, closest to pin, longest putt, “The Dami” closest second shot, and “The Michael Caldwell” putting contest. By the end of the day, Jason Dami, Chuck Murdy, Mike Murdy, and Brandon Lesko finished first out of 21 teams shooting 15 under par. View the gallery for the Mac Open HERE.

Both the Alumni Wrestling Camp and Mac Open Golf Scramble were possible because of the great local sponsors. The camp looks forward to its fourth year and the golf outing looks to become an annual event. The proceeds from each event will be put back into the Canon-McMillan Wrestling Alumni Association to benefit the current K-12 wrestling programs and Kyle Deliere and Michael Caldwell scholarships.

Which State has the Most NCAA Championship Titles?

One of the biggest -- and most fun -- arguments in the wrestling community is debating which state has the best wrestlers. Whether it be at the high school, collegiate, or world level, fans like to remind their friends - and especially their rivals - where their favorite wrestler grew up. Up until this point there has not been an ultimate list of DI NCAA wrestling champions sorted out by state, but that changes today.

Inspired by Flo Wrestling’s Which State Did The Best At The 2017 NCAAs?, this list takes a look at every NCAA wrestling champion by weight, year, college, high school, hometown, and state. This data analysis dives into each wrestler’s hometown to determine which states and high schools breed the most individual NCAA champions by quantity.  Feel free to review the raw data used in this analysis of NCAA champs.

NCAA Wrestling Championships by State

Since the college weight class change enacted in 1999, there have been 190 champions at the ten respective weight classes. In those years, there have been 28 states represented by a championship title; furthermore, just 5 of those states have accounted for 52.6% of the titles earned. Those states are Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, California, Oklahoma. PA is known in the wrestling community as a wrestling powerhouse, and these charts show that PA has been the winningest state in the past 18 years with approximately 15% of all titles per state. New Jersey and Ohio aren’t far behind, with a one champ difference between the two. So according to this data, no Donald Trump, Iowa is not the “home of the greatest wrestlers in the world;” but, the state does have the 6th most NCAA titles.

NCAA Wrestling Champions by State (US Map)

The map above shows off the most individual D1 wrestling titles per state. The scale ranges from light blue to dark blue, with more titles for the darker the color. States shown in white do not have any championships since 1999. Fun fact: Hawaii is represented by 2X champion Travis Lee of Honolulu, HI from his wins in 2003 and 2004. This chart displays the same concepts in the graphs above, but it is a neat way to look at a country-wide view of the data.

NCAA Wrestling Championship Titles by HS

Now that the top state has been determined, let’s take a look at the top high schools in the country. Out of the 190 titles since 1999, there have been 40 high schools winning 56% of all championships. Blair Academy has been responsible for almost 4% of them, which is nearly double the next 7 best schools that account for 2% each. Blair Academy, a private school located in New Jersey, has had notable champions including Steve Mocco (‘03, ‘05), Zack Esposito (‘05), Mark Perry (‘07-’08), and Kellen Russell (‘11, ‘12).

Interestingly enough, three out of the seven schools that have 4 total titles have had only one champion from their schools. Cael Sanderson from Wasatch HS (‘99-’02), Kyle Dake from Lansing HS (‘10-’13), and Logan Stieber from Monroeville HS (‘12-’15) are all 4X NCAA Champions -- the only 4X champions since the weight change.

In addition, while it might come as a surprise to some, only two out of the top eight schools are prep/private schools - Blair Academy and St. Edward HS.

NCAA Wrestling Championship Titles by HS (US Map)

The map above is another look at the same data in the previous charts, but it displays the high schools by location in the US. Out of the top forty high schools with NCAA Champions, seven are located in New Jersey, the most out of any state. As previously mentioned, NJ is home to Blair Academy. Falling close behind are Pennsylvania with six of the top high schools (incl. Greensburg Salem, Easton) and Ohio with five (incl. St. Edward, Wheeling Jesuit).

With all of this data analysis done now, it should be noted that this is only the past 18 years worth of data out of the total 89 years since 1928. However, even with this small portion of data since the collegiate weight change, the data shows where the sport is currently. States such as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio are dominating at the state and D1 collegiate level, while other states like California, Iowa, and Oklahoma are trying to keep up with the top dogs. Please feel free to critique and analyze any of the data above, and let us know your thoughts!

*Cover Photo Credit: Hunter Martin/Getty Images

Wrestlers Walk in Canonsburg July 4th Celebration

Every year thousands of people gather together at the Canonsburg 4th of July parade, and this year was no different at the 55th annual town celebration. There are floats, signs, bands, sports teams, and more that walk and ride down the mile-long path of the event. Historically, the parade has been two and a half hours long with over 100 different attractions, making it the second largest July 4th parade in PA.

Throughout the years, Canon-McMillan wrestlers have taken part in the celebration. One of the biggest appearances for the program was in 2013 when the team was invited to become the Grand Marshals of the entire procession. This honor was granted due to the team's back-to-back PIAA AAA State Championship titles under head coach Chris Mary.

This year the Canon Mac wrestling boys walked in the parade carrying banners for businesses in the Canonsburg area; this voluntarism to walk in the event helps to raise funds for the program this season. In addition, Brendan Furman rolled down Pike St. in style to boast his 2017 State Championship. Make sure to check out the pictures from the day, and we hope that you had a great Independence Day!

High School Wrestlers Meet New Coach

Wednesday, June 28 was the first night of the beginning of a new era for the CMHS Wrestling Program. With the announcement of the new head coach, Jeff Havelka, in May, the team decided to get together at Angel's Acres to have a meet and greet with their new leader.

After a great dinner, Coach Havelka was able to introduce himself to the high school team and let the parents know what he has in store for the upcoming season. The night was not all business, though, as the the boys swam and played some corn hole with the new coach. All look forward to the upcoming 2017/2018 season.

CM Wrestling Hires New Head Coach

The Canon-McMillan High School Wrestling Program has had its fair share of coaches throughout the years. After four years as head coach, Jason Cardillo resigned at the end of this season with 4 Team Section titles, 2 Team WPIAL finals, 18 Section Champions, 3 WPIAL Champions, and 3 State Champions under his tutelage.

CM decided on a new head coach last month by bringing on Jeff Havelka to continue the program's tradition. Havelka wrestled at Burgettstown HS and served as assistant coach at Waynesburg University and head coach at Chartiers-Houston HS.

Read more about the head coach in the Observer Reporter HERE.