Connellsville Wrestling Alumni

Great night at the 48th annual Pittsburgh wrestling classic. Falcon 160 # Jared Keslar defeated 2x Indiana state champion J. Conway 8-6 and was named outstanding wrestler for the WPIAL team. He was coached by alumni Bill Swink, George Harvey, Chad jesko, and Joe Ross. Former coach and alumni Tommy Dolde was named to the Southwestern PA Wrestling Hall of Fame, alumni Zach Snyder was coaching Mount Pleasant wrestler Dayton Pitzer on the PA team. Many alumni in the house to cheer them on: Brian and Mason Prinkey, Dontay Stokes, Brett Cooper, Troy Rosenberry, Scott Cole, Older Joe Ross, and Jeremy keslar. Current wrestlers and wrestling families including the Keslars, Vielmas, Ozias'. Hopefully I didn't miss anyone! Great end to the season.

This Friday night Jared Keslar will be representing Team WPIAL at the Classic. Here is a list of prior Connellsville Wrestlers that participated in this great All-Star event!

Falcon Wrestlers in the Dapper Dan Classic over the years!
1976 185 # Ed Benzio WPIAL won 5-2
1977 HWT Mark Mitchell WPIAL Lost Fall
1978 155 Barry Bryner WPIAL Lost 11-10
1983 167 Steve Peperak WPIAL Won 3-2
1984 HWT Mark Blackstone WPIAL Won Fall
1988 105 John Saniga WPIAL Lost 4-3
1989 112 Jeff Stepanic WPIAL Won 5-4
1990 119 Dave Marko WPIAL Won 8-0
1991 130 John Richey Penn Lost 4-2
1992 189 Brett Cooper WPIAL Won 5-4
1993 119 Kevin Saniga Penn Lost 8-5
1994 125 Chad Jesko WPIAL Won 9-2
1994 152 Brian Martin Penn Won 11-8
1994 189 Tom Darrell WPIAL Won 4-3
1995 135 Justin Martin Penn Won 1-0
1995 140 Joe Lucas WPIAL Lost 4-1
1997 189 Rick Pifer WPIAL Lost Fall
1999 160 Matt King WPIAL Won 16-5
2001 135 Dewitt Driscoll Penn Won Fall *OW Award
2001 140 Ron Doppelheuer Penn Lost 8-6
2004 160 Jarrod King Penn Won 3-1
2005 130 Steve Bell Penn Lost Fall
2006 135 Ashtin Primus Penn Lost Fall
2008 HWT Justin Haines WPIAL Won 5-1
2009 119 Jake Swink WPIAL Won 7-4
2012 138 Tanner Wiltrout WPIAL Won 9-5
2013 138 Ethan Kenney WPIAL Lost Fall
2015 126 Tyler Kenney WPIAL Lost 2-0
2018 195 Nate Ansell WPIAL Lost Fall
2022 Jared Keslar 160 WPIAL TBD
Good Luck Jared, end your High School Career with an exclamation point!

This year Connellsville had a state champion at each level:
High School: Jared Keslar at 160 #
Junior High: Tommy Gretz at 77 #
JO: London Powell 8 & under 60 #
The only other time I can find that happened was in 1995.
High School State Champ: Justin "Mush" Martin at 135 #
Jr High: Justin-Tank Martin 13-14 at 170 #
JO: John Ferens 11-12 at 85 #
Congrats to this year's State Champs again!

Congrats to the 2 newest Falcon JO state champs: Tommy Gretz and London Powell. You are both part of a great list of former winners!
Connellsville Falcon Junior Olympic State Champions:

5xer: John Ferens
4Xer: Kevin Saniga
3Xers: Brian Martin , Daniel Leonard, Lonzy Vielma
2Xers: Joe Ross, Tyler Kenney, Jared Keslar
1975 Barry Bryner
1980 Charlie Swink
1981 Mark Blackstone
1985 Kevin Saniga, Bruce Morgan, Jeff Stepanic
1986 Brian Martin, Kevin Saniga (2nd)
1987 Kurt Wilson, Brian Wilson (BROTHERS), John Richey, Kevin Saniga (3rd)
1988 Brian Martin (2nd), Kevin Saniga (4th), Bill Wilson
1989 Troy Rosenberry
1990 Mike Doppelheuer, Bill Feniello, Brian Martin (3rd), Rick Rush
1991 Justin "Mush" Martin, Chad Jesko
1993 John Ferens, Joe Ross JL
1994 John Ferens (2nd)
1995 John Ferens (3rd), Justin "Tank" Martin
1996 John Ferens (4th), Jarrod King , Matt King (BROTHERS)
1997 Jason Doppelheuer, Joe Ross JL (2nd)
1998 John Ferens (5th), Ron Doppelheuer
2000 Ashtin Primus
2001 Kyle Martin
2005 Alex Porter, Zac Benzio
2006 Daniel Leonard
2007 Daniel Leonard (2nd)
2008 Daniel Leonard (3rd)
2010 Tyler Kenney , Anthony Demarco
2011 Tyler Kenney (2nd)
2017 Lonzy Vilma, Jared Keslar
2018 Jared Keslar (2nd)
2019 Lonzy Vilma (2nd)
2021 Lonzy Vilma (3rd), Zoey Pennington (1st Female State Champ)
2022 Tommy Gretz and London Powell (2nd Female)

8 of those wrestlers went on to win High School state championships:
Kevin Saniga, Bruce Morgan (moved away), John Richey, Justin Martin, Jarrod King, Ron Doppelheuer, Ashtin Primus, and Jared Keslar.

Updated list of State qualifiers and medalists after this season
68 wrestlers have qualified for states a total of 117 times winning 60 medals. 19 Finalists with 14 state championships.

Wrestler Times Qualified Place finished
Ashtin Primus 4 1,1,4,4
Jarrod King 4 1,1,2
Kevin Saniga 4 1,1,5
John Richey 4 1,2,4
Jared Keslar 4 1,4,4
Matt King 4 2,3,3
Ethan Kenney 4 3,7,7
Wrestler Times Qualified Place finished
Ron Doppleheuer 3 1,1,7
Steve Bell 3 1,4
Chad Jesko 3 2,4,6
Chris Liston 3 DNP
Wrestler Times Qualified Place finished
DeWitt Driscoll 2 1,3
Justin Martin 2 1
Nate Gaffney 2 1
Brian Martin 2 2
Justin Haines 2 3,3
Steve Peperak 2 3,5
Jeff Stepanik 2 5,5
Chad Ozias 2 7,8
Brett Cooper 2 3
Jeff Craig 2 4
Joe Lucas 2 4
Mason Prinkey 2 5
Nate Ansell 2 6
Joe Ross 2 6
Ed Benzio 2 DNP
Barry Bryner 2 DNP
Josh Martin 2 DNP
Louis Mauro 2 DNP
Charlie Swink 2 DNP
Brian Wolfe 2 DNP
Wrestler Times Qualified Place finished
Tommy Darrell 1 3
George Harvey 1 3
Mark Blackstone 1 4
Lonnie Davis 1 4
Zach Snyder 1 4
Dean Soberdash 1 4
Troy Soberdash 1 4
Rick Rush 1 6
Drew Joseph 1 7
Jace Ross 1 8
Kyle Martin 1 8
Andy Anthony 1 DNP
Brad Lambie 1 DNP
Buddy Sines 1 DNP
Chip Wolfe 1 DNP
Collin Franks 1 DNP
Dave Marko 1 DNP
Ed Davis 1 DNP
Frank Ross 1 DNP
Jake Swink 1 DNP
Jared Dolde 1 DNP
John Ferens 1 DNP
John Saniga 1 DNP
Lonzy Vielma 1 DNP
Mason Franks 1 DNP
Mark Heck 1 DNP
Mike Bruner 1 DNP
Mike Doppleheuer 1 DNP
PJ Novak 1 DNP
Randy Mathias 1 DNP
Rick Pifer 1 DNP
Scott Cole 1 DNP
Scott Nicholson 1 DNP
Steve Kuhns 1 DNP
Tanner Wiltrout 1 DNP
Travis Miller 1 DNP
Tyler Kenney 1 DNP

Updated 100 win club with Chad Ozias and Jared Keslar this year.
Wrestler Wins-Losses Win %
1 Ashtin Primus 179-20 89.95%
2 Jarrod King 160-17 90.40%
3 Ethan Kenney 155-33 82.45%
4 Ron Doppelheuer 144-22 86.75%
5 John Richey 143-11 92.86%
6 Matt King 143-27 84.12%
7 Dewitt Driscoll 140-23 85.89%
8 Kevin Saniga 138-13 91.39%
9 Jessie Swink 131-39 77.06%
10 Steve Bell 130-25 83.87%
11 Josh Martin 130-42 75.58%
12 Jared Keslar 129-27 82.69%
13 Justin Haines 126-40 75.90%
14 Drew Joseph 125-26 82.78%
15 JasonDoppelheuer 125-43 74.40%
16 Brian Martin 124-26 82.67%
17 Chad Jesko 120-11 91.60%
18 Zach Benzio 118-34 77.63%
19 Chris Liston 118-38 75.64%
20 Nate Gaffney 116-31 78.91%
21 Kyle Martin 115-43 72.78%
22 John Ferens 113-39 74.34%
23 Ethan Saylor 113-55 67.26%
24 Steve Peperak 111-19 85.38%
25 Jake Swink 111-42 72.55%
26 Mason Prinkey 109-27 80.15%
27 Tommy Provance 106-36 74.6%
28 Chad Ozias 104-33 75.91%
29 Justin Martin 102-23 81.60%
30 Tommy Dolde 102-39 72.34%
31 Tyler Kenney 101-26 79.53%
32 Lonnie Davis 101-39 72.14%

Interesting thing about this picture.
Coach Swink and Coach Harvey were teammates in the 80s.
Coach Swink was Coach Jesko's Jr High West coach.
Coach Harvey was both Coach Jesko and Coach Ross's High School assistant coach.
Great to see these generations of alumni coming together to shape the next generation of young men that will hopefully go on to coach and influence wrestlers in the future.

One of Connellsville's greatest, Ashtin Primus with the current State Champ Jared Keslar

Jared Keslar championship celebration.

Congrats to Jared Keslar on becoming the 14th state champ in Connellsville's history.

Congrats to Lonzy Vielma on a great freshman year. Finished the season 40-10. 3rd most wins as a freshman.
Ethan Kenney was 45-8
Ashtin Primus was 41-7
Lonzy Vielma was 40-10
Jared Keslar was 35-8.

With Jared Keslar and Chad Ozias both getting their 100th win this season, someone asked about other teams with multiple 100 win wrestlers in the same season.
Falcon Teams with multiple 100 win wrestlers in the same year.
1994 Brian Martin and Chad Jesko
2000 Ron Doppelheuer and Dewitt Driscoll both as juniors, and Drew Joseph
2001 Ron Doppelheuer and Dewitt Driscoll added to their 100+ wins
2004 Jarrod King and Kyle Martin
2005 (Most on a team) Ashtin Primus as a Junior, Steve Bell, Josh Martin, Jason Doppelheuer
2009 Zac Benzio and Jake Swink
2010 Ethan Saylor and Nate Gaffney
2022 Chad Ozias and Jared Keslar
Everyone else who achieved 100 wins did it alone their year!

So, after the confusion of the last post. There have been 7 Falcon Wrestlers qualify for states 4 times.
John Richey
Kevin Saniga
Matt King
Jarrod King
Ashtin Primus
Ethan Kenney
Jared Keslar

Interesting fact about this year's WPIAL wrestlers going to states. Jared Keslar is the only 4x state qualifier from the WPIAL. Hard to believe! Great accomplishment Jared. Good luck to everyone at Hershey!

Great day for the Falcons! 3 wrestlers punch ticket to Hershey, Jared Keslar WPIAL Champ (35th in Falcon history), Chad Ozias runner up, and Lonzy Vielma 3rd, Coach Harvey Voted WPIAL assistant coach of the year, and Chad Ozias gets his 100th win along the way!

Good luck to all the wrestlers; JOs, junior high and senior high as the season winds down. Give it your all!

With The WPIAL Individual tournament coming up this weekend, thought it was appropriate to revisit all our past WPIAL Champions.
Connellsville WPIAL Champions: 34 Total
4X winner: John Richey
3X winners: Kevin Saniga, Chad Jesko, Jarrod King
2X winners: Ashtin Primus, Justin Haines, Nate Gaffney, Ethan Kenney.
1974 Randy Mathias HWT
1976 Ed Benzio 185 #
1983 Steve Peperak 167 #
1988 John Richey 119 #
1989 Jeff Stepanic 112 #
1989 John Richey 119 # (2nd Time)
1990 John Richey 125 # (3rd Time)
1991 Kevin Saniga 103 #
1991 John Richey 130 # (4th Time)
1992 Kevin Saniga 112 # (2nd Time)
1992 Chad Jesko 125 #
1993 Kevin Saniga 119 # (3rd Time)
1993 Chad Jesko 125 # (2nd Time)
1994 Chad Jesko 125 # (3rd Time)
1994 Brian Martin 152 #
1995 Justin Martin 135 #
1997 Rick Pifer 189 #
1998 Matt King 152 #
1999 Matt King 160 # (2nd Time)
1999 Joe Ross 189 #
2001 Dewitt Driscoll 135 #
2001 Ron Doppelheuer 140 #
2002 Jarrod King 135 #
2003 Jarrod King 152 # (2nd Time)
2004 Jarrod King 160 # (3rd Time)
2005 Ashtin Primus 135 #
2006 Ashtin Primus 140 # (2nd Time)
2007 Justin Haines Hwt
2008 Justin Haines Hwt (2nd Time)
2009 Nate Gaffney 215 #
2010 Ethan Kenney 103 #
2010 Nate Gaffney 215 # (2nd Time)
2013 Ethan Kenney 132 # (2nd Time)
2018 Nate Ansell 195 #
From 1988 to 2010, there were only 2 years (96, 2000) that we didn't have a WPIAL Champ. In that same time we had 2 champs 8 of those years!
Would be great to add 1 to the list this year.

Congrats to Alumni George Harvey on being named Section Assistant coach of the year at the high school level, and alumni Mick Lilley being named Jr high coach of the year. Great job guys, well deserved. Sorry I didn't have a picture of Mick by himself.

Congrats to Alumni Dakoda Rodgers on his 5th place finish in his region and UPJ Team title.

Congrats to Jared Keslar on his 4th section title. Only the 7th Falcon to achieve this accomplishment!

With the Individual tournaments starting this weekend, figured this was a good repost. Falcon Wrestlers with 3 or 4 section titles.

There have only been 6 wrestlers to win 4 section titles for the Falcons:
Chris Liston in 96, 97, 98, 99
Drew Joseph in 97, 98, 99, 00
Jarrod King in 2001, 02, 03, 04
Josh Martin in 2002, 03, 04, 05
Ashtin Primus in 2003, 04, 05, 06
Ethan Kenney in 2010, 11, 12, 13
Some wrestlers who only were varsity for 3 years and won 3 section titles:
Charlie Swink 81, 82, 83
Jeff Stepanic 87, 88, 89
Chad Jesko 92, 93, 94
Justin Haines 2006, 07, 08
Tyler Kenney 2013, 14, 15

Other wrestlers who won 3 out of 4:
John Richey lost his fresh year to Mike Yancosky of Mt. Pleasant in 88. Won in 89, 90, 91.
Matt King lost his freshman year to senior Al Grasso of Keystone Oaks in 96. Won in 97, 98, 99.
Ron Doppelheuer lost in 98. Won in 99, 2000, 01.
Kyle Martin lost in 2001 to Brandon Baldini of Ringold then won in 2002, 03, 04.
Jason Doppelheuer lost in 2002 to Jimmy Harris of Laurel Highlands then won in 03, 04, 05.
Jake Swink won in 06, 08, 09 but didn't his sophomore year in 07.
Dylan Ross didn't his freshman year in 2016 due to shoulder injury. Won in 17, 18, 19.
Mason Prinkey lost his chance at his 4th in 2021 to defending state champ Ethan Berginic of Hempfield. He won in 2018, 19, 20.

Current guys:
Jared Keslar currently is 3 for 3 headed into this weekend.
A lot of Freshman on this year's team looking to start their chance at 4 section titles.
Good luck to all the wrestlers over the next few weekends!
Hopefully I didn't miss anyone. This was a little tougher to find especially on the older guys!

This year's team ended up with 23 dual meet wins. I believe this is the 3rd most wins by any team. The 2005 team that won the state tournament was 27-3 and the 2004 team that finished 2nd in the state was 24-3. Does anyone have an old program that shows prior team's records. A lot of year's didn't have the state duals or have dual tournaments but more individual tournaments, so they didn't wrestle that many team duals. But I'm pretty confident this year was the 3rd most wins by a Falcon Team.

After seeing how small Joe Ross and George Harvey looked in the last post. I thought this was appropriate.
Post what you weighed in High School and what you weigh now!

Cool old photo of current coach Ross as a wrestler with Coach Harvey.

Our Falcons drop a tough 27-25 loss to Waynesburg to get eliminated from the State tournament. Congrats on a nice run going 3-2 in the tournament losing to District 11 and District 7 champs: Bethlehem Catholic and Waynesburg, who finished 1st and 3rd respectively. Falcons finish in 5th/6th Place with Latrobe! Congrats to the wrestlers and coaches. Great wrestling guys, on to individuals now!

With the upcoming Team state tournament, I thought it was appropriate to relive the 2005 State Championship Team. That team put together a great run late in the season and became the only State Champions for the Falcons in both the Dual Tournament and the Individual Tournament in Connellsville history.
In the Dual tournament they first won the WPIAL Championship over Kiski.
At the state tournament they knocked off Council Rock North 39-18, then defeated Nazareth 35-19, then in the Finals they were matched up against Easton who beat the Falcons the prior year in the state finals. Easton had won 5 consecutive District 11 Titles and 4 PA titles. They had never lost a match in the state dual tournament format.
Here were the match ups and scores of the night:
They Started at 160 # Sal Crivello (E) Pinned Adam Knepper (C). Score: Easton 6-0.
171 # Jason Doppleheuer (C) won 8-3 over David Crowell (E). Score: Easton 6-3.
#189 Alan Porter (C) 3-2 over Cory Rutt (E). Score: Tie 6-6. Alan got taken down late and thought he lost, but the clock hadn’t started and referees decided the take down didn’t count.
215 # Zach Pizarro (E) Major Dec 13-4 Josh Brewer (C). Score: Easton 10-6.
Hwt Melvin Warrick (C) pinned Make Jarju (E). Connellsville took lead 12-10.
103 # Jordan Oliver (E) Pinned Tyler Nicholson (C). Easton takes back the lead 16-12.
112 # Kody Pujia (C) 12-5 win over Brandon Veres (E). Easton 16-15.
119 # Brad Gentzle (E) won 5-3 over Jake Knepper (C). Easton 19-15.
125 # Seth Ciassulli (E) Pinned Mike Zavada (C). Easton now up 25-15.
But Connellsville won the last 5 matches of the night.
Momentum Shift!
130 # Steve Bell (C) pinned Josh Oliver (E) with only 1 sec left in the match. Oliver was 2nd in the state the prior year. Connellsville cuts the lead to 25-21.
135 # Ashtin Primus (C) Major Dec 17-5 over Colin Bailey (E). Team Score Tied 25-25!
140 # Zach Snyder (C) won 7-3 over Alex Krom (E). Snyder had a late reversal and 2pt near fall to secure the victory. Snyder had lost to Krom the prior year! Falcons take the lead 28-25.
145 # Josh Martin (C) won 4-2 over Andrew Goldstein (E). Goldstein had beat Primus the previous year. Falcons lead 31-25.
152 # Buddy Sines (C) 7-5 win over Braylin Williams (E). Falcons win 34-25.
Connellsville won 9 matches to Easton’s 5 matches.

COW Rock is back.

Coming Spring 2022.

Congrats to Falcon wrestling alumni Josh Fremd on his recent MMA victory and getting signed by UFC.

I believe Jared Keslar is the first wrestler to be a 3rd generation wrestler for the Connellsville Falcons.
So, someone tell me if I’m wrong! No one else could think of a family that had 3 generations of wrestlers for the Falcons.
His Grandfather, Dave Keslar was a senior in 1970.
His Father, Jeremy Keslar wrestled for the Falcons in 1994 and 1995.
Jared will graduate this year in the class of 2022.
The only other family with 3 generations involved in Connellsville Wrestling would be the Dolde Family (Dirt as a coach, Tommy as a wrestler and coach, Jared Dolde as a wrestler)
Here are a few pictures of the Keslar’s and the 3 together this year on Alumni night!

With the upcoming WPIAL Team Championships this week, a few people asked when the last time was that the Falcons qualified for the Team State Tournament.
There was no Team State Tournament until 1999 so the Falcon teams that finished 2nd in the WPIAL in 80, 82, 89, and 91 didn't get a chance to go and The WPIAL Champs of 92 and 94 never got the chance to compete in a State Team Duals tournament either.
Starting in 1999 only the Top Team from the WPIAL qualified for the state tournament.
2000 WPIAL Champion Falcons went and defeated St Marys 58-12, then defeated State College 43-20, but lost in the Finals to North Hampton 30-19.
2001 WPIAL Champion Falcons went but lost in the first round to Milton 42-24.
2004 WPIAL Champion Falcons went and defeated Shikellamy 50-12, beat Upper Perkiomen 30-29, but lost again in the finals 39-18 to Easton.
2005 WPIAL Champion Falcons were the State Champions. They defeated Council Rock North 39-18, Nazareth 35-19, and Upset Easton 34-25 in the Finals.
Then the tournament started inviting 3 teams from each district.
2008 WPIAL Champion Falcons went and lost to Central Mountain 39-22, Beat Hazelton 36-25, then lost to Nazareth 44-21.
2009 Falcons went as the #2 team from the WPIAL. They beat Brashear 75-4, Beat Council Rock Nort 34-29, then lost to eventual champs Central Dauphin 53-13.
2010 Falcons went as the #3 team from the WPIAL. They beat Clearfield 46-15, defeated Parkland 28-25, then lost to Easton 32-28.
So the 2010 team was the last Falcon team to qualify for the Team State Tournament.
The Falcons All-time team record in the state playoffs is 12-7. The Falcons have finished 2nd in the state twice and were state champions 1x.
Hopefully this year they can return to Hershey as a team! Let's all show up Wednesday at 6:00 to cheer them on!

Falcon Alumni everywhere last night at the Team Section tournament. Obvious alumni Bill Swink, George Harvey, Chad Jesko, Joe Ross JL coaching the Falcons to a 2nd place finish. Norwin Knights coaching staff of Jarrod King, Kyle Martin, Arik Nickelson and Eric McGinnis finished 3rd on the night. Alumni Drew Joseph's son Leo had a big Fall in the 113 # match to help the Latrobe Wildcats get the victory over the Falcons. Tons of Alumni and Falcon Fans traveled to Latrobe to support the Falcons. Great to see the Sport doing so well and Falcon Alumni contributing everywhere! Good luck to our boys in the WPIAL tournament!

Cool picture of alumni Referee Toby McKnight raising alumni Mason Prinkey hand after victory.

Alumni Casper Hinklie and Mason Prinkey wrestling for Clarion with 4th and 5th place finishes at Mount Union University

More photos from the '94 team. 2nd WPIAL championship team for the Falcons. Toby McKnight, Chad Jesko, Brian Martin, Freddie Pounds, Michael Mongell , Joseph Lucas , Randy Johnson, Tommy Ray Darrell , Tommy Johnson, AW DeMott , Jermaine Richter , George Harvey , Justin Martin, Greg Basinger, Frank D. Ross

1994, what a crew. Chad Jesko 2nd, Brian Martin 2nd, Tommy Darrell 3rd in the state. All 3 went on to wrestle in the Dapper Dan Classic that year and win.