Last year, the Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets were the wrestling champions of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, then they became one of the best in the region and ultimately recognized at the national level. Last Saturday, the Jackets continued last year’s PAC success, placing first of 14 teams at the Washington & Jefferson Invitational.

This year has pretty much started the way last year did – with Waynesburg atop the PAC. Head coach Ron Headlee was surprised to see that his team finished first.

“I didn’t expect to win it to be honest,” said Headlee, “[A] coach from W&J came over and handed me a plaque and it was kind of like a surprise.”

The Yellow Jackets had four wrestlers finish first in the last meet. Senior Tristan Buxton won in the 125-pound weight class, freshman Caleb Baxter in 174, sophomore Ken Burrs in 197 and senior Derek Hull was victorious in the 165-pound class.

Although Burrs was 12-6 overall, for him it was a bit of a disappointment as he battled injuries all year. This year, he was awarded PAC Wrestler of the Week and also was Waynesburg’s Athlete of the Week.

“I heard [that I was] PAC Wrestler of the Week, but I didn’t see the Waynesburg Athlete of the
Week,” said Burrs. “Last year, I didn’t get much recognition because I missed most of the season so I didn’t really get to do anything.”

Going into the first meet of the year, Buxton questioned on what to expect with the young team. But his emotions changed quickly after the match started.

“After seeing how well we all clicked and the support from the sideline on the mat duking it out,” said Buxton. “It was just amazing, there was an electricity in the room, you had to be there to really feel it.”

Headlee said that after Buxton’s match, he was approached by a referee and was told how impressive he looked.

“The referee that had [Burrs said] ‘man that’s a really good match for the first tournament of the year that’s like a match at the end of the year,’” said Headlee.

Freshman Mike Mahon finished fourth in the 184-pound weight class. He was up 8-2 and looked to have the match in hand for third place, but ended up falling to fourth.  Despite the loss, Headlee was not worried.

“I though he just relaxed a little bit,” Headlee said. “[He] got thrown and he was up 8-2 and let the guy back in the match and then he got thrown from that. He was upset about it, but just for him he’s a freshman and you want to do better every time.”

The Yellow Jackets will continue their season in Alliance, Ohio, Saturday morning when they go against Alma College Scouts, Greensboro College Pride, Heidelberg University and the University of Mount Union.

Although the younger wrestlers struggled last Saturday, Headlee said he didn’t mind because his players are giving the effort needed.

“Our young guys still making some little mistakes we can correct but their effort is which matters most,” said Headlee.