With the opportunity to win its third-straight Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship, the Waynesburg University wrestling team faces an uphill battle.

Along with having the target on their backs as defending champs, the Yellow Jackets are also facing injury problems, the most significant being that of national qualifier Ken Burrs, a two-time defending PAC champion in the 197-pound weight class. Burrs will miss the chance to defend his title and won’t be back until the Division III Mideast Regional Championships, according to head coach Ron Headlee.

So far, however, the Yellow Jackets have responded well in the past week since Burrs went down with a broken hand, beating rivals Washington & Jefferson and following up with a 23-17 win over Thiel in Greenville last Friday.

While Headlee acknowledged his team lacked in some matches, he was pleased with how the Jackets followed up a big win over W&J with another conference victory.

“A couple of matches, we didn’t wrestle [well] overall, but it’s hard just coming off a match on Wednesday and then trying to go right back to another conference match on Friday…,” Headlee said. “I thought our guys responded really well.”

While the Yellow Jackets have experienced a lot of turnovers during the past three seasons, one constant has been senior heavyweight Jake Evans. Evans, the defending Division III National Champion, who pinned junior Gavin Colligan in just 2:30.

“It’s always great having a closer with Jake…,” Headlee said. “You always have him in the bank to count on coming into the final match.”

Prior to Evans’ win, freshman Dylan Williams (125) and sophomores Josh Kuslock (133) and Matt Lascola (141) got wins of 9-6, 15-0 (technical fall) and 8-6 (OT), respectively.

Thiel finally picked up a win at 149 when freshman Lukas McClain beat Waynesburg freshman Jaeden Gordon 11-6, and followed it up with two more wins at 157 and 165 to cut the deficit to 11-9.

Redshirt sophomore Tony Welsh (165) got the Yellow Jackets back on track by pinning freshman Dylan Proper in 1:41. The Tomcats responded with wins in the 184 and 197 classes before Evans closed the door to seal it for the Jackets.

Prior to the match, Headlee stressed the importance of not having a letdown following the W&J win.

“That’s what I talked to our guys about before the match…wrestling, a lot of it is on matchups, and I thought Thiel matched up with us pretty well,” Headlee said. “I said we were going to need some different guys to come through. I thought we needed 125 was a big match for us there, and Dylan [Williams] came through and got a win, and that was a good win for him coming back.”

Waynesburg will return to the mat Saturday, Feb. 2.

The Jackets will compete at the 33rd John Summa Tournament in Berea, Ohio, before returning to Greenville for the PAC Championships on Feb. 8.

While Headlee acknowledges that winning a third straight PAC title will be challenging without Burrs and sophomore Caleb Baxter, he looks forward to the challenge.

“[PAC’s are a] fun time of the year, we tell our guys, and that’s what we train all year for,” he said. “The first semester is getting ready for that, and training harder, and now the second semester it’s just believing in yourself as a team and each other, and just trying to win another conference title and place high at regionals.”