WAYNESBURG, PA– Before Friday’s final Presidents’ Athletic Conference matchup, the Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets honored their six-man senior class. Five of the six saw varsity action in the convincing 26-12 win over the Thiel Tomcats [6-3,1-1].

Early in the contest Waynesburg (12-4, 2-0) found itself in a 6-0 hole after a forfeit at the 125-pound weight class.

Head coach Ron Headlee said this is a normal occurrence for the Jackets, and they’ve grown accustomed to early deficit in points.

“We’ve been giving up six points at 125 all second semester,” Headlee said. “The guys are just battling, and I think their focus is good and I’m really happy about that.”

The Jackets began their impressive comeback at the 133-pound weight class when freshman Harley Constable gutted out a 4-2 decision to begin the scoring.

In the 141-pound weight class the Tomcats increased their lead 9-3 to reestablish a six-point advantage.

The tides began to turn for the Jackets at 149 when junior Josh Kuslock tied the score with a pin in just one minute.

“I just wanted to go in and get a quick fall,” Kuslock said. “We just worked hard and tried to push their gas tanks.”

“After that pin everyone was all hyped up,” senior Dillion Charlton said. “Everyone wanted to go out and wrestle and I thought we looked great.”

Kuslock started the first of five straight wins for the Jackets. In the 157-pound weight class freshman Colby Morris came with a 4-2 decision over Thiel’s Austin Bonacci in what was said to be one of the more anticipated matches of the night.

In the 165-pound weight class senior captain Zach Mackall had a tough contest ahead of him against Division I transfer Peyton Hearn. Mackall pulled out an impressive 15-4 major decision. He said that the focus in practice helped not only him but his teammates as well.

“We really just pushed the pace and kept the conditioning up,” Mackall said. “Really just getting into different situations so that you don’t panic when you’re out there and we all did what we needed to do.”

After Mackall, fellow classmates Dillon Charlton and Dan Verhovsek added on to the Jackets point total with a 12-2 major decision and a 3-1 decision respectively.

Thiel scored a decision at 197 and not long after freshman Rocky McGeary closed out the night with a 10-3 decision at heavyweights.

Looking forward to the future Charlton feels that the team is in a great position for the PAC tournament.

“We we’re picked to be third,” said Charlton. “So, just being able to come out and beat  both [W&J and Thiel] in a dual meet sets the momentum for everyone else and sets us up well for PACs knowing we can compete with these teams.”

For Headlee, while this match was a successful one, the season isn’t over just yet. The Jackets are 2-0 in conference matchups this season and sitting at the top of the conference heading into the PAC tournament.

“It’s been a good dual meet season,” Headlee said. “We’ve been having good workouts in the room and I’m really looking forward to it [PACS]. It will be a tough task but I think we are going give it a we got.”

As for the entire senior class of wrestlers, Headlee had a few parting words.

“I’m just really proud of them,” said Headlee. “I got six really great guys that I’m really going miss.  They are hard to replace and next year is going to be a tall task.”