Mike Vukovcan Four Hopewell wrestlers are hoping to have a long weekend at Chartiers Valley High School.
After competing last weekend at the Class AA Southern Sectionals at Burgettstown, Hopewell’s Christian Tirado, Justin Obeldobel, Vinny Boris and Evan Tirado all earned a spot at this weekends’ WPIAL AA Wrestling Championships taking place at Chartiers Valley HS.
For Obeldobel, who is a senior, this will be the 3rd time in his career that he’s qualified for the WPIAL wrestling playoffs, for fellow senior Boris, it will be his second time. Tirado, a sophomore, has made it in back-back years and congrats to Tirado, who’s a freshman, this is obviously will be his first time.
The way this works is competition for individual WPIAL championships start on Friday. The top 12 wrestlers (out of 18) in each weight classification advance to wrestle on Saturday, where individual champions will be crowned.
From there, the top 8 wrestlers in each classification advance to the regionals and try to advance to the PIAA Tournament.
The mission tomorrow for these Hopewell wrestlers is to place high enough to wrestle again on Saturday.
This afternoon, Vikings Sports Now caught up with Hopewell Wrestling Coach Brett Smith before practice and got his thoughts on 4 wrestlers on their journey to the WPIAL playoffs.
“Overall, I’m really proud of our team as a whole for this season,” said Coach Smith. “We finished the year 10-5 and a lot of that was due to these 4 guys, led by our two senior captains Justin Obeldobel and Vinny Boris. These two showed a lot of heart this year, both starting a little slow but quickly turned back into the form I expected them to be at and they’re peaking at the right time.”
“The Tirado brothers, Evan and Christian, are the nucleus of the youth of our team. We’re only losing 3 starters to graduation, and these two are direct reflections of the strength of the young guys on our team. Evan, now a 2-time WPIAL qualifier as a sophomore, bounced around at weights and was our utility middle weight guy this year. Although an underclassman, I leaned on Evan a lot this year for stability in the middle of the lineup. Christian, only a freshman, had an outstanding year, closing in on a 30-win freshman campaign.”
COACH SMITH’S THOUGHTS ON HIS 4 WPIAL QUALIFIERS:
Chrisitan Tirado: 133 lbs., Record: 26-6.
“Very impressive freshman year. His work ethic is unmatched and I’m super excited for his future in the sport. You won’t meet a nicer kid, until the whistle blows. Chrisitan has an opportunity to get on the WPIAL podium as a freshman, which would be a very big accomplishment, especially at 133 lbs.”
Justin Obeldobel: 139 lbs., Record: 19-10. “A true leader on the team and wears the title Captain as well as any kid I’ve coached in my career. Starting the year at 152 lbs., worked his way down to 139 lbs. and how has wrestled and worked his way into position to get on the podium at the WPIAL Championships.”
Vinny Boris: 145 lbs., Record: 18-10. “Like Justin, I couldn’t have named a better duo as Captains. His work ethic and attitude are what makes Vinny a cornerstone of our team this year. He has been wrestling as well as I’ve seen him wrestle in the past 3 years and also will make a viable push for the podium.”
Evan Tirado: 152 lbs., Record 14-11.
“As mentioned, Evan spent a lot of time at different weights this year from 145 lbs., 152 lbs., and 160 lbs. His team first and tough attitude allowed me to utilize him in dual competition which usually resulted in Evan giving up weight and getting a tough opponent. In true Evan fashion, he always approached it with no excuses and has really stepped up his wrestling the last month of the year.”
Congratulations on getting to this point guys and best of luck this weekend!
