Sophomore Stevie Colyer wrestled heavyweight in the AA Southwest Regional Tournament on February 28-29 at Canon-McMillan High School in Canonsburg.  Colyer went 0-2 at the regional tournament, losing to two upperclassmen.

In his first match of the tournament, Colyer lost to senior Ian Wolfe of Jefferson Morgan High School (32-13) by a fall at 1:05.  In the second match he lost by fall to another senior, Jake Smith of Blairsville (24-12) at 1:25.

“I’m sure Stevie wanted to do better at regionals, [but] the first kid that beat him ended up placing at states,” said Tyrone head coach Mike Cherry.  “The second kid that beat him was a kid he beat in districts. That loss hurt I’m sure. Stevie is small for a heavyweight so that doesn’t help since they can weigh up to 285 pounds.”

“It was tough losing those matches but I was told by coach Earl Harris ‘win, lose or draw you condition yourself for the next match’ and I take that to heart,” said Colyer.

Colyer finished the season with an overall record of 22-12 and looks to be a leader on next year’s squad.

“Stevie got a taste of what it feels like to stand on the podium at Districts and I think he has the “fever” for it now. That’s a great thing because it spreads to other team members. Other kids on the team are also doing out of season work. Some are lifting, some are attending wrestling club workouts, some are going to tournaments, and some like Stevie are doing all of that,” said Cherry.

“I saw him working really hard with previous heavyweight state champion Terry Tate and I knew he had a good chance to go far in that tournament,” said freshman teammate Jamal Hicks.

“Stevie is a real hard worker and I like working with him,” said coach Terry Tate.

Colyer is ready for his junior year and hopes to make it all the way to the state tournament podium in Hershey next year.

“As a team, we know we can do better next season,” said Cherry, “The coaches are working to keep the kids focused on the specifics that will help them get better for next season…and when you have kids like Stevie to use as an example, it makes conveying that attitude to others easier to do.”