Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League

 
With a WPIAL-record 22 team titles and over 150 individual championships, Canon-McMillan has established itself as one of the most dominant programs in league history, and its 2011-12 team may just be the school’s best. Coached by 2016 WPIAL Hall of Fame inductee Chris Mary, the Big Macs went a perfect 26-0 in dual meets and won the WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A team championships, four WPIAL and one PIAA individual titles, and ranked No. 7 in the InterMat Fab 50 National High School Rankings. Canon-McMillan topped North Allegheny, 53-12, for the WPIAL team crown, then ran through the state bracket before defeating McDowell, 35-20, for its first PIAA title in the team tournament format. The Big Macs’ PIAA journey included a thrilling 28-25 victory over Central Dauphin, who entered with a 95-match winning streak and four-year reign as PIAA team champions. At the WPIAL Individual Championships, a quartet of Canon-McMillan wrestlers topped their respective podiums in Connor Schram at 120, Solomon Chishko at 138, Cody Wiercioch at 170, and Cody Klempay at 285. Wiercioch’s WPIAL title was his third, making him one of 114 wrestlers to win three individual golds, while Chishko ultimately became one of 31 student-athletes in WPIAL history to win four individual titles. Wiercioch added PIAA individual gold at the end of the season, as he was one of eight wrestlers that placed at the state championships. The 2011-12 Big Macs boasted 14 wrestlers with 20-plus wins, eight with 30-plus wins, and five with 40-plus wins, and saw numerous student-athletes go on to wrestle collegiately at NCAA Division I programs such as Cal Poly, Clarion, Cornell, Lehigh, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Stanford, and Virginia Tech.