South Fayette graduate Johnny trinkala wins second 247 grappling superfight in seven days at sunny Days Arena

South Fayette graduate Johnny Trinkala works to submit Joseph Naviglia Saturday night at Sunny Days Arena in North Versailles. Josh Rizzo/Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges

NORTH VERSAILLES - Given the option of studying for the CPA exam or getting punched in the face, South Fayette graduate Johnny Trinkala would opt for the latter.

Trinkala isn’t just talk. He competed in his second grappling super fight in a seven-day span Saturday night at Sunny Days Arena.

Trinkala, 24, won via armbar over Joseph Naviglia.

“I enjoy getting punched more,” said Trinkala, who trains at Stout Pittsburgh. “Because I like doing MMA as well. I’m hoping to be back here in November for my first MMA amateur fight. I will say studying for the CPA exam is definitely worse. I won’t hate working, but getting this test out of the way is important. MMA is the only thing keeping me sane right now.”

Naviglia, who trains out of The Mat Factory, is a police officer in New Kensington. Trinkala, who graduated from West Virginia University and is a Pitt grad student, enjoys the range of people he interacts with in martial arts.

“That’s the beautiful thing about martial arts in general, you know?” Trinkala said. “When you go to a MMA gym you’ll meet polar opposite people all the time.”

Trinkala initially got involved in MMA thanks to influence from his dad. Once he made it to high school, he was playing for a few hockey teams and moved away from the sport. Trinkala started doing competitive grappling again about three years ago.

He has 25 wins, including 14 by submission.

Getting back into the sport was no picnic.

“I got humbled really quickly the first day,” Trinkala said. “I got humbled for a good couple months after that. It’s just about sticking with it.”

Trinkala ended up getting Naviglia down to the mat soon after the fight started. He was able to work to a mounted triangle, but couldn’t find a way to pull apart Naviglia’s hands, which were gripped together tightly.

Trinkala had to spend several seconds thinking on where to go next.

“You have to zone in your brain on what your coach is saying and what you have to do,” Trinkala said. “I gotta ask (Naviglia) how tight it was, but from my view it definitely looked tight. His grip was strong.”

Trinkala was able to wrap up an armbar to grab the win. He’s eager to find his next distraction in the cage.

“In my head, I was thinking of position over submission for now,” Trinkala said. “I just wanted to stay on top because it’s more my game. Especially due to how big he is. If I rolled over and didn’t finish him, then I allowed him on top and it could allow a lot of other stuff to happen."

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] on X @J_oshRizzo.