2015 WPIAL Class AA Individual Wrestling Championship Results

By: Bruce Markey
Saturday, February 21, 2015 | 10:18 PM

It was a magical weekend for South Fayette and not just because they got the opportunity to host the AA WPIAL individual Championships. It was thanks to their 160 pound senior who made history on Saturday. Jared Walker became the 25th wrestler in WPIAL history to become a four time WPIAL Champion, as he knocked off Jason Stay of Beth Center 3-1. For his achievement, Walker was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. In addition to Walker, South Fayette also had their 138 pounder Mike Carr win his second WPIAL title by defeating Evan Myers of Southmoreland 7-1.

In addition to Walker and Carr repeating, a number of additional wrestlers came home with more gold. George Phillippi of Derry grabbed his third championship with a technical fall win over Shane Ging of South Fayette 16-1 in 4:00. Phillippi, a junior, will have the opportunity to win his fourth WPIAL Championship next season. Al Beattie of Burrell also claimed his third title with his victory over Jake Beistel of Southmoreland 2-1 in double overtime.

Three additional wrestlers won their second WPIAL gold medal. Jake Wentzel of South Park snagged his second title with a fall in 2:21 over Ethan Charlesworth of Mount Pleasant. Wentzel’s South Park teammate Greg Bulsak won a second gold with a win over Beth Center’s Anthony Welsh 3-1. Jefferson Morgan’s Bill Bowlen also won a second WPIAL championship, defeating Brett Beltz of South Fayette 7-4.

Overall 11 of the 14 top seeds in the tournament came home with WPIAL gold. Of the three to lose, two of which happened in the semi-finals The first was at 126, where Stone Kepple of Derry would lose to eventual champion Hunter Neely of Bentworth 5-4. Kepple would end up coming back for third. The other top seed to lose before the finals was Luke Fournier of Elizabeth Forward at 195, where he fell to Trent Orr of Indiana 5-4. Fournier would come back to place third. The final top seed to lose was at 170, where Anthony Welsh of Beth Center lost to Greg Blusak of South Park 3-1 in the finals. For Welsh, it is his third WPIAL runner-up finish in as many years.

For a full recap of the AA WPIAL individual Championships, listen in to Inside the WPIAL Wrestling Circle, Monday night at 7:00 PM on the MSA Sports Network.

Championship Finals:
106: Gavin Teasdale (Jefferson Morgan) fall Manny Dovshek (Bentworth) 1:34
113: Gage Nicolella (McGuffey) fall Alex Miscovich (Mount Pleasant) 1:18
120: Brendan Howard (Jefferson Morgan) dec. Austin McDermitt (Burgettstown) 6-4
126: Hunter Neely (Bentworth) dec. Justo Hernandez (South Allegheny) 4-2
132: George Phillippi (Derry) tech. fall Shane Ging (South Fayette) 16-1, 4:00
138: Mike Carr (South Fayette) dec. Evan Myers (Southmoreland) 7-1
145: Gio Vonne Sanders (Jeannette) dec. Austin Mears (Mount Pleasant) 6-3
152: Jake Wentzel (South Park) fall Ethan Charlesworth (Mount Pleasant) 2:21
160: Jared Walker (South Fayette) dec. Jason Stay (Beth Center) 3-1
170: Greg Bulsak (South Park) dec. Anthony Welsh (Beth Center) 3-1
182: Bill Bowlen (Jefferson Morgan) dec. Brett Beltz (South Fayette) 7-4
195: Robert Scherer (Burrell) maj. dec. Trent Orr (Indiana) 14-1
220: Jacob Robb (Kittanning) fall Tom Sever (Yough) 5:36
285: Al Beattie (Burrell) dec. Jacob Beistel (Southmoreland) 2-1 2OT

3rd Place
106: Tyler Griffiths (Southmoreland) dec. Shawn Broadway (Derry) 4-0
113: Tyler Alberts (Ellwood City) fall Zack Charles (Yough) 1:31
120: Cole Wano (Derry) dec. Teague Nicolella (McGuffey) 6-0
126: Stone Kepple (Derry) dec. Dillan Jeffery (Burrell) 3-2 2OT
132: Kody Komara (Freedom) dec. Darion Trimmer (Avonworth) 3-1 OT
138: Ty Mitchell (Bentworth) dec. Ben Hritsko (Chartiers Houston) 10-6
145: Nick Kusich (Avella) dec. Colton Zundel (Southmoreland) 1-0
152: Cody Jenkins (South Allegheny) fall Damon Greenwald (Burrell) 4:00
160: Philip Petit (Valley) fall Trevor Kniha (Jefferson Morgan) 2:09
170: Brennen Coles (Southmoreland) fall Jake McKee (Burgettstown) 2:41
182: Nico Brown (Beth Center) dec. Brenden Glover (West Shamokin) 5-1
195: Luke Fournier (Elizabeth Forward) fall Owen Main (West Greene) :37
220: Seth Hitchens (South Allegheny) fall Mike Sinclair (Ellwood City) 1:41
285: Ian Wolfe (Jefferson Morgan) fall Ryan Steinstraw (McGuffey) 2:58

5th Place
106: Nick Candelore (Fort Cherry) dec. Doug Bittner (Mount Pleasant) 4-2
113: Cole Lambie (Southmoreland) dec. Sequawon Harris (Valley) 10-4
120: Jasper Wolfe (South Fayette) dec. Austin Mihalchik (Mount Pleasant) 5-2
126: Mike Novak (Mount Pleasant) dec. Aaron Harris (McGuffey) 4-3
132: Noah Stoker (South Allegheny) fall Darrell Bails (Burgettstown) 4:01
138: Logan Witwicki (Carlynton) dec. Luke Desmond (McGuffey) 7-1
145: Trevor Jamison (Jefferson Morgan) dec. Dean Ward (Freedom) 6-1
152: Dillon Richey (McGuffey) dec. Levi Bonzo (Freedom) 3-0
160: Nate Vukovich (Kittanning) dec. Bobby Bell (Indiana) 5-2
170: Alex Donahue (Indiana) inj. def. Marco Duncan (Kittanning) 0:00
182: Alex Moses (Burrell) dec. Garrett Grimm (Chartiers Houston) 2-1
195: Rasaun Culberson (South Fayette) dec. Brad Hucik (Burgettstown) 2-1 2OT
220: Trevor McIntyre (Fort Cherry) dec. Jared Graham (Avella) 5-2
285: Keirs Gloady (Washington) dec. Yusuf McLaurin (Summit Academy) 3-2 OT UTB

7th Place:
106: Colin Dunn (South Fayette) dec. PJ Smith (Burgettstown) 2-1
113: Trent Bechtold (Burrell) dec. Andrew John (South Fayette) 1-0
120: Corey Christie (Burrell) dec. Anthony Hough (Summit Academy) 5-2
126: Josh Kuslock (Chartiers Houston) dec. Austin Riffle (Burgettstown) 11-1
132: Jason Roberts (Burrell) fall Jake Virgin (Southmoreland) 2:04
138: James Campbell (California) dec. Nick Croyle (Kittanning) 9-7
145: Sam Talorico (Beaver) dec. Noah Hanna (Burrell) 9-3
152: Jaden Datz (Southmoreland) fall Savien Smith (Valley) 4:41
160: Sam Garner (Laurel) dec. Sean Suter (Southmoreland) 7-3
170: Dan Black (Keystone Oaks) dec. Joe Bastaroli (South Fayette) 7-3
182: Austin Boone (South Side) dec. Tamaje Moore (Summit Academy) 4-0
195: Anthony Patterson (Jefferson Morgan) dec. John Adams (Beaver) 2-1
220: Will VanNorman (West Greene) dec. Liam McElhoes (McGuffey) 1-0
285: Josh Lind (Mount Pleasant) dec. Michael Griffin (Carlynton) 8-1