215-pound bracket packed with WPIAL stars at PIAA Class 3A wrestling
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Thursday, March 6, 2025 | 10:02 PM
Kiski Area’s Cooper Roscosky wrestles Methacton’s Dylan Pachik at 215 pounds during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling tournament Thursday at Giant Center in Hershey.
Kiski Area’s Mario Hutcherson wrestles Council Rock South’s Gavin Cole at 172 pounds during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling tournament Thursday at Giant Center in Hershey.
Latrobe’s Hunter Snyder wrestles Hazleton Area’s Mason Marolo at 189 pounds during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling tournament Thursday at Giant Center in Hershey.
Kiski Area’s Mark Gray wrestles Wilson’s Blaise Eidle at 189 pounds during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling tournament Thursday at Giant Center in Hershey.
Franklin Regional’s Max Firestone wrestles Conestoga Tanner at 145 pounds during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling tournament Thursday at Giant Center in Hershey.
Latrobe’s Hunter Snyder wrestles West Perry’s Tyler Morrison at 189 pounds during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling tournament Thursday at Giant Center in Hershey.
Hempfield’s Nico Kapusta wrestles Perkiomen Valley’s Max Tancini at 114 pounds during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling tournament Thursday at Giant Center in Hershey.
Fox Chapel’s Michael Worsen wrestles Northeastern’s Elijah Hewitt at 121 pounds during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling tournament Thursday at Giant Center in Hershey.
Latrobe’s Luke Willochell wrestles Central Bucks West’s Daniel Dennis at 133 pounds during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling tournament Thursday at Giant Center in Hershey.
HERSHEY — Are Belle Vernon junior Elijah Brown and Kiski Area junior Cooper Roscosky on a collision course for a third consecutive week?
They think so, but they are not looking that far ahead.
In fact, the top four ranked WPIAL wrestlers at 215 pounds — Brown, Roscosky, Ringgold senior Jake Conroy and Pittsburgh Central Catholic sophomore Roman Thompson — all picked up wins Thursday during the first round of the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships at the Giant Center.
Those four were among 25 wrestlers from the WPIAL to advance to Friday’s 2:15 p.m. quarterfinals.
Brown said he was conserving energy as he quickly disposed of Unionville senior Brad Kelly in 23 seconds.
“I’m just trying to stay confident,” Brown said. “I’ve been in bigger arenas than this. I’m just trying to stay calm and collected.”
Brown (45-1) quickly took Kelly to the mat and used a tilt to pin him.
“I’ve gotten a lot of people with the tilt,” Brown said. “Now I’m just focused on my next match.”
That will be St. Joseph Prep’s John Boggs.
Roscosky (39-7) slowly broke Methacton senior Dylan Pachik, 19-0. He had three takedowns and two four-point near falls.
He will face Manheim Central senior Brodie Daugherty (40-2) in the quarters.
“I hope we are on a collision course,” Roscosky said. “I am just taking it one match at a time. No one here is bad. I can’t overlook anyone.
“It’s a long tournament. Everyone is banged up. I can definitely win this; everyone is going to get my best.”
Conroy won two close ones. He defeated Exeter’s Kevin Oswalt, 5-3, and then edged Pennsbury’s Walker Murray, 4-3. Thompson put away Owen J. Roberts freshman Decker Bethold, 11-4.
Kiski Area freshman Mario Hutcherson (41-4) had an awesome performance. He defeated Council Rock South senior Gavin Cole by technical fall, 19-4, at 172.
Senior Mark Gray, battling all sorts of bumps and bruises, dropped a 7-5 decision to Wilson Area’s Blaise Eidle. He stayed alive for a medal at 189 with a 9-2 victory against Donegal’s Sergio Garcia.
Latrobe seniors Leo Joseph (121) and Luke Willochell (133) won their first-round matches.
Joseph (37-5) defeated Emmaus sophomore Teagan Caciolo, 5-2. He will face Downingtown West junior Brayden Sigle (35-7) in the quarters.
Willochell (42-4) pinned Central Bucks West freshman Daniel Dennis in the third period. He will meet West Perry senior Jackson Rush (37-2) in the quarters.
Hempfield junior Nico Kapusta (18-0) continued his impressive postseason with a close 3-2 victory against Perkiomen Valley junior Max Tancini. Kapusta used a first-period takedown and then protected his lead.
He will face Whitehall junior Willmont Kai (31-3) in the quarters.
Penn-Trafford junior Dylan Barrett (36-5) opened with a solid win. He used three takedowns and rolled to an 11-5 victory against Radnor senior Jayden Lee at 114 pounds. He will face Central Dauphin junior Thunder Beard in the quarterfinals.
“The state tournament is always tough,” Barrett said. “Getting through the first round is always tough.
“My opponent was strong, and he kept me away from getting into my ties. Friday is a big day.”
Connellsville had a good day. The Falcons advanced four wrestlers — sophomore Tommy Gretz (107), sophomore Kai Vielma (139), senior Evan Petrovich (152) and senior Lonzy Vielma (160) — into the quarterfinals.
Two others — junior Zachary Franks (114) and sophomore Nolan Rice (121) — were alive in the consolation round.
The Falcons are tied for third with Nazareth in the team standings with 23 points behind Bethlehem Catholic (28) and Notre Dame Green Pond (27).
Gretz defeated Bethlehem Catholic freshman Nico Emili, 6-1. Gretz lost to Emili in the team tournament semifinals.
Thomas Jefferson had three advance to the quarterfinals: seniors Maddox Shaw (152), Bode Marlow (172) and heavyweight Shepherd Turk.
Other WPIAL wrestlers to advance were Peters Township sophomore Nicholas McGarrity (107), Trinity junior Dom Canali (127), Butler junior Santino Sloboda (127), Indiana senior Nico Fanella (133), Canon-McMillan junior Collier Hartman (133), Pine-Richland senior Dom Ferraro (139), Baldwin senior Ramil Islamov (145) and Montour junior Rook Smith (160).
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
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