3 WPIAL wrestling teams set to begin PIAA tournament with preliminary-round matches

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, February 5, 2023 | 7:29 PM

Purchase Photo Options

Three WPIAL wrestling teams can earn a trip to Hershey if they can win preliminary-round road matches Monday.

Hempfield in Class 3A, and Quaker Valley and Frazier in Class 2A can qualify for the PIAA team tournament first-round matches that begin Thursday.

Hempfield, which defeated Connellsville in a third-place match Saturday, has the shortest trip. The Spartans must defeat City League champion Allderdice at Carrick. The match begins at 6 p.m.

This is the third time the Spartans have qualified for the PIAA tournament.

When Hempfield won its only WPIAL title in 2007, the Spartans made it to Hershey and lost in the semifinals to Nazareth. They opened the playoffs by defeating Council Rock South. They fell to Cumberland Valley, 28-26, in the consolation semifinals.

Hempfield finished third in 2009 and lost to Clearfield, 34-33, in a preliminary-round match at Clarion.

If Hempfield wins, it will face District 1 champion Pennridge at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Giant Center.

Quaker Valley qualified for the PIAA tournament for the third time. The Quakers lost a preliminary-round match in 2020 and made it to Hershey in 2022 before dropping their first two matches.

Quaker Valley must defeat District 6 runner-up Huntingdon at 7 p.m. if it hopes to get to the Giant Center. If the Quakers win, they will face District 11 champion Notre Dame-Green Pond at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Frazier, which is having a historic season, will travel to District 10 runner-up to face Fort LeBoeuf at 7 p.m. The winner faces District 4 champion Warrior Run at 2 p.m. Thursday.

The Class 2A matches Monday begin at 7.

Class 3A champion Canon-McMillan and runner-up Waynesburg, and Class 2A champion Burgettstown and runner-up Burrell already have earned their spot in Hershey.

Canon-McMillan begins its trek by battling the winner of Monday’s match between District 3 third-place finisher Chambersburg and District 1 fourth-place team Quakertown at 6 p.m., and Waynesburg faces District 4 champion Shikellamy at 8 p.m.

Burgettstown, which is making its third trip to Hershey, will face District 2 champion Honesdale at 2 p.m., and Burrell gets District 9 champion Brookville at 4 p.m. Brookville defeated Burrell, 31-25, at the Ultimate Duals on Jan. 21.

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.

Tags: Burgettstown, Burrell, Canon-McMillan, Frazier, Hempfield, Quaker Valley, Waynesburg