Hempfield, Waynesburg, Canon-McMillan move into PIAA Class 3A team wrestling quarterfinals

By: Paul Schofield
Thursday, February 9, 2023 | 10:53 PM

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HERSHEY — The victory march continued for the Hempfield wrestling team Thursday during the first round of the PIAA Class 3A team championship at Giant Center.

The Spartans squeezed out a 34-32 victory against District 1 champion Pennridge, taking advantage of a disqualification early in the match.

Pennridge’s Colby Martinelli was leading Hempfield’s Nico Kapusta, 12-9, with seven seconds remaining in their 107-pound match when Martinelli was called for an illegal slam. Martinelli picked up Kapusta and drove him head first into the mat.

The official immediately called the penalty, and medical personal on scene would not allow Kapusta to continue, thus awarding Hempfield six team points.

“You hate to see that match end like that,” Hempfield coach Vince DeAugustine said. “But I thought our wrestlers did a good job again. This is how we’ve wrestled the past month.

“Everyone has bought into what we’re teaching. They’re wrestling for each other.”

DeAugustine said he did not know Kapusta’s status for Friday.

Hempfield (11-5) will face District 6 champion Central Mountain at 2 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

Hempfield got pins from Owen Caracciolo (121), Ethan Lebin (133) and Lucas Kapusta (152) and a major decision win by Charlie Mesich (145).

Eli Carr (139) and Elijah Binakonsky (285) picked up decisions.

“We wrestled well,” DeAugustine said. “Any time you defeat a district champion from this state it’s a good thing.”

When Lucas Kapusta clinched the win with his pin to give the Spartans a 34-20 lead, DeAugustine forfeited the final two bouts.

“We made some moves that helped us,” DeAugustine said. “Ethan got us a big pin, and we had confidence that Eli could beat one their best kids and he did.”

Carr won 8-2.

“Friday is going to be difficult because of the matchup,” DeAugustine said. “But I’m confident we’ll give it our best shot in the quarterfinals of states.”

Waynesburg 32, Shikellamy 27 — Rocco Welsh said he didn’t remember ever winning a match for his Raider teammates.

But there he was in the final bout of Waynesburg’s first-round match against Shikellamy, the District 4 champion.

With the score tied 27-27, Welsh wasted no time ending the suspense. He recorded a 17-2 technical fall in 1:40 to advance the Raiders to the quarterfinals against District 11 champion Bethlehem Catholic at 2 p.m.

The Raiders won eight of 13 matches and got a pin from Floyd Huff at 107 and a technical win by Brody Evans at 189. Mac Church recorded a major decision win at 145.

Junior Joe Simon did not wrestle for the Raiders. He has a knee injury.

Canon-McMillan 41, Chambersburg 24 — The WPIAL champions used pins by Geno Calgaro at 215, Tanner Mizenko at 107 and Luke Shaffer at 139 to advance to the quarterfinals.

The Big Macs (15-2) will face Spring-Ford.

“It’s nice that Luke (Shaffer) and Blake (Ward) were able to get wins for us early in the tournament,” Canon-McMillan coach Brian Krenzelak said. “We’re going to need them later in this tournament.

“I knew these guys would buy into the program. They never complain, and they keep getting better.”

Brandon Dami at 121 and Andrew Binni at 127 picked up major decision victories, and Josiah Gardner at 145 and Gabriel Stafford at 189 won decisions. Matt Furman received a forfeit at 172.

Class 3A

First round

Hempfield 34, Pennridge 32

189: Ryan Rowe (P) major dec. Ryan Steffey, 12-3.

215: Riley Cullen (P) won by forfeit.

285: Elijah Binakonsky (H) dec. Chase Washington, 9-4.

107: Nico Kapusta (H) won by DQ over Colby Martinelli, 5:53.

114: Cole Coffin (P) major dec. Ty King, 12-1.

121: Owen Caracciolo (H) p. Cole Meenan, 3:15.

127: Quinn McBridge (P) p. Logan Williams, :24.

133: Ethan Lebin (H) p. Anthony Granite, 1:44.

139: Eli Carr (H) d. Sam Kuhns, 8-2.

145: Charlie Mesich (H) major dec. Brady McMahon, 12-0.

152: Lucas Kapusta (H) p. Gio Oadonisi, 2:59.

160: Ryan Gallagher (P) won by forfeit.

172: Talan Hogan (P) won by forfeit.

Waynesburg 32, Shikellamy 27

189: Brody Evans (W) tech fall Brody Rebuck, 18-3 (4:34)

215: Eli Make (W) dec. Mason Rebuck, 6-4.

285: Preston Spontarelli (S) p. Kaden Russell, 5:17.

107: Floyd Huff (W) p. Max Hallman, :45.

114: Ky Szewczyk (W) dec. Alex Reed, 5-3.

121: Eben Kisner (S) p. Albert Medlen, 1:57.

127: Luke Rush (W) dec. Daniel Hernandez, 6-3.

133: Derek Brubaker (S) won by forfeit.

139: Isaac McGregor (S) pinned Huffman, 2:11.

145: Mac Church (W) major dec. Charles Keener, 13-1.

152: Nate Jones (W) dec. Cole Wetzel, 7-4.

160: Connor Wetzel (S) dec. Jake Stephenson, 3-0.

172: Rocco Welsh (W) won by tech fall over Matt Shaffer, 17-2 (1:40).

Canon-McMillan 41, Chambersburg 24

189: Gabriel Stafford (CM) dec. Aiden Hight, 3-1.

215: Geno Calgaro (CM) p. Ben Chambers, 1:02.

285: Avery Kuhns (C) p. Noah Livesay, :46.

107: Tanner Mizenko (CM) p. Ben Hoover, 4:58.

114: Zach Sherman (C) p. Collier Hartman, 5:35.

121: Brandon Dami (CM) major dec. Rylan Carter, 9-0.

127: Andrew Binni (CM) major dec. Luke Mentzer, 10-0.

133: Ashton Romberger (C) p. Ryder Joseph, 1:28.

139: Luke Shaffer (CM) p. Riley Beecher, :49.

145: Josiah Gardner (CM) dec. Logan Mickey, 10-5.

152: Tyler Frye (C) p. Racer Litster, 1:15.

160: Blake Ward (CM) dec. Ivan Maxwell, 4-3.

172: Matt Furman (CM) won by forfeit.

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, Hempfield, Waynesburg