Westmoreland County wrestling looking for big year

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, December 3, 2024 | 8:56 PM

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It should be an exciting season for wrestling fans from Westmoreland County.

All the Class 3A teams have state-quality wrestlers.

The top returnee is Norwin sophomore Landon Sidun, who was the county’s lone PIAA champion last season.

There are six other PIAA placewinners. They are Latrobe’s Luke Willochell, Leo Joseph and Hunter Snyder, Hempfield’s Nico Kapusta, Kiski Area’s Cooper Roscosky and Penn-Trafford’s Dylan Barrett.

Belle Vernon

Coach: Bob Bove

Last year’s record: 7-5 (Section 2-2A)

Section: 7-3A

Postseason medalists: Elijah Brown, Jr., WPIAL and SW Regional champion at 172; Kole Doppelheuer, Sr., WPIAL third and SW Regional fourth at 145.

Lettermen: Doppelheuer (27-10); Brown (44-5); Colby Hibner, So., 133 (20-13); Aunah Bhandari, So., 160 (4-22).

Newcomers: Leonidas Soto, Sr., 139; Deydon Soto, So., 114; Skylar Gush, So., 172; Maddox Ceccarelli, So., 152; Gracin Guglielmo, Fr., 107; Rylee Doppelheuer, Fr., 107; Vander Raczkowski, Fr., 133; Connor Hoffman, Fr., 160.

The skinny: The Leopards move up to Class 3A and will battle Thomas Jefferson for the title. … The Sotos transferred from Connecticut and were state placewinners.

Franklin Regional

Coach: Matt Lebe

Last year’s record: 22-3 (Section 3-3A)

Section: 9-3A

Postseason medalists: Titus Colangelo, So., WPIAL sixth at 107; Mike Ruane, So., WPIAL eighth at 114.

Lettermen: Colangelo (32-15); Ruane (32-14); Sal Nassif, So., 121 (12-17); Chase Smith, So., 127 (21-10); Nico Sarnic, Sr., 133 (12-12); Cohen Buccicone, So., 139 (18-17); Luke Ankney, Sr., 145 (24-14); Ethan Cartwright, So., 152 (24-13); Jordan Perks, Jr., 160, Jr., 160 (10-16); Henry Patts, Sr., 172 (23-14); Elisua Daugherty, Sr., 285 (7-22).

Newcomers: Beau Fennick at 106 and Max Firestine at 145.

The skinny: The Panthers should challenge for one of the top spots in the WPIAL with 11 starters back. … The team must replace two PIAA placewinners.

Hempfield

Coach: Brian Kapusta

Last year’s record: 5-14 (Section 4-3A)

Section: 8-3A

Postseason medalists: Nico Kapusta, Jr., WPIAL fourth at 107.

Lettermen: Kapusta (25-10); Nathan Caracciolo, Jr., 114 (13-15); Ty King, Jr., 121 (17-13); Brody Wilson, Jr., 127 (7-15); Dom Wood, Jr., 133 (12-15)

Newcomers: Murphy Sheridan, Fr., 121; Leroy Corey, Fr., 160-172; Jacob Beck, Fr., 160-172; Jake Halsted, Jr., 138.

The skinny: The have a new coach in Brian Kapusta, who replaced Steve Santia. … Kapusta’s son, Nico, is a PIAA qualifier but likely will miss the season with an injury.

Kiski Area

Coach: Chris Heater

Last year’s record: 12-12 (Section 1-3A)

Section: 5-3A

Postseason medalists: Cooper Roscosky, Jr., WPIAL first and PIAA sixth at 189; Mark Gray, Sr., WPIAL fifth at 172; Abrahm Taylor, Jr., WPIAL seventh at 215; Ryder Ekas, Sr., eighth at 215.

Lettermen: Roscosky (40-5); Gray (9-4); Ekas, (21-14); Payton King, So., 107 (10-18); Dominic Pohland, So., 114 (10-8); John DeLuca, Jr., 127 (21-17); Jackson Pollick, So., 133 (14-19); Tyler Bollinger, So., 139 (8-21); Ezra Keitzer, Sr., 145 (5-23); Travis Shearer, So., 153 (21-14).

Newcomers: Paxton Newell, Fr., 107; Gavin Murphy, Fr., 114; Bear Joseph, Fr., 145; Mario Hutcherson, Fr., 172.

The skinny: The Cavaliers look to return to power behind Roscosky, Gray and Abraham. … Hutcherson gives the team a solid upper weight group.

Latrobe

Coach: Mark Mears

Last year’s record: 13-5 (Section 4-3A)

Section: 8-3AA

Postseason medalists: Luke Willochell, Sr., PIAA fifth and WPIAL champion at 121; Hunter Snyder, So., PIAA sixth and WPIAL second at 171; Leo Joseph, Sr., PIAA eighth and WPIAL third at 114.

Lettermen: Willochell (41-3); Snyder (38-8); Joseph (37-11); Brody Bronson, So., 107 (11-13); Austin Laidacker, Sr., 133 (10-21); Cole Short, Jr., 152 (12-18); Bradan Bronson, Sr., 160 (20-16); Brock Mears, Sr., 189 (8-17); Cody Krall, Sr., 215 (23-19); Marco Scarton, Sr., 285 (17-14).

Newcomers: Kai Maxwell, Fr., 107; Dominic Angelicchio, Fr., 139-145; Clayton Burkett, So., 152-160; Aaryn Chappel, So., 152-160; Nico Dominick, So., 215; Max Houser, So.. 189; Evan Pancoast, So., 121-127; Nova Udink, So., 189.

The skinny: With three PIAA medalists returning, the Wildcats hope to challenge Connellsville for Section and WPIAL titles. … Willochell signed with Wyoming.

Norwin

Coach: Kyle Martin

Last year’s record: 12-7 (Section 3-3AA)

Section: 9-3A

Postseason medalists: Landon Sidun, So., PIAA champion and WPIAL second at 114

Lettermen: Sidun (42-2); Luca Butera, Jr., 107, (11-17); Aaron Wong, Sr., 121 (6-8); Nathan Klingensmith, So., 121 (8-11); Aiden Shiek, Sr., 127 (1-13); Gannon Conboy, Sr., 127 (8-18); Gage Mamie, Sr., 139, (22-13); Tanner Shaffer, Jr., 145, (10-16); Cameron Tokarsky, Sr., 152 (1-10); Jack White, Jr., 152 (11-7); Nick Puskar, Sr., 172 (25-15); Sebastian Summerville, So., 285 (6-14).

Newcomers: Coleton Klipa, Fr., TBD; Nate Gulibon, Fr., TBD; Dom Butera, Fr., TBD; Brooks Blasko, So., TBD; Riley Shaffer, So., TBD; Santino Brasco, So., 160

The skinny: Sidun is a returning PIAA 3A champion. … The Knights hope to contend for section and WPIAL titles.

Penn-Trafford

Coach: Travis McKillop

Last year’s record: 4-10 (Section 3-3A)

Section: 9-3A

Postseason medalists: Dylan Barrett, Jr., WPIAL second at 107; Tasso Whipple, Sr., WPIAL fifth at 189; Logan Matrisch, Jr., WPIAL seventh at 152.

Lettermen: Barrett (35-10); Matrisch (28-16); Whipple (27-12); Ivan Ratesic, Jr., 114 (5-13); Jake Lang, Jr., 121 (13-14); Luke DeSantis, So., 127 (18-13); Logan Ventura, Sr., 127 (14-21); Sidney Hand, So., 133 (11-17); Cael Ott, Jr., 139 (13-14); Dylan Clayton, Jr., 160 (16-19); Jamison Yurt, Jr., 215 (7-18); Aiden Toth, Jr, 285 (6-17).

Newcomers: Gino Pecora, Fr., 145-152; Bryce Klingensmith, Fr., 160-172; Seth Pochiba, Fr., 145-152; Evan Awai, Fr., 121.

The skinny: The Warriors expect to challenge Franklin Regional and Norwin for the section title. … Whipple was a 2023 PIAA qualifier.

Dual of the Week

Two top-10 teams square off in a nonsection match Wednesday as No. 10 Canon-McMillan visits No. 4 Norwin.

The match features Sidun of Norwin and Canon-McMillan’s Collier Hartman.

Other big duals have McGuffey at Mt. Pleasant and Fox Chapel at Peters Township.

A look ahead

This weekend has numerous tournaments involving WPIAL teams.

The sites are Chartiers-Houston, Hickory, North Coast Classic in Independence, Ohio, Tom Best Memorial in Williamsport, Union Local in Ohio, Babbit Duals at Blairsville, Carrick Duals, Greg’s Market Invitational at Jon Marshall, W.Va., Sheetz Classic in Greenville and Trinity Duals.

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.