High school wrestling notebook: Postseason heats up with individual tournaments

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, February 11, 2025 | 9:06 PM

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High school wrestling across the commonwealth makes a big with switch this weekend with the start of the individual tournaments.

Instead of wrestling for their team and teammates, which they’ve done for the past 10 weeks, wrestlers compete for themselves.

The ultimate goal for many is to wrestle March 8 at Giant Center in Hershey and compete for a gold medal.

Starting this early for the Class 2A wrestlers is nothing new. They have started competing in section tournaments a week after the end of the state team tournament for years.

But starting early for Class 3A is new because of the newly formed West Region tournament. The WPIAL wrestlers will compete against wrestlers from Districts 6, 8 (the City League), 9 and 10 to earn a trip to Hershey and a spot in the state brackets.

Returning WPIAL Class 3A champions are Peters Township sophomore Nicholas McGarrity (107), Butler junior Santino Sloboda (114), Latrobe senior Luke Willochell (121), Thomas Jefferson senior Maddox Shaw (139), Connellsville senior Evan Petrovich (145), Thomas Jefferson senior Bode Marlow (160), Kiski Area junior Cooper Roscosky (189), Ringgold senior Jake Conroy (215) and Thomas Jefferson senior heavyweight Shepherd Turk.

Belle Vernon junior Elijah Brown was the 172-pound champion in Class 2A in 2024. Belle Vernon competes in Class 3A.

The returning Class 2A champions are Burrell junior Cam Baker (107), Derry senior Anthony Mucci (114), Central Valley junior Antonio Boni (121), Derry sophomore Mason Horwat (145) and Derry sophomore Brady Brown (189).

Baker, however, injured his hand at the PIAA team championships Friday and will miss the tournament.

He’s not the only wrestler pulled from the tournament because of an injury. Returning PIAA Class 3A 114-pound champion Norwin sophomore Landon Sidun and Penn-Trafford senior Tasso Whipple (189) are not competing.

Sidun (hand) was injured in the WPIAL third-place match against Thomas Jefferson, and Whipple (ankle) was hurt at the Brookville tournament Jan. 18.

The section tournaments are a little different this season. The WPIAL decided to put three sections in one region in both classifications: Sections 1-2-3 on the southern, 4-5-6 in the northern and 7-8-9 in the eastern.

The tournaments Saturday will begin at 9:30 pm.

The Class 3A sites are southern at South Fayette; northern at Fox Chapel; and eastern at Norwin.

The Class 2A sites are southern at Burgettstown; northern at Keystone Oaks; and eastern at Greensburg Salem.

So close

How close were Connellsville and Franklin Regional to wrestling for the PIAA Class 3A championship?

One match.

The Falcons needed to win one more match against Bethlehem Catholic in the semifinals, and the Panthers needed to change one win in the quarterfinals against Nazareth.

Instead, they met in the consolation semifinals, and the Falcons prevailed 28-22.

Connellsville easily defeated Boyertown in the third-place match. Franklin Regional probably would have done the same.

“I’m proud how we competed,” Franklin Regional coach Matt Lebe said. “The Connellsville match was a great match.”

Connellsville coach Bill Swink said Franklin Regional was a great team and has great wrestlers.

“We had a great weekend,” Swink said. “The team bounced back after the WPIAL tournament. They refocused. Now it’s time to get ready for the individual tournaments.”

The WPIAL Class 3A and Class 2A championships will be Feb. 21-22. Class 3A is at Canon-McMillan and Class 2A at Chartiers Valley.

Frazier coach resigns

First-year Frazier coach Tyler Kenney resigned last week.

Kenney replaced Buck Watkins last year after Watkins resigned.

Kenney cited personal reasons for why he stepped away.

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.