Preliminary matches in WPIAL team wrestling tournament among 3 things to watch Monday in WPIAL athletics

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, January 29, 2018 | 8:42 AM

The WPIAL team wrestling tournament starts Monday at Franklin Regional with four preliminary round matches in Class AAA.

Most qualifiers must wait until Wednesday when the tournaments ramp up with 15 first-round matchups, but eight WPIAL teams will make an early start. At 6 p.m., Shaler wrestles Upper St. Clair, and Belle Vernon wrestles Armstrong. At 7:30 p.m., host Franklin Regional wrestles Moon, and Thomas Jefferson wrestles Mars.

Monday's winners would need to win three more matches to reach the WPIAL finals on Feb. 3.

A first-place showdown

As the section season heads toward its finish, the Thomas Jefferson and Oakland Catholic girls basketball teams will break their first-place tie in Section 2-5A. The two schools are tied at 6-1 and meet Monday in Oakland.

Tipoff is 7:30 p.m.

Marina Petruzzi and Jenna Clark each scored 16 points when Thomas Jefferson defeated Oakland Catholic, 58-45, on Jan. 8. TJ (14-3 overall) is ranked third in the WPIAL while Oakland Catholic (11-5) is fourth.

Sorting out the standings

In Class 6A girls basketball, the Section 3 standings could become a little clearer Monday.

The top four teams in the section face off when Bethel Park (11-5, 5-2) visits Mt. Lebanon (9-8, 5-2) for a battle of second-place teams, and section-leader Peters Township (14-2, 6-1) travels to fourth-place Upper St. Clair (8-7, 4-3).

Three of the four are ranked in WPIAL Class 6A with Peters Township second, Bethel Park third and Upper St. Clair fifth. Mt. Lebanon also was ranked at times this season.

Both home teams won these matchups earlier this season. Bethel Park defeated Mt. Lebanon, 55-36, and Peters Township defeated Upper St. Clair, 58-28.

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Armstrong, Belle Vernon, Bethel Park, Franklin Regional, Mars, Moon, Mt. lebanon, Oakland Catholic, Peters Township, Shaler, Thomas Jefferson, Upper St. Clair