A-K Valley wrestling notebook: Class AAA wrestlers set for sectionals

By: Alec Italiano
Tuesday, February 20, 2018 | 8:03 PM

WPIAL Class AA got its individual postseason going last week.

Now it's Class AAA's turn.

Sectional tournaments Saturday will mark the beginning of the individual season in Class AAA. Kiski Area will host the Section 1 tournament, while Fox Chapel will host the Section 3 tournament.

The top five finishers in each weight class advance to the WPIAL Class AAA championships, slated for March 2 and 3 at Canon-McMillan High School.

Kiski Area senior heavyweight Isaac Reid will look to win his third consecutive section championship after claiming the title by pin last season. Senior Danny Starr and junior Darren Miller are looking to defend their titles.

The land of Os

Ian Oswalt's sparkling freshman season continues at Burrell.

Coming off a dominant performance at the Section 3-AA and WPIAL tournaments last weekend, which resulted in titles at both, Oswalt (39-7) received the No. 2 seed at 113 pounds for this weekend's PIAA Class AA Southwest Regionals at IUP. Mount Union's Josh Boozel (30-3) is the top seed.

Burrell's other WPIAL champion, senior Shaun Gates (34-9), received the No. 3 seed at 160 pounds behind Chestnut Ridge's Jared McGill (38-0) and West Branch's Derek Yingling (32-0).

Sectioned off

The WPIAL wrestling landscape will look different in 2018-19 after the approval of new sections in Class AA and AAA.

With Highlands joining Blackhawk and Hopewell in dropping from Class AAA to AA, South Fayette climbing to Class AAA and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic opting to not field a team, Section 3-AA saw several changes. Burrell, the 11-time defending WPIAL champion, will still compete in subsection A with Alle-Kiski Valley rivals Riverview and Valley, along with Highlands, South Allegheny and Summit Academy. Subsection B now includes WPIAL runner-up Derry, Elizabeth Forward, Frazier, Mt. Pleasant, Southmoreland and Yough.

Section 1-AAA, which includes Kiski Area and Plum, also saw changes. Kiski Area, the two-time defending WPIAL champion, and Plum are the only two holdovers in subsection A, which also will include Central Catholic, Franklin Regional, Norwin and Penn-Trafford. Subsection B consists of Gateway, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Latrobe, Penn Hills and Woodland Hills.

Fox Chapel remained in subsection B of Section 3-AAA, along with fellow holdovers Hampton, Indiana, North Allegheny, North Hills and Shaler. Subsection A includes newcomer Armstrong and holdovers Butler, Knoch, Mars, Pine-Richland and Seneca Valley.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer.

Tags: Burrell, Fox Chapel, Highlands, Plum