Breaking down the PIAA Class 2A wrestling championships

By: Paul Schofield
Wednesday, March 9, 2022 | 10:01 AM

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PIAA Class 2A Championship

When: March 10-12

Where: Giant Center, Hershey

Schedule

• Thursday: Preliminaries and first round, 9 a.m.. First round of consolations, 1:15 p.m.

• Friday: Quarterfinals and second round of consolations, 9 a.m. Third round of consolations, 11:45 a.m. Semifinals and fourth round of consolations, 7:30 p.m. Fifth round of consolations, 9 p.m.

• Saturday: Parade of Champions, 1:45 p.m. Finals and consolation finals, 2 p.m.

Radio: TribHSSN Live; WJPA-AM 1450

Pairings and live results: FloArena

The skinny: The top eight finishers in each of the 13 weight classes earn medals. Also a team champion will be crowned.

Weight class breakdown

106

Regional champions: SW: Parker Sentipal (Burgettstown, so., 39-3); SE: Aaron Seidel (Northern Lebanon, fr., 45-1); NW: Louie Gill (Hickory, so., 39-1); NE: Colton Wade (Sullivan County, fr., 33-3).

WPIAL wrestlers: Sentipal.

2021 champion: Louie Gill, Hickory.

Watch out for: Gill is looking for his second-consecutive title. Sentipal won’t face him until the finals, but he must get past Seidel in the semifinals. Smith placed fourth.

113

Regional champions: SW: Landon Bainey (West Branch, so., 37-1); SE: Gauge Botero (Faith Christian Academy, fr., 41-6); NW: Hunter Robinson (Saegertown, sr., 33-3); NE: Gavin Bradley (Athens, sr., 35-1).

WPIAL wrestlers: Jack Kazalas (Quaker Valley, so., 38-5), James Walzer (Montour, sr., 23-15).

2021 champion: Jaden Pepe, Wyoming Area.

Watch out for: Bradley finished second at 113 in 2021, while Bainey finished sixth and Robinson finished fifth. Bradley is seeded No. 1.

120

Regional champions: SW: Chris Vargo (Bentworth, so., 27-2); SE: Adam Schweitzer (Notre Dame-Green Pond, sr., 33-10); NW: Cole Householder (Brookville, fr., 34-80; NE: Jaden Pepe (Wyoming Area, jr., 37-1).

WPIAL wrestlers: Vargo, Cooper Hornack (Burrell, so., 38-8), Logan Richey (Quaker Valley, jr., 35-11).

2021 champion: Brett Ungar, Notre Dame-Green Pond.

Watch out for: Pepe, who won the 113 title in 2021, is seeded No. 1 and Vargo, a third-place finisher, is second. Other returning placewinners include Coen Bainey (fourth at 113), Hornack (second at 106) and Schweitzer (seventh at 113).

126

Regional champions: SW: Trent Hoover (Penn Cambria, so., 32-6); SE: Chase Hontz (Faith Christian Academy, fr., 31-8); NW: Mark Palmer (Brockway, sr., 31-7); NE: Scott Johnson (Muncy, jr., 37-1).

WPIAL wrestlers: Tim Cafrelli (South Side Beaver, sr., 31-7), Gaven Suica (Burgettstown, so., 29-7), Dylan Bruce (Elizabeth Forward, sr., 26-6).

2021 champion: Joey Fischer, South Park.

Watch out for: Johnson, the 2021 126-pound runner-up, is seeded No. 1. Returning placewinners include South Williamsport senior Robert Gardner (sixth at 113) and Fort LeBoeuf sophomore JoJo Przybycien (sixth at 120).

132

Regional champions: SW: Calan Bollman (Chestnut Ridge, jr., 37-6); SE: Brandan Chietsos (Notre Dame-Green Pond, sr., 37-9); NW: Owen Reinsel (Brookville, sr., 41-2); NE: Conner Heckman (Midd-West, jr., 39-4).

WPIAL wrestlers: Joey Sentipal (Burgettstown, jr., 38-5), Kyle McCollum (Beth-Center, sr., 36-5); Peter Chacon (Montour, jr., 38-7), Niko Ferra (Burrell, jr., 34-18).

2021 champion: Jackson Arrington, Forest Hills.

Watch out for: Reinsel placed fourth at 120 and is seeded No. 1. Heckerman is seeded third after placing seventh at 132. McCollum returns as an eighth place winner at 132.

138

Regional champions: SW: Easton Toth (Forest Hills, sr., 35-5); SE: Ryan Crookham (Saucon Valley, sr., 13-0); NW: Connor Pierce (Harbor Creek, sr., 34-0); NE: Cameron Milheim (Warrior Run, fr., 38-8).

WPIAL wrestlers: Ambrose Boni (Central Valley, sr., 34-3), Jamison Poklembo (Mt. Pleasant, so., 36-10), Rudy Brown (Burgettstown, so., 34-12), Andrew Johnson (Southmoreland, sr., 31-13).

2021 champion: Brock McMillen, Glendale.

Watch out for: Pierce is seeded No. 1. He placed fourth at 132 in 2021. Keep an eye on Crookman. Toth is a two-time state qualifier. Don’t discount Boni, Poklembo, Brown and Johnson.

145

Regional champions: SW: Ty Watson (Penns Valley, so., 38-0); SE: Eric Alderfer (Faith Christian Academy, sr., 33-8); NW: Carter Gill (Hickory, sr., 35-5); NE: Conner Harer (Montgomery, so., 43-0).

WPIAL wrestlers: Chase Frameli (Jefferson-Morgan, so., 33-5), Shawn Szymanski (Burrell, sr., 32-9).

2021 champion: Levi Haines, Biglerville.

Watch out for: Harer is undefeated and seeded No. 1. He placed fifth at 138 in 2021. Alderfer is seed No. 2 after he placed fourth at 138. Gill placed seventh at 145. Frameli could make some noise.

152

Regional champions: SW: Jackson Arrington (Forest Hills, sr., 35-2); SE: Andrew Christie (Bishop McDevitt, jr., 39-4; NW: Kane Kettering (Reynolds, sr., 31-8); NE: Devon Deem (Montgomery, sr., 42-2).

WPIAL wrestlers: Tyler Berish (Beth-Center, jr., 37-3), Justin Richey (Quaker Valley, sr., 35-8), Isaiah Pisano (Hopewell, so., 31-8), Conor Johnson (Mt. Pleasant, sr., 19-21).

2021 champion: Grant MacKay, Laurel.

Watch out for: Arrington is a two-time state champion (2019 and 2021) and a third-place finisher in 2020. Duggan finished third at 152 and Deem placed fourth at 152.

160

Regional champions: SW: Grant MacKay (Laurel, jr., 37-1); SE: Holden Garcia (Notre Dame-Green Pond, jr., 37-9); NW: Aiden Zimmerman (Johnsonburg, jr., 24-9); NE: Robert Schneider (Lackawanna Trail, jr., 44-3).

WPIAL wrestlers: MacKay, Christian Hirak (Derry, sr., 31-6), Damian Barr (Burrell, sr., 22-9), Braedon Welsh (Fort Cherry, fr., 38-10).

2021 champion: A.J. Corrado, Burrell.

Watch out for: MacKay returns as the No. 1 seed after winning the 152 title in 2021. Garcia, who placed sixth at 160, is seeded second. Keep an eye on Hirak.

172

Regional champions: SW: Rune Lawrence (Frazier, so., 33-3); SE: Jake Jones (Saucon Valley, so., 42-3); NW: Brock Covell (Titusville, jr., 34-5); NE: Garrett Garcia (Southern Columbia, so., 35-3).

WPIAL wrestlers: Lawrence, Mason Diemert (Quaker Valley, sr., 34-9).

2021 champion: Rune Lawrence, Frazier.

Watch out for: Lawrence is seeded No. 1 after winning the 160-pound state title as a freshman. Suds Dubler only lost 2-1 to Lawrence in the SW Regional finals. Diemert is good enough to place in the state tournament. Jones placed fourth at 172 in 2021.

189

Regional champions: SW: Patrick Cutchember (Quaker Valley, sr., 41-4); SE: Jacob Scheib (Tri-Valley, jr., 41-4); NW: Cole Karpinski (Greenville, sr., 38-0); NE: Isaac Cory (Montoursville, sr., 37-6).

WPIAL wrestlers: Cutchember, Noah Gnibus (Mt. Pleasant, sr., 16-3), Cole Clark (Burrell, sr., 34-15).

2021 champion: Cael Crebs, Montoursville.

Watch out for: An injury kept Cutchember from competing in the 2021 tournament. He placed seventh in 2020. He is seeded fourth. Karpinski is seeded No. 1 after placing sixth at 189, while Saucon Valley senior Ty Csencsits placed eighth at 189. Gnibus can reach the 100-win milestone with a good tournament.

215

Regional champions: SW: Dayton Pitzer (Mt. Pleasant, sr., 41-0); SE: Brad Morrison (West Perry, sr., 45-1); NW: Hayden Linkerhof (Corry, sr., 33-6); NE: Nick Woodruff (Wyalusing, sr., 35-1).

WPIAL wrestlers: Pitzer, Vitali Daniels (Bentworth, so., 29-6), Anthony Govern (Southmoreland, sr., 37-8).

2021 champion: Dayton Pitzer, Mt. Pleasant.

Watch out for: Pitzer is looking for his third PIAA title. An injury his sophomore season ended his chances at being a possible four-time champion. Linkerhof, seeded No. 2, placed seventh at 215 in 2021. Saucon Valley senior Dante Mahaffey (26-1) placed sixth in 2021. He’s on Pitzer’s side of the bracket. Govern, who recently reached the 100-win mark, looks to be on the podium by tournament’s end.

285

Regional champions: SW: Matt Watkins (Tussey Mountain, sr., 33-3); SE: Riley Robell (Bishop McDevitt, jr., 37-1); NW: Xavier Reyda (Corry, sr., 30-4); NE: Austin Johnson (Muncy, fr., 38-1).

WPIAL wrestlers: Cameron Carter-Green (Washington, sr., 26-4), Joey Baronick (Burgettstown, so., 29-15).

2021 champion: Nathan Taylor, Brookville.

Watch out for: Robell is seeded No. 1 after placing second in 2021. Keep an eye on Carter-Green and Baronick as they attempt to reach the podium. Johnson, seeded third, has one loss.

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.