Connellsville wrestling team finishes 3rd in PIAA Class 3A tournament

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, February 8, 2025 | 4:54 PM

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ALTOONA — Connellsville wrestling coach Bill Swink told his team if it didn’t win the PIAA Class 3A team championship, he would be satisfied with third place.

The Falcons, after dropping a hard-fought, 29-23 decision to Bethlehem Catholic, battled to reverse their WPIAL championship loss to Franklin Regional, 28-22, and then whipped District 1 champion Boyertown, 37-21, to take the third-place trophy.

Bethlehem Catholic defeated Nazareth, 44-28, in the final to earn its fourth straight title.

“I’m proud of how we wrestled,” Swink said. “We came back strong after a tough loss. We gave Bethlehem Catholic a battle.”

Connellsville lost a couple of close matches early, and a handful of lineup changes did not go its way.

Swink bumped Julian Ruggieri up to 152, Evan Petrovich to 160 and Lonzy Vielma to 172, but only Ruggieri won.

“It was a move I felt we needed to do,” Swink said. “Things just didn’t work out.”

Against Franklin Regional, the Falcons reversed three matches, which made the difference. Tommy Gretz (107), Zachary Franks (114) and Ruggieri (145) reversed losses with close wins.

“Franklin Regional is a great team, and it was another great battle,” Swink said. “They have some great kids who battle.

“This tournament is great prep for individuals. You see a lot of different wrestlers.”

Franklin Regional began the day with a 39-11 win against Central Mountain. The Panthers then came up short against Connellsville.

“It was another great match with Connellsville,” Franklin Regional coach Matt Lebe said. “They are a great team. I was proud of our effort. It was a good weekend overall.”

Franklin Regional, the WPIAL champion, got great efforts from many of its wrestlers.

Lebe said a bright spot was heavyweight Elishua Daugherty getting two wins.

Now Connellsville and Franklin Regional get a few days off before the start of individuals.

Burrell falls to Erie Prep

Things did not go as planned for the Burrell wrestling team.

The WPIAL Class 2A champion ran into two tough opponents this weekend, losing to eventual PIAA champion Faith Christian Academy on Friday and to fourth-place finisher Erie Prep, 42-18, on Saturday.

Now the Bucs will turn their focus to the individual postseason, which begins Feb. 15. The Bucs had five winners against Erie Prep.

Carter Thomas won by decision at 121 pounds, Julian Bertucci had a pin at 139, Calio Zanella won at 152, Isaac Lacinski was a winner at 172 and Luke Boylan won an overtime match at 215.

“We wrestled better than we did on Friday,” Burrell coach Steve Ansani said. “We battled hard. Unfortunately we had a couple guys banged up that we held out.”

Cam Baker injured his finger Friday and was held out.

Ansani said it’s time to get back in the room and get ready for individuals.

“We were hoping to wrestle a little better,” Ansani said. “We have guys who can compete at the state level, and we hope to bring home some medals.”

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.