Defending champions Burrell, Connellsville receive top seeds for WPIAL team wrestling tournament

By: Paul Schofield
Thursday, January 23, 2025 | 2:09 PM

Reigning champions Burrell (Class 2A) and Connellsville (3A) earned the No. 1 seeds for the 2025 WPIAL team wrestling tournament, the wrestling committee announced Thursday.

The tournament for both classifications begins Monday at Greensburg Salem and Bentworth for Class 2A, and Shaler and North Hills in Class 3A with preliminary-round matches.

The first round and quarterfinals are set for Wednesday, and the semifinals and finals are Feb. 1 at Peters Township’s AHN Arena.

The top four seeds in each classification will host the first round and quarterfinals.

Class 2A’s top seeds are Burrell (10-1), No. 2 Derry (14-2), No. 3 McGuffey (13-4) and No. 4 Quaker Valley (10-4).

The Class 3A top seeds are Connellsville (5-1), No. 2 Franklin Regional (13-0), No. 3 Thomas Jefferson (10-0) and No. 4 Bethel Park (9-1). Norwin (12-1) slid to the No. 5 following its loss to Franklin Regional on Wednesday night.

“We’ll get ready and go wherever they send us,” Norwin coach Kyle Martin said. “We’ll be ready.”

Norwin will face Canon-McMillan (8-9), a team it defeated 39-20 to open the season.

“I expect a tighter match this time,” Martin said. “It was a good battle the first time.”

Burrell, which suffered its first loss of the season to Reynolds (33-30) at the Brookville Duals, will face the winner of Monday’s Knoch at Greensburg Salem match. The Bucs claimed their 22nd straight section title with a win against Highlands in a Section 9 first-place showdown Wednesday.

“We had to regroup,” Burrell coach Steve Ansani said. “We had a few injuries. We bounced back well, and we were aggressive against Highlands; that’s our style.

“We’ll go out and do what we do. I expected we’d be No. 1 since we won last year.”

Other than 2022 and 2023, Burrell has dominated Class 2A wrestling, running off 15 consecutive titles from 2007-21. The Bucs have won 18 titles in total.

Derry will face the winner of the Avella (6-11) at Bentworth (6-6) match. McGuffey will host the Avonworth (3-7)/Central Valley (5-7) winner, whereas Quaker Valley gets the Elizabeth Forward (2-2)/Chartiers-Houston (5-1) winner. The Class 2A wild cards were Elizabeth Forward and Bentworth.

Southmoreland (7-6) battles Jefferson-Morgan (9-3) at Burrell.

In Class 3A, Franklin Regional will face the winner of the Moon (7-5)/Peters Township (11-8) match. Thomas Jefferson takes on the winner of the Penn-Trafford (7-8) at North Hills (8-3) match. Penn-Trafford and Belle Vernon (3-2) received the wild-card bids. Belle Vernon faces Butler (7-3) at North Hills.

“We have a strong body of work with our win over Norwin,” Franklin Regional coach Matt Lebe said. “That was a great team and a great program we beat.

“Since the county tournament, we needed to get better, and we did. We’ve continued to work, and that gave us the opportunity to compete next week for the title.”

Connellsville will face the winner of the Ringgold (9-1) at Shaler (6-1) match. Latrobe (5-4) and Kiski Area (13-4) will also be at Connellsville.

Wrestling

WPIAL team tournament

Class 3A

Preliminary round

Monday’s schedule

Ringgold (9-1) at Shaler (7-1), 7:15 p.m.

Belle Vernon (3-2) vs. Butler (7-3) at North Hills, 6 p.m.

Penn-Trafford (7-8) at North Hills (8-3), 7:15 p.m.

Peters Township (11-8) vs. Moon (7-5) at Shaler, 6 p.m.

First round

Wednesday’s schedule

Ringgold/Shaler winner at Connellsville (5-1), 6 p.m.

Latrobe (5-4) vs. Kiski Area (13-5) at Connellsville, 6 p.m.

Canon-McMillan (8-9) vs. Norwin (12-1) at Bethel Park, 6 p.m.

Belle Vernon/Butler winner at Bethel Park (9-1), 6 p.m.

Penn-Trafford/North Hills winner at Thomas Jefferson (10-0), 6 p.m.

Trinity (6-2) vs. West Allegheny (12-10) at Thomas Jefferson, 6 p.m.

North Allegheny (14-2) vs. Fox Chapel (9-3) at Franklin Regional, 6 p.m.

Peters Township/Moon winner at Franklin Regional (13-0), 6 p.m.

Class 2A

Preliminary round

Monday’s schedule

Knoch (4-3) at Greensburg Salem (7-3), 7:15 p.m.

Elizabeth Forward (2-2) vs. Chartiers-Houston (5-1) at Bentworth, 6 p.m.

Central Valley (5-6) vs. Avonworth (2-7) at Greensburg Salem, 6 p.m.

Avella (9-11) at Bentworth (6-6), 7:15 p.m.

First round

Wednesday’s schedule

Greensburg Salem/Knoch winner at Burrell (10-1), 6 p.m.

Southmoreland (7-6) vs. Jefferson-Morgan (9-3) at Burrell, 6 p.m.

Freedom (10-2) vs. South Park (11-2) at Quaker Valley, 6 p.m.

Elizabeth Forward/Chartiers-Houston winner at Quaker Valley (10-4), 6 p.m.

Avonworth/Central Valley winner at McGuffey (13-4), 6 p.m.

Laurel (16-3) vs. Beth-Center (6-7) at McGuffey, 6 p.m.

Burgettstown (7-2) vs. Highlands (10-5) at Derry, 6 p.m.

Bentworth/Avella winner at Derry (14-2), 6 p.m.

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.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Burrell, Connellsville, Derry Area, Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Highlands, Jefferson-Morgan, Latrobe, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland