Derry reaches WPIAL team wrestling semifinals with dominant performance

By: Paul Schofield
Wednesday, January 29, 2025 | 9:58 PM

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It was quite a dominating performance by the Derry wrestling team Wednesday.

The second-ranked Trojans rolled over Avella and Burgettstown to advance to the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday at AHN Arena at Peters Township.

It is the first time since 2018 that Derry has reached the semifinals. It lost to Burrell in the finals that season.

The Trojans also ended Burgettstown’s streak of reaching the semifinals at five, beating the Blue Devils 49-18.

In the first match, the Trojans defeated Avella, 68-6. They won the first nine bouts and got pins from Matthew Fernell (114 pounds), Dylan Bateman (121), Jeremiah Gess (145), Mason Horwat (152) and Ewan Olson (160).

Avella’s only win was Rob Allison (172) by forfeit.

Brady Brown (189), Chase Lukon (215) and Levi Haase (285) won for the Trojans with pins.

“We didn’t know much about Avella. We just went out and wrestled,” Derry coach Troy Dolan Jr. said. “There weren’t many common opponents for either team.”

Burgettstown got a pin from Darius Simmons (114) to begin the quarterfinal match.

Then Derry went to work, winning seven consecutive matches to build a 34-6 lead.

The streak stopped because the Trojans forfeited at 172.

Brown (189) and Rocco DeCario (107) earned pins, and Lukon won a wild 13-9 decision against Adam Baloga at 215.

“It was a good performance from the guys,” Dolan said. “We wrestled hard and won the 50/50 matches.

“We came out and took it to both teams. Burgettstown is a tough team and well coached. We knew we had to wrestle tough.”

Two of those tough matches were at 127, when Giovanni Beatrice rallied to pin Daniel Smith, and 160, when Olson rallied to defeat Logan Noyes, 5-2.

Jeremiah Gess also had a pin at 145.

Burgettstown reached the quarterfinals with a thrilling 42-34 victory against Highlands. The Blue Devils got pins from Baloga (215) and heavyweight Teddy Gray to pull out the victory.

“I’m really proud how we wrestled,” Burgettstown coach Joey Vigliotti said. “Derry is tough. A lot of people counted us out this year, but we won the section and made it to the quarterfinals.

“I would not trade these guys with anyone. They battled hard and are a good group.”

Derry will face No. 3 McGuffey in the semifinals.

“We’ll get back to work and see what we have to prepare for,” Dolan said. “This was a nice win for us because everyone had to step up. We were firing on all cylinders.”

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: Avella, Burgettstown, Derry Area, Highlands