Ferraro brothers, Pine-Richland teammates out to make waves in wrestling postseason

By: Ted Sarneso
Saturday, February 15, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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After going 39-7, winning the section tournament and placing second at the WPIAL tournament last year, Dominic Ferraro had only one goal in mind for his senior year.

He wanted to finish his high school wrestling career with an undefeated season.

“I’ve been thinking about that since last season,” Ferraro said. “It’s been something I’ve always looked forward to doing.”

Ferraro has been a standout for Pine-Richland (9-10, 1-3 in Section 4-3A), compiling a 34-0 record in the regular season, winning 18 of his bouts via pin and 10 more via tech fall.

“In years past, he’s always had an unorthodox style that sometimes came back to bite him in the butt,” coach Ian Abplanalp said. “This year, he’s cleaned a lot of stuff up and has a more systematic approach to what he’s doing.”

Added Ferraro: “Over the summer and the preseason, I worked on getting better on the smaller things and fine-tuning my cardio. There is also that mental aspect to it, just wanting to win more than anything else. I never let up or allow my opponent the chance to breathe.”

Ferraro, an Edinboro commit, has put together quite the resume on his way to an unblemished record.

At the Burgettstown tournament in January, he beat Quaker Valley’s Matt Danna by a 15-7 major decision to take home the championship at 139.

Then, at the Allegheny County Championships a week later, he won by tech fall over Plum’s Owen Campbell by a score of 17-2.

What was most impressive was how he wrestled against a pair of top wrestlers in the state at the Fred Bell Tournament on Jan. 24-25 at Grove City. He took on McGuffey’s Lucas Barr in the semifinals at 139. Barr, who is ranked sixth in the state at Class 2A, never had a chance, losing a 16-4 major decision.

“Against Barr, it was about creating a huge point gap that he couldn’t keep up with,” Ferraro said.

Then, in the championship match, Ferraro defeated Cranberry’s Elijah Brosius, who is the No. 2 wrestler in the state at 139. It was a tight one, but Ferraro prevailed with a 1-0 decision.

“Watching the county finals was really awesome,” Abplanalp said. “He was so methodical. There was not a single motion that didn’t have a purpose behind it.”

Said Ferraro: “It was all about staying good in my position the whole time and not letting him get any space.”

The team placed eighth at Burgettstown, 11th at counties and 12th at Fred Bell.

With all that Ferraro has done this season, Abplanalp has no doubt that Ferraro can finish the postseason undefeated.

“The systems he put in place with his wrestling abilities, his IQ and his hips, he’s got the stuff to take states,” Abplanalp said. “If the right Dom Ferraro shows up, there’s no question in my mind he’s got the right stuff to win.”

Dominic isn’t the only Ferraro making waves this season for Pine-Richland.

His brother, Bennett, a freshman, is following in both his brothers’ footsteps. Dominic and Bennett’s older brother, Anthony, also was an outstanding wrestler, going 125-23 in his career for the Rams.

“It’s nice because I can take from both of their styles and mix them into my style,” Bennett Ferraro said. “I’ve learned from both of them.”

Bennett has gone 30-6 in his opening campaign and wrestled his way to the championship match in the Burgettstown and Fred Bell tournaments at 107.

“I really did well at Fred Bell,” Bennett said. “I was ranked 11th, and I either pinned, teched or majored my opponents on my way to the finals.”

In both cases, Bennett Ferraro lost those championship matches to Chase Karenbauer of Grove City, who is the No. 1 wrestler in the nation at his weight.

“Even though he lost by tech fall both times, he wrestled well,” Abplanalp said. “Everyone came up to me after he lost to Karenbauer at Fred Bell, and they couldn’t believe how well Bennett wrestled. He’s been wrestling lights out the last three weeks of the season, and, hopefully, that continues in the postseason.”

The Ferraro brothers have been a few bright spots for a Pine-Richland team that has dealt with several injuries this season. None was more significant than the injury that sidelined senior Vaughn Spencer for the year.

Spencer was another top wrestler last year for the Rams, putting together a 43-2 record and winning WPIAL and PIAA championships at 172.

The Rams also were without Robert Hoy, who won 23 matches last year, and heavyweight Sam Harris, who wrestled just nine bouts before he was lost for the majority of the year.

“Those were pretty big holes to have in our lineup,” Abplanalp said. “Not having a heavyweight meant we went into matches already down six points, but it’s a testament to our kids and how they fought for each other for us to take some of those meets.”

The Rams had the depth to mostly make up for those losses.

Replacing Spencer was going to be no easy task, but junior Maclane Miller has filled in nicely at 172, going 33-5.

“He’s a great kid, works hard and is a hard wrestler,” Abplanalp said. “He was a star football player, but I think he’s an even better wrestler. He’s got one of the finest motors in wrestling. He continues to get after kids.”

Also stepping up were freshman Joey Wozniak and sophomore Peyton Ferguson, who have been in a rotation filling in for Hoy. Wozniak is 17-16 on the year, and Ferguson is 8-7.

“Peyton is wrestling better than I would have expected after last season,” Abplanalp said. “Joey is doing very well for a kid at middleweight, where most of the talented kids wrestle. I didn’t set my expectations too high for him because he is a freshman, but he’s doing very well both as a backup to Dom and filling in for Hoy.”

As the regular season came to a close, the Rams hosted a duals tournament Feb. 8 and went 4-2, with the trio of Dominic and Bennett Ferraro and Miller going 6-0.

The focus now shifts to the WPIAL championships, and, with Dominic a likely candidate to make states, the other two will look to earn spots in Hershey.

“I believe that no one can beat me,” Dominic Ferraro said. “I’ve just been putting trust in my training, working every day to be the best I can be.”

Added Abplanalp: “Our long-term goal is to get those three to states. It’s going to take a lot of wrestling and hard work between now and then, but that’s not something I think is out of the picture for any of them. They can all qualify, and I think they can all medal once they get there.”

Tags: Pine-Richland