Fox Chapel’s Michael Worsen makes most of 2nd chance in wrestling postseason

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, March 9, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Michael Worsen was cutting weight in a frenzy.

The Fox Chapel senior wrestler got the call 36 hours ahead of the PIAA Western Regional that he was being put into the 121-pound bracket as an alternate.

Worsen immediately hit the sauna and did some running to drop close to five pounds.

Worsen was so effective at getting under weight that he was one pound under the limit and could still take his girlfriend out to dinner for her birthday.

“I got filet mignon,” Worsen said. “It wasn’t that big. It wasn’t fatty, about six ounces.”

A week after his high school career appeared to be over, Worsen made the weight and finished fifth at the regional tournament, grabbing a spot at the PIAA Class 3A championships in Hershey.

Worsen became the first state qualifier from Fox Chapel since Mike Mahon made it at 182 pounds in 2017. He won four matches at the regional tournament to improve his career record to 102-44.

Foxes senior D’Angelo Hamilton also nearly qualified at heavyweight. Hamilton lost in the fifth-place match..

Coach Michael Frank said he told the Foxes to stay in shape.

“I told them to not get out of control,” Frank said. “It’s amazing what Michael did because this is all after thinking your season and career is over. He had a mindset to go out there and compete as hard as he can. Obviously, the expectations are lower than some other people, and he could use that to his advantage.”

Worsen, who is 32-12 this season, lost the seventh-place match at the WPIAL tournament to Bethel Park’s Pierce Reinhart in overtime. If things had ended there, Worsen would have been stuck at 98 wins.

“I definitely was taking a break from wrestling,” Worsen said. “I didn’t show up to practice for two days. I was taking a break from hard matches, but Wednesday I went to practice and got back at it. I wanted to stick with my teammates and make sure everything was going well.”

Carrick’s Jaidon Jones, the City League champion, was forced to pull out, and it opened up a spot for Worsen. This was the first year the PIAA added a Western Regional. In past years, all WPIAL qualifiers earned bids to states through the district tournament.

Worsen said his family was thinking more about states than reaching 100 wins.

“I definitely wasn’t thinking about states,” Worsen said. “My dad was saying, ‘You are going to states.’ My brother was pushing me. I was thinking about having fun. I wasn’t supposed to be there. I showed I was supposed to be there.”

Worsen beat Holidaysburg’s Landon Krupka in the first round. After losing in the quarterfinals, Worsen picked up his 100th win by beating Erie McDowell’s Graeson Harrison in the second round of consolations. Worsen followed that up by pinning Collin Bauman to reach the consolation semifinal.

He lost by a point and earned the spot at states when Meadville’s Ben Fuller forfeited the fifth-place match.

“It was wild watching the whole thing unfold,” Frank said.

Tags: Fox Chapel