Franklin Regional knocks off defending champ Connellsville in WPIAL 3A wrestling final
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Saturday, February 1, 2025 | 7:35 PM
Franklin Regional’s Evan Petrovich celebrates after pinning Connellsville’s Julian Ruggieri in the 145-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Franklin Regional’s Ethan Cartwright gets a major decision over Connelsville’s Cooper Lembo in the 172-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Franklin Regional’s John Montgomery pins Connellsville’s Nicholas Seese in the 189-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Connellsville’s Kai Vielma pins Franklin Regional’s Nico Sarnic in the 139-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Connellsville’s Nolan Rice pins Franklin Regional’s Salvatore Nassif in the 121-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Franklin Regional’s Beau Fennick reacts after beating Connellsville’s Tommy Gretz in the 107-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Franklin Regional’s Mike Ruane gets a major decision against Connelsville’s Luke Lilley in the 127-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Franklin Regional’s Evan Petrovich pins Connellsville’s Julian Ruggieri in the 145-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Franklin Regional’s Titus Colangelo beats Connellsville’s Zachary Franks in the 114-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Franklin Regional with the trophy after beating Connelsville in the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Franklin Regional’s Henry Patts beats Connellsville’s Christopher Cook in the 215-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Franklin Regional coach Matt Lebe celebrates with Beau Fennick after Fennick beat Connellsville’s Tommy Gretz in the 107-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Connellsville’s Lonzy Vielma gets a technical fall against Franklin Regional’s Luke Ankney during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Franklin Regional celebrates with Evan Petrovich after he pinned Connellsville’s Julian Ruggieri in the 145-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Franklin Regional’s Chase Smith beats Connellsville’s Jake Lilley in the 133-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
Franklin Regional’s Elisha Daugherty wrestles Connellsville’s Tyler Gallis in the 285-pound bout during the WPIAL Class 3A team championships Saturday.
To win championships, sometimes athletes need the unexpected to happen.
That’s what happened Saturday in the WPIAL Class 3A wrestling team championships at Peters Township’s AHN Arena.
No. 2 Franklin Regional got wins at 107 and 114 pounds and upset No. 1 Connellsville, 32-25, to win its third WPIAL title. The Panthers denied the Falcons their ninth title.
The Panthers, who took out No. 3 Thomas Jefferson, 37-36, in the semifinals, carried that momentum into the finals. They were the more aggressive team in the key matches.
Both teams advance into the PIAA team tournament, which begins Tuesday. Franklin Regional will host the winner of the Norwin/Obama Academy (City League) match to be contested Tuesday.
Franklin Regional won seven matches, but the big ones were by Beau Fennick (107) and Titus Colangelo (114).
Fennick used a second-period takedown to defeat Tommy Gretz, 6-4. Gretz let Fennick free with more than a minute left, and the freshman fought off the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the WPIAL.
Fennick was ranked No. 2 but was pinned by No. 3 Zach Rehak of Thomas Jefferson in the semifinals. He bounced back strongly.
“That’s the beautiful thing about wrestling,” Franklin Regional coach Matt Lebe said. “Short-term memory. It’s a hard sport, and you have to be mentally tough.”
Colangelo was trailing Zach Franks, 4-2, late in the match and got a takedown and nearfall points in the final 13 seconds for a 9-4 victory.
“These guys believe they can win, and we’ll be ready for Norwin on Tuesday,” Lebe said. “We’re a very good team from one to 13. We’re good as anyone.”
Those two losses were too much for Connellsville to overcome.
“Tommy has beaten that kid seven or right times already this year,” Connellsville coach Bill Swink said. “That was a big one.
“I don’t think we wrestled very well … We wrestled OK. But we didn’t wrestle like we did on Wednesday. I don’t know, sometimes the pressure gets to kids now. We just must get back in the room and work.”
Connellsville will face DuBois on Tuesday.
Franklin Regional never trailed in the match.
A pin by John Montgomery (189) and a win by Henry Patts (215) gave the Panthers a 9-0 lead, and then the wins by Fennick and Colangelo pushed the lead to 15-3.
Connellsville got some life at 121 when Nolan Rice pinned Sal Nassif, but wins by Mike Ruane (127) and Chase Smith (133) extended the lead to 22-9.
Connellsville’s Kai Vielma (139) and Franklin Regional’s Max Firestine (145) traded pins, and then the Falcons got technical wins from Evan Petrovich (152) and Lonzy Vielma (160) to close the gap to 28-25.
Ethan Cartwright made sure the Panthers would celebrate the win with a victory against Parker Lembo.
“I could not be prouder of the guys,” Lebe said. “They’ve looked up to the previous winners for years.”
Lebe said there is no doubt the win against Thomas Jefferson gave the team confidence in the championship match.
The Panthers trailed TJ, 24-5, in five bouts, which included Rehak’s pin of Fennick.
That’s when the Panthers stepped up. They won the next six bouts, which included pins by Colangelo (114), Nico Sarnic (139) and Firestine (145) and technical wins by Sal Colangelo (121) Ruane (127) and Smith (133).
Norwin earned its first trip to the PIAA playoffs by defeating No. 3 Thomas Jefferson, 36-30, in the third-place match.
The Knights ran off six consecutive wins in the lower weights, outscoring the Jaguars, 33-0, to erase a 13-3 deficit. Coleton Klipa (114), Brooks Blasko (127), Landon Sidun (133) and Gage Mamie (145) collected pins for the Knights.
WPIAL 3A Team Tournament
Championship
Franklin Regional 32, Connellsville 25
107: Beau Fennick (FR) p. Tommy Gretz, 6-4.
114: Titus Colangelo (FR) d. Zachary Franks, 9-4.
121: Nolan Rice (C) p. Sal Nassif, 3:27.
127: Mike Ruane (FR) m.d. Luke Lilly, 10-1.
133: Chase Smith (FR) d. Jake Lilly, 7-3.
139: Kai Vielma (C) p. Nico Sarnic, 4:09.
145: Max Firestine (FR) p. Julian Ruggieri, 1:16.
152: Evan Petrovich (C) t.f. Cohen Buccicone, 19-4 (4:07).
160: Lonzy Vielma (C) t.f. Luke Ankney, 22-7 (4:33).
172: Ethan Cartwright (FR) m.d. Cooper Lembo, 9-0.
*189: John Montgomery (FR) p. Nicholas Seese, 3:50.
215: Henry Patts (FR) d. Christopher Cook, 2-1.
285: Tyler Gallis (C) d. Elishua Daugherty, 3-2.
(*) denotes starting weight class.
Records: Franklin Regional 17-0, Connellsville 11-2
Third place
Norwin 36, Thomas Jefferson 30
107: Zachary Rehak (TJ) m.d. Luca Butera, 17-5.
114: Coleton Klipa (N) p. Robert Cordova, 1:32.
121: Nathan Gulibon (N) m.d. Dom Costa, 12-0.
127: Brooks Blasko (N) p. Ethan Koett, :44
133: Landon Sidun (N) p. Jacob LaBryer, 1:22.
139: Nathan Klingensmith (N) t.f. Cameron Timko, 16-0 (2:47).
145: Gage Mamie (N) p. Colby Engel,
152: Maddox Shaw (TJ) p. Jack White, 1:00.
160: Brayden White (TJ) p. Nicholas Puskar, 1:52.
172: Bode Marlow (TJ) t.f. Tyler Goughenour, 21-5 (1:31).
*189: Zachary LaBryer (TJ) d. Riley Shaffer, 5-2.
215: Santino Brasco (N) d. Trent Miller, 4-2.
285: Shephard Turk (TJ) p. Sebastian Summerville, 2:40.
(*) denotes starting weight class.
Records: Norwin 15-2, Thomas Jefferson 12-2.
Semifinals
Connellsville 40, Norwin 18
107: Tommy Gretz (C) m.d Luca Butera, 16-4.
114: Coleton Klipa (N) d. Zach Franks, 10-7 (SV).
121: Nolan Rice (C) m.d. Nathan Gulibon, 14-3.
127: Landon Rice (N) t.f. Daniel Smith, 17-2 (3:48).
133: Jake Lilly (C) m.d. Dom Butera, 14-5.
139: Kai Vielma (C) p. Jake Hall, :25.
145: Gage Mamie (N) d. Julian Ruggieri, 4-2.
152: Evan Petrovich (C) t.f. Larry Goughenour, 25-5 (3:25).
160: Lonzy Vielma (C) t.f. Nicholas Puskar, 15-0 (1:58).
*172: Riley Shaffer (N) d. Cooper Lembo, 4-0.
189: Santino Brasco (N) m.d. Nicholas Seese, 10-1.
215: Christopher Cook (C) p. William Petko, 3:23.
285: Tyler Gallis (C) p. Sebastian Summerville, 2:51.
(*) denotes starting weight class.
Franklin Regional 37, Thomas Jefferson 36
107: Zach Rehak (TJ) p. Beau Fennick, :44.
114: Titus Colangelo (FR) p. Robert Cordova, 3:58.
121: Salvatore Colangelo (FR) t.f. Dom Costa, 15-0 (4:32).
127: Mike Ruane (FR) t.f. Jacob LaBryer, 20-3 (5:08).
133: Chase Smith (FR) t.f. Cameron Timko, 17-2 (4:32).
139: Nico Sarnic (FR) p. Liam Overdorff, :41.
145: Max Firestine (FR) p. Colby Engel, :52.
152: Maddox Shaw (TJ) p. Cohen Buccicone, 1:08.
160: Brayden White (TJ) won by forfeit.
*172: Bode Marlow (TJ) p. Jordan Perks, :39.
189: Zach LaBryer (TJ) p. John Montgomery, 2:00.
215: Henry Patts (FR) m.d. Trent Miller, 10-1.
285: Shephard Turk (TJ) p. Elishua Daugherty, 1:56.
(*) denotes starting weight class.
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: Connellsville, Franklin Regional, Norwin, Thomas Jefferson
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