Freshmen stand out at WCCA wrestling tournament

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, January 9, 2024 | 8:02 PM

Even though the 71st Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association wrestling tournament was minus one of the top freshmen in the state, there still were many youngsters who shined.

Three freshmen won titles, three others were finalists and 10 earned medals.

Wrestling fans missed out watching Landon Sidun (26-1) of Norwin because the Knights had other major events (Beast of the East, Powerade and Escape the Rock) on the schedule.

But they weren’t disappointed, as Derry’s Mason Horwat, Mt. Pleasant’s Stephen Predajna and Latrobe’s Hunter Snyder grabbed titles, and Penn-Trafford’s Luke DeSantis, Franklin Regional’s Chase Smith and Cohen Buccicone placed second.

Only five seniors won titles.

“It’s going to get tough to win a county title in coming years,” Latrobe coach Mark Mears said. “There are a lot of good freshmen and more to come. Westmoreland County is going to get strong again.”

Mears said Belle Vernon, Derry, Franklin Regional, Kiski Area, Burrell, Latrobe and Penn-Trafford have good kids coming up.

Horwat won the 145-pound title by defeating Belle Vernon junior Kole Doppelheuer, 8-5.

Predajna blanked Latrobe junior Braden Bronson, 5-0, at 160 pounds.

Snyder held on to defeat Valley senior Chuck Perkins, 12-8, at 172.

Derry freshman Brady Brown finished third at 189 pounds, losing a tough 5-2 decision to Kiski Area sophomore Cooper Roscosky in the semifinals. Roscosky said Brown deserved a better seed than No. 5.

He felt he should have been top three.

A couple of sophomores — Burrell’s Cam Baker (107) and Mt. Pleasant heavyweight Dylan Pitzer — had good weekends. Baker won his second title by edging Hempfield sophomore Nico Kapusta, 5-4, and Pitzer spent only one minute and 41 seconds in pinning four opponents.

“All I know is you better bring your ‘A’ game to the tournament if you want to be a champion,” Mears said. “We’re getting back to where we were a few years ago.”

Baldwin places second

North Star captured the Bo Wood Tournament at Indiana on Saturday, edging Baldwin, 164.5-133.

The Highlanders had four champions: Owen Klodowski (127), Ramil Islamov (139), Mario DelRosario (152) and Keith Mincin (160).

Indiana had three champions: Nico Fanella (121), Tuscan Blystone (133) and Dominic Fanella (172).

Knoch’s Owen Layhew (145) also won.

Looking ahead

Norwin is heading east to compete in the Escape the Rock tournament Saturday and Sunday.

Beginning Friday is the Burgettstown Invitational and the Mid-Winter Mayhem at IUP. Teams at Burgettstown include Bentworth, Highlands, Mt. Lebanon and Southmoreland.

The WPIAL teams at the Mid-Winter Mayhem are Butler, Franklin Regional, Freedom, Kiski Area, Penn-Trafford, Plum, Thomas Jefferson and West Allegheny.

The Connellsville Duals are Saturday. Connellsville coach Bill Swink was looking for a team to replace Bedford, which pulled out before Christmas. Bedford had replaced Trinity.

The other teams include Erie Cathedral Prep, Frazier, Latrobe and North Allegheny.

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.