Hempfield’s Kapusta, Waynesburg’s Stephenson win WPIAL 3A wrestling titles despite missing much of season

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, February 22, 2025 | 8:29 PM

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Hempfield junior Nico Kapusta and Waynesburg’s Jake Stephenson missed most of the season with injuries.

But both returned in time for the WPIAL individual wrestling tournament, and they walked away with titles.

Kapusta, who injured his elbow in the preseason, returned to the mat Feb. 8 at Pine-Richland and has won all 13 matches, including a section title. He defeated Penn-Trafford junior Dylan Barrett, 13-12, in the 114-pound final.

He defeated Barrett, 9-7, in the section final last week.

Stephenson, the third seed, upset Kiski Area senior Mark Gray, 6-5, in the semifinals then dominated Central Catholic junior Nez Green, 7-1, in the 189-pound final. Green upset No. 1 seed Hunter Snyder of Latrobe, 16-15, in the semifinals

The 114-pound final was a see-saw battle.

Kapusta led 3-1 after one period, but Barrett tied the score 6-6 after two periods thanks to a takedown.

Things got crazy in the third period. Kapusta started with an escape for a 7-6 lead. Barrett responded with a takedown for a 9-7 lead.

Kapusta got a two-point reversal and two-point nearfall to go up 11-9. Barrett answered with a two-point reversal with 48 seconds left to tie the score 11-11. Kapusta countered with a reversal with 23 seconds left for a 13-11 lead, and Barrett escaped with 11 seconds left to cut the lead to one.

But Kapusta held on for the win.

“I have to keep going,” Kapusta said. “There is no stopping. I got an end goal, and I’m ready to get that goal. Dom and I have wrestled a lot over our careers. He’s a great kid, and I have a lot of respect for his wrestling. I expect to meet him again next week.”

The top seven wrestlers in each weight class advance to the PIAA West Regional on Feb. 28 and March 1 at Canon-McMillan.

“It was a fun match,” Barrett said. “Sometimes you don’t get the outcome you want. There is always next week, and I have to keep on getting better.”

Latrobe senior Luke Willochell saw his dream of becoming a four-time WPIAL champion slip away when he lost to Indiana senior Nico Fanella, 7-5. One mistake cost Willochell the victory.

Willochell was leading 2-1 in the second period, and he tried a sneak attack on Fanella but the 2023 Class 2A 114-pound champion saw him coming and got the takedown.

After allowing Fanella to escape in the third period, Willochell got a takedown to tie the score 5-5 with 1:22 left. But when he tried to turn Fanella to his back, Fanella was able to slip the hold and get the winning points on a reversal with 41 seconds left.

“We’ll probably meet again next week,” Fanella said. “I felt I was the underdog, and I proved my doubters wrong.”

Thomas Jefferson senior Maddox Shaw won his third WPIAL title, edging Connellsville senior Evan Petrovich, 1-0, in the 152 final. Petrovich was a returning champion. There are 88 three-time champions.

Other returning champions to win were:

• Peters Township sophomore Nicholas McGarrity, who defeated Connellsville junior Tommy Gretz, 11-0, in the 107 final.

• Butler junior Santino Slaboda, who beat Trinity’s Dom Canali, 18-2, at 127.

• Thomas Jefferson senior Bode Marlow, who topped Kiski Area freshman Mario Hutcherson, 10-2, at 172.

• Belle Vernon junior Elijah Brown, who denied Kiski Area junior Connor Roscosky, 6-4, at 215. Roscosky was a returning champion. Brown was the 172-pound 2A champion in 2024.

• Thomas Jefferson senior heavyweight Shepherd Turk, who defeated Armstrong junior Philip Rearick, 4-1.

“I’m not disappointed with our effort,” Kiski Area coach Chris Heater said. “We closed the gap on some of those matches. We’re getting better.

“Mario is going to continue to face better competition, Cooper is getting close to Brown and Mark (Gray) is a grinder who just doesn’t stop. I’m eager to see how they perform next week.”

It was a good day for the Vielma brothers from Connellsville. Kai Vielma pinned Pine-Richland senior Dom Ferraro to win the 139-pound title, and senior Lonzy Vielma used a late takedown to defeat Thomas Jefferson senior Brayden White, 5-4, at 160.

“It was a great day for us,” Lonzy Vielma said. “I finally got over the hump. We’ve been talking about this all season. I needed to make a late adjustment to get the win. Brayden made an adjustment from the last time we met.”

Winning their first titles were Latrobe senior Leo Joseph (121) and Baldwin’s Ramil Islamov (145), who is the school’s second WPIAL champion.

Joseph needed overtime to edge Connellsville sophomore Nolan Rice, 6-3.

“The last couple matches have been close,” Joseph said. “He does a nice job blocking my attempts.”

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.