High school roundup for Jan. 24: Wrestling teams capture section tournament titles

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, January 25, 2018 | 12:19 AM

The field is set for the WPIAL wrestling tournament.

Twenty teams in Class AAA and 15 in Class AA earned spots in the district tournament after competing in the section tournaments Wednesday night.

Here's some of the highlights:

*In Section 1-AAA, defending WPIAL champion Kiski Area earned a 40-21 victory over host Hempfield in the finals. Greensburg Salem, Armstrong and Franklin Regional also moved on to the WPIAL tournament.

*Connellsville edged Peters Township, 39-31, to win the Section 2-AAA championship. Upper St. Clair, Belle Vernon and Thomas Jefferson also advanced.

*In Section 3-AAA, Seneca Valley won its first section title since 2001 with a 50-12 victory over Hampton. North Allegheny, Mars and Shaler also moved on.

*Canon-McMillan won its 17th straight section title by topping Waynesburg, 36-18. West Allegheny, Moon and Trinity are the other WPIAL qualifiers.

*Freedom rolled to the Section 1-AA title with a 63-18 win over Burgettstown. Fort Cherry, Beaver and South Side Beaver also qualified.

*In Section 2-AA, Derry took down McGuffey, 36-30, in the finals. Beth-Center, Elizabeth Forward and Mt. Pleasant also advanced.

*Defending WPIAL champion Burrell cruised to a 43-22 win over South Fayette to claim the Section 3-AA title, its 15th straight crown. Valley, Quaker Valley and Keystone Oaks also qualified for WPIALs.

Boys basketball

Monessen 93, Geibel 54 — Lyndon Henderson tallied 55 points to lead Monessen (6-7, 5-0) to a Section 2-A win. Henderson broke the Greyhounds record, which was held by Josh Arnold (53 against Beth-Center in 2006).

West Allegheny 55, Moon 53 — In Section 2-5A, Jackson Faulk had 17 points to guide West Allegheny (8-7, 6-2) past No. 3 Moon (13-3, 5-2).

Jioni Smith had 18 points for the Tigers.

Sewickley Academy 87, Shenango 48 — Nate Ridgeway scored 31 points, Jett Roesing had 20 and Isiah Warfield tallied 17 as No. 2 Sewickley Academy (12-2, 8-1) won in Section 3-2A.

Cornell 66, Holy Family Academy 37 — Desmond Ross had 23 points and Kaden Divito added 20 to lead Cornell (12-4, 6-2) to a Section 1-A victory.

Carmichaels 53, Beth-Center 49 — Matt Barrish had 16 points and Nick Mundell added 13 as Carmichaels (7-8) won a nonsection game. Easton McDaniel had 31 points for Beth-Center (5-10).

Freeport 50, Armstrong 49 — Damon Shiring scored a game-high 17 points as the Yellowjackets edged Armstrong for a nonsection win. Jalen Bown also scored 16 points for the Yellowjackets (9-5) and Ben Beale added 11 points. Dawson Porter led Armstrong (6-10) with 16 points and Isaiah Price added 15.

Jeannette 68, Shady Side Academy 65 — Anthony Johnson had 31 points to vault Class 2A No. 3 Jeannette (10-2) to a nonsection victory.

Shaler 60, Carrick 49 — Jesse Tavella had 17 points to pace Shaler (8-9) in a nonsection victory.

St. Joseph 49, Riverview 47 — The Spartans outscored the Raiders, 18-9, over the final eight minutes and improved to 5-11 on the season with a nonsection win. Riverview fell to 2-13.

St. Joseph's Grant Bendis led all scorers with 18 points, and Evan Kuczynski added 14, including four 3-pointers.

De'Marea Hairston led the Raiders with 13 points.

Girls basketball

Apollo-Ridge 63, St. Joseph 49 — Megan Ost set the pace with 35 points as Apollo-Ridge picked up a nonsection victory over St. Joseph. Madison Marks also scored 12 points for Apollo-Ridge (8-7). Chloe Kurpakus led St. Joseph (8-8) with 22 points.

Blackhawk 67, Hickory 47 — Mackenzie Amalia had 22 points to lead Class 4A No. 3 Blackhawk (14-1) to a nonsection win.

East Allegheny 77, Deer Lakes 47 — Amani Johnson scored 28 points to lead Class 3A No. 3 East Allegheny (17-0, 8-0) to a nonsection win.

Shaler 45, Hempfield 36 — Sarah Golden had 11 points for Hempfield (6-9) in a nonsection loss.

Southmoreland 45, South Allegheny 27 — The Southmoreland girls basketball team improved to 10-7 with a nonsection victory.

Ligonier Valley 73, Northern Cambria 14 — Lexie Petrof had 25 points and seven rebounds, and Jenna Moore added eight points and 10 rebounds as Ligonier Valley (9-8, 4-6) won in the District 6 Heritage Conference.

Tags: Roundup