Latrobe wrestlers clinch playoff berth by defeating Hempfield
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Wednesday, January 14, 2026 | 9:40 PM
Latrobe’s Logan Peagler tries to escape the hold of Hempfield’s Murphy Sheridan at 139 pounds Wednesday. (Paul Schofield | TribLive)
Latrobe’s Brody Bronson (top) battles Hempfield’s Nathan Caracciolo at 127 pounds Wednesday. (Paul Schofield | TribLive)
Hempfield’s Nico Kapusta takes down Latrobe’s Kai Maxwell at 121 pounds Wednesday. (Paul Schofield | TribLive)
Latrobe’s Maddox Mehalic grabs the leg of Hempfield’s Aydn Wasil at 107 pounds Wednesday. (Paul Schofield | TribLive).
Hempfield senior Nico Kapusta takes down Latrobe’s Kai Maxwell at 121 pounds Wednesday. (Paul Schofield | TribLive).
It was not a playoff match, but Wednesday’s Section 8-3A battle between Latrobe and Hempfield earned the winner a spot in the WPIAL tournament in two weeks.
A strong start and a solid ending were the perfect recipe for the Latrobe wrestling team.
The Wildcats (6-2, 2-0) rallied to defeat rival Hempfield, 43-24, in a Section 8-3A battle by winning the final three matches by forfeit and pins from Nico Dominick (215 pounds) and heavyweight Gamin Owens.
The win also sets up a first-place showdown against powerful Connellsville on Jan. 21 at home. The top two teams in each section qualify for the playoffs. Connellsville was a WPIAL runner-up last year and ended up third in the PIAA tournament.
“Our first step was qualifying for the playoffs,” Latrobe coach Mark Mears said. “Because we have such a young team, they need to experience that environment.”
Mears and his team celebrated the win by going to Dino’s for wings.
“Hempfield’s strength was in the middleweights,” Mears said. “So we knew we were OK at the beginning and the end. We wrestled well in the middle.”
The Wildcats also were aided by forfeits at 114 and 189 pounds.
They also got pins from Maddox Mehalic at 107 and Clayton Burket at 160.
Hempfield (4-4, 0-2), which trailed 12-0 after two bouts, got two pins (Nico Kapusta at 121 and Ty King at 133) and a win by Nathan Caracciolo over Brody Bronson, 2-0, at 127 to take a 15-12 lead.
“Giving up two forfeits hurts,” Hempfield coach Brian Kapusta said. “But I thought we wrestled well. The guys we expected to win did their jobs. There are things we still need to work on before individuals in February.”
The Wildcats’ Logan Peagler and the Spartans’ Jacob Halsted exchanged 4-0 victories at 129 and 145.
David Reese took an early 3-0 lead against Dom Angelicchio at 152, and Dom Angelicchio rallied for a 13-3 win to give the Wildcats a 19-18 lead.
Burket’s pin extended the lead to 25-18, but Jacob Beck won by injury default to cut the deficit to 25-24.
Hempfield concludes section play against Albert Gallatin.
“Peagler defeated (Hunter) Sheridan at counties, and (Logan) Skuta battled Halsted well,” Mears said. “Connellsville will provide us another test.”
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.
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