Latrobe’s Luke Willochell among 10 defending champs to reach WPIAL Class 3A finals

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, February 22, 2025 | 3:19 PM

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The finals are set for the WPIAL Class 3A individual wrestling championships after a couple of battles in Saturday’s semifinals at Canon-McMillan.

The finals and placement matches begin at 3:30 p.m.

The best semifinal came at 189 pounds where Central Catholic junior Nez Green outscored Latrobe sophomore Hunter Snyder, 16-15, in overtime. With the bout tied, Green was able to score three nearfall points in the first tiebreaker and Snyder countered with two nearfall points in the second tiebreaker and fell short.

In the other semifinal, Waynesburg senior Jake Stephenson scored a takedown with 35 seconds left to defeat Kiski Area senior Mark Gray, 6-5.

One returning champion, Ringgold senior Jake Conroy was upset in the semifinals at 215 pounds by Kiski Area junior Cooper Roscosky, 5-4. Roscosky is the returning 189-pound champion who gave up a first period takedown to fall behind 3-0. But he got an escape in the first and second periods to trim the deficit to 3-2. After allowing an escape early in the third period, he scored the winning takedown with 47 seconds left. Conroy won the 215 title a year ago.

The other previous champions to advance were Peters Township sophomore Nicholas McGarrity (107), Butler junior Santino Sloboda (127), Latrobe senior Luke Willochell (133), Indiana senior Nico Fanella (133), Connellsville senior Evan Petrovich (152), Belle Vernon junior Elijah Brown (172) and the Thomas Jefferson senior trio of Maddox Shaw (152), Bode Marlow (172) and heavyweight Shepherd Turk. Fanella and Brown competed in Class 2A the past two seasons. Fanella won the 114 title in 2023.

Willochell looks to become a four-time champion, while Shaw hopes to win his third WPIAL title.

The top matchups in the finals will feature Willochell and Fanella at 133, and Shaw and Petrovich at 162. Petrovich recorded his 150^th career win in his semifinal victory against South Fayette’s Luke Dunlap.

WPIAL Class 3A individual championship

Semifinals

107: Nicholas McGarrity, Peters Township d. Beau Fennick, Franklin Regional, 2-0; Tommy Gretz, Connellsville m.d. Zach Rehak, Thomas Jefferson, 10-1.

114: Nico Kapusta, Hempfield m.d. Zachary Franks, Connellsville, 11-0; Dylan Barrett, Penn-Trafford t.f. Titus Colangelo, Franklin Regional, 17-2 (5:27).

121: Leo Joseph, Latrobe m.d. Gionno Gardner, Canon-McMillan, 21-8; Nolan Rice, Connellsville d. Thomas Bencho, West Allegheny, 8-2.

127: Santino Sloboda, Butler m.d. Carter Putt, Indiana, 17-8; Dom Canali, Trinity p. Mikey Ruane, Franklin Regional, 3:44.

133: Luke Willochell, Latrobe p. Cael Yanek, Moon, 1:40; Nico Fanella, Indiana t.f. Collier Hartman, Canon-McMillan, 18-3 (3:42).

139: Dominic Ferraro, Pine-Richland p. Owen Campbell, Plum, 2:46; Kai Vielma, Connellsville d. T.J. Allison, Trinity, 4-0.

145: Ramil Islamov, Baldwin t.f. Max Firestine, Franklin Regional, 21-5 (3:50); Kase Chopp, Butler d. Ethan Higgins, Bathel Park, 4-2.

152: Maddox Shaw, Thomas Jefferson t.f. Griffen Reid, North Allegheny, 21-5 (4:08); Evan Petrovich, Connellsville t.f. Luke Dunlap, South Fayette, 19-4 (4:21).

160: Lonzy Vielma, Connellsville d. Brock Evans, Waynesburg, 12-5; Brayden White, Thomas Jefferson m.d. Rook Smith, Montour, 14-2.

172: Bode Marlow, Thomas Jefferson t.f. Kaleb Kinzey, Armstrong, 21-6 (2:53); Mario Hutcherson, Kiski Area t.f. Carter Morvay, North Hills, 20-5 (1:16).

189: Nezumiiro Green, Central Catholic d. Hunter Snyder, Latrobe, 16-15 (TB-2); Jake Stephenson, Waynesburg d. Mark Gray, Kiski Area, 6-5.

215: Elijah Brown, Belle Vernon p. Roman Thompson, Central Catholic, 3:30; Cooper Roscosky, Kiski Area d. Jake Conroy, Ringgold, 5-4.

285: Shepherd Tuk, Thomas Jefferson d. Cam Danna, West Allegheny, 5-0; Philup Rearick, Armstrong p. Bradyn McConneha, North Allegheny, 2:45.

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.