Latrobe’s Vinny Kilkeary, Waynesburg’s Mac Church to wrestle for 3rd PIAA 3A titles
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Saturday, March 11, 2023 | 1:25 PM
Canon-McMillan’s Andrew Binni celebrates beating District 3 Hempfield’s Seamus Mack, 6-4, during a 127-pound semifinal during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Waynesburg’s Mac Church beats State College’s Asher Cunningham, 6-0, during a 145-pound semifinal during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
West Allegheny’s Shawn Taylor celebrates beating Council Rock South’s Bekhruz Sadriddinov during a 152-pound semifinal during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Canon-McMillan’s Matthew Furman wins by fall over Pennridge’s Talan Hogan during a 172-pound semifinal during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Latrobe’s Vinny Kilkeary beats State College’s Hayden Cunningham, 3-1, during a 127-pound semifinal during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Chartiers Valley’s Dylan Evans beats Shippensburg’s Dominic Frontino, 2-1, during a 160-pound semifinal during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Hempfield’s Lucas Kapusta loses 1-0 to Central Dauphin’s Ryan Garvick during a 152-pound semifinal during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Thomas Jefferson’s Maddox Shaw celebrates beating Bethlehem Catholic’s Cael Mcintyre, 1-0, during a 133-pound semifinal during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Butler’s Santino Sloboda loses to Bethlehem Catholic’s Keanu Dillard in a 107-pound semifinal during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
West Allegheny’s Ty Watters celebrates beating Northampton’s Dagen Condomitti, 4-1, during a 152-pound semifinal during the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
HERSHEY – There are 65 wrestlers in the state of Pennsylvania that have won at least three PIAA titles.
Out of that list, 13 are four-time champions.
The list of 52 three-time winners will grow by three if Latrobe senior Vinny Kilkeary and Waynesburg senior Mac Church in Class 3A and Frazier junior Rune Lawrence in Class 2A have anything to say about it.
All three reached the PIAA finals Saturday at the Giant Center. Lawrence punched his ticket Friday night, while Kilkeary and Church advanced Saturday morning during the Class 3A semifinals.
Kilkeary (28-0) reached the 127-pound final with a 3-1 victory against State College senior Hayden Cunningham. Kilkeary needed a third-period takedown to secure his victory. Kilkeary won the 106-pound title in 2020 and the 121-pound title in 2022.
He will face a familiar foe in the finals as Canon-McMillan junior Andrew Binni surprised many when he worked himself into the finals with a 6-4 victory against Hempfield (D3) junior Seamus Mack.
It will be one of three all-WPIAL finals.
The others are at 160 where West Allegheny junior Shawn Taylor (40-2) will face Chartiers Valley senior Dylan Evans (35-4) and the 172 final between Waynesburg senior Rocco Welsh (42-0) and Canon-McMillan senior Matt Furman (39-5).
Evans and Welsh are returning champions. West Allegheny senior Ty Watters (40-0) also is a returning champion at 152.
Church (35-2) has won the past two seasons. He will face Quakertown sophomore Collin Gaj in the 145 final.
Thomas Jefferson sophomore Maddox Shaw (44-2) reached the finals at 133.
Butler freshman Santino Sloboda (107), Pine-Richland senior Anthony Ferraro (133), Trinity junior Blake Reihner (139), Hempfield senior Lucas Kapusta (152) and Trinity senior heavyweight Ty Banco lost in the semifinals.
The Class 2A finals are slated for 2 p.m. and the 3A finals for 7 p.m.
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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