1-point losses stop Kiski Area trio from claiming WPIAL wrestling titles

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, February 27, 2021 | 8:58 PM

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CANONSBURG — The best way for Kiski Area seniors Sammy Starr and Brayden Roscosky to look at what happened at the Class AAA WPIAL/PIAA Southwest Regional on Saturday at Canon-McMillan? There’s always next week.

For junior Enzo Morlacci, there’s always next year.

The trio of Cavaliers dropped one-point decisions. For Starr and Roscosky, their one-point losses came in the finals, and they were fortunate to earn a berth in the PIAA West Super Regional on March 6 at Altoona. There they will face wrestlers from Erie, Harrisburg, State College, Selinsgrove and Altoona.

For Morlacci, a flip of the disc kept him from joining them. He lost a 3-2 decision in ultimate rideout for third place.

Because of the coronavirus, the PIAA took away a berth from the WPIAL and added a new step to get to the PIAA tournament March 13 in Hershey.

“It’s been a few years since we only got three qualifiers from here,” Kiski Area coach Chris Heater said. “I hope this is just a covid thing this year. You kind of forget how difficult of a day it can be here.

“The matches for third and fourth, there were a lot of tough matches there. Enzo’s match was close. If we win the flip and we get the opportunity to go down in rideout, and you probably flip the result.”

Starr lost to Waynesburg senior Luca Augustine, 2-1, at 171. Roscosky lost to Hampton senior Justin Hart, 3-2, at 189.

“Sammy lost a one-point match the last time against Luca, and the same with Brayden against Justin,” Heater said. “We’re right there, and the good thing is next week is a new tournament. It’s a fresh start, and you’re adding a couple people into the mix. As tough as Saturday was, I’m sure next week will be a notch up.”

Starr and Roscosky said they would have loved to be WPIAL champions, but the goal of being a PIAA champion remains attainable.

“I really wanted that one after losing that close one last year,” Starr said. “It hurts, but this will motivate me.”

Roscosky added: “He’s a tough opponent. I’ll give him that. I didn’t wrestle my match. This is a minor setback. I’m still going to battle, and everyone has the big goal of being a state champion. I’m still going to battle for that.”

Kiski had five wrestlers looking to advance. The other two were Ryan Klingensmith at 120 and heavyweight Stone Joseph. Klingensmith lost to North Allegheny’s Dylan Coy in his first match then Penn-Trafford’s Hayden Coy in his second match.

Joseph fell to Greensburg Salem’s Bill McChesney and then followed by pinning Waynesburg’s Ryan Howard. He lost a tough 3-0 decision to Hampton’s Dawson Dietz to end his day.

Seneca Valley seniors Dylan Chappell (132 pounds) and Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (152) won their third WPIAL titles.

Winning their second titles were Franklin Regional senior Carter Dibert (126), Waynesburg senior Wyatt Henson (145), Pine-Richland senior Cole Spencer (160), Augustine, Belle Vernon junior Cole Weightman (215) and Hempfield senior heavyweight Isaiah Vance.

Denied their second titles were Waynesburg sophomore Mac Church and Hempfield senior Ty Linsenbigler. Both, however, were able to advance to the next tournament.

Waynesburg and Seneca Valley had three champions each, and the Raiders won the team title with 120 points. Hempfield was second with 85.5 points.

Watch an archived video stream of the WPIAL Class AAA championships on the TribLive High School Sports Network.

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.