Penn Hills notebook: Wrestlers look to advance to WPIAL tournament

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, February 11, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Jeremy Packer is eager to see how the Penn Hills wrestling team will handle the section qualifiers. The Indians didn’t have anyone make the WPIAL Class 3A tournament last season, but have several prospects who could make the leap this year.

Penn Hills wrestled at the Pine-Richland duals Feb. 3, which provided some tough competition for the Indians.

“We want these guys to be good, so we decided to schedule better teams,” Packer said. “Hopefully, that will pay off come section time.”

Penn Hills swept a tri-meet with Riverview and Woodland Hills on Feb. 1. Daemon Phipps (114 pounds) won both of his matches during the event to improve to a team-high 18 wins. Phipps has shown improvement as sophomore and placed seventh at the Allegheny County Tournament.

“He’s wrestling with a lot more confidence,” Packer said. “He wants to wrestle the top guys now.”

Cam Patterson (145 pounds) also has 15 wins for Penn Hills. He wrestled well at the county tournament as well, but was forced out of the event after defaulting due to an ankle injury.

Julian Lavender (127) and Levi Smith (133/139) also have double-digit wins for the Indians this season.

“Julian was disappointed with how he did at counties,” Packer said. “He’s locked in and wants to be a WPIAL tournament qualifier. This is his last shot. He wants to go all in.”

Swimmers add cut

The Indians swim team hit another qualifying time for the WPIAL Class 3A championships. Penn Hills qualified in the 400 IM relay at North Hills last week.

The Indians team swam a time of 3 minutes, 34 seconds. Anthony Sipple, Anthony Collins, Clarke Leonard and Luke Hoolahan were on the team for Penn Hills.

Brisker finds way

Penn Hills graduate Adia Brisker has found success playing with Queens (N.C.) University. Brisker is averaging 5.7 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. The Royals are 6-16 overall this season and 0-9 in the Atlantic Sun.

Playoff-bound

The Penn Hills boys basketball team clinched a playoff berth and will have an opportunity to defend its WPIAL Class 5A championship. Penn Hills was 12-7 overall and 5-4 overall, tied for third place in Section 2-5A, heading into its last section game with Woodland Hills on Feb. 9.

The Wolverines beat Penn Hills, 68-65, the first time around.

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