Penn Hills wrestler hits reset button, earns spot in WPIAL tournament

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, March 6, 2022 | 11:01 AM

Not placing at the Allegheny County Wrestling championships earlier this season didn’t sit well with Penn Hills sophomore Aidan Pham. The 189-pound Indians sophomore wrestler decided to refocus on training after bowing out quicker than he hoped.

“It made me work harder,” Pham said. “I believed I had more potential than not placing in a tournament.”

Following a loss to Brashear’s Shawn Solomon in the consolation bracket, Pham turned his anger on the rest of his opponents. He reeled off eight consecutive wins — only one by forfeit — including a pin over Fox Chapel’s Jake Patterson in 1 minute, 39 seconds in his first match at the Section 1-3A tournament.

Following two losses in his next matches, Pham rebounded in the fifth-place match by pinning Gateway’s Jacob Pawlowski in 4:17 to qualify for WPIALs for the first time.

Pham, who is 15-7 with 11 pins this season, was the only Penn Hills wrestler to qualify. Senior Anthony Palumbo (215) and junior Dominic Frollo (145) lost in the fifth-place match.

Indians coach Jeremy Packer said he knew Pham wasn’t going to lose the fifth-place match. Ever since his 2-2 showing at counties, Packer had seen a different side of Pham.

“His first match was the four-five matchup and he beat the four seed,” Packer said. “He was motivated. He wanted to do well and be aggressive.”

Pham has spent a lot of time honing his craft outside of Penn Hills. He trains with Young Guns twice a week in Murrysville and comes from a wrestling background. Pham’s dad Steve wrestled in high school at West Mifflin.

“I’m trying to progress and work hard on both offense and defense,” Aidan Pham said.

Progression as a wrestler has required Pham to be more aggressive. He felt that earlier this season he was more passive in attacking his opponents. Being able to challenge opponents was going to be about putting pressure on them.

“I kept on my defense, mostly,” Pham said. “I want to be able to score the first two points and control the match.”

The WPIAL Tournament presented a different set of challenges for Pham. For example, when the brackets were released, he saw he was one win away from facing Mt. Lebanon’s Mac Stout.

Stout, the top seed, is a Pitt commit who won the WPIAL crown in 2020.

“I’m excited to get a feel for everyone,” Pham said. “It will be exciting to get to wrestle against the best guys.”

Tags: Penn Hills