Penn-Trafford notebook: Dylan Barrett earns PIAA wrestling medal

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, March 23, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Penn-Trafford junior Dylan Barrett (38-7, 106-32) earned a seventh-place medal at the PIAA 3A wrestling tournament March 8 at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Barrett, competing at 114 pounds, finished second to Hempfield junior Nico Kapusta at the WPIAL tournament and was third at the PIAA West Regional.

He opened the PIAA tournament by defeating Radnor’s Jayden Lee, 11-5, but fell to Central Dauphin’s Thunder Beard, 9-1.

He rallied to defeat Connellsville junior Zachary Franks, 8-6, in the blood round, but fell to Emmaus’ Emilio Albanese, 8-4.

In the seventh-place match, he defeated Spring-Ford’s Gus Smith, 4-2.

“I’m happy to place, but not satisfied,” Barrett said. “I still have another season to get higher on the podium. I should have done better this year.”

Warriors sophomore Luke DeSantis had a good postseason by qualifying for a trip to Hershey.

DeSantis (33-15, 51-28) began the tournament with a 7-2 victory against Andrij Szczesniuk of Coatesville, but dropped consecutive matches to Bethlehem Catholics Reef Dillard, 10-0, and Northern York’s Braden Wivell, 4-2, while competing at 121 pounds.

“I learned a lot,” DeSantis said. “It was a good experience. I can’t wait to come back.”

Baseball team gets split in Vero Beach

It was a split week for the Penn-Trafford baseball team at Vero Beach, Fla.

After opening the season March 14 at home by defeating Norwin, 9-3, the Warriors (2-1) had two scrimmages and two nonsection games at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex.

The team lost to Brighton, Colo., 13-8, on March 18, but rebounded for a 4-3 decision against Riverdale Ridge, Colo. on March 19.

The team returned home and was scheduled for a Section 1 game against Latrobe on March 24, and then played at the Wildcats on March 25.

Section action will continue March 31 and April 1 against Armstrong.

Warriors defeat Plum

The Penn-Trafford boys tennis team opened Section 1-3A play with a 3-2 victory against Plum.

Luke Nicotero and Evan Sadler earned singles wins, while the doubles team of Kristian Grills and Matthew Phipps clinched the victory with a win.

Sadler defeated Lochlan Wallace 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2.

The Warriors also blanked Thomas Jefferson, 5-0, in a nonsection match.

Penn-Trafford is 2-2 overall.

Moors commits

Penn-Trafford senior outfielder Rilie Moors announced a commitment to Division II Seton Hill.

Moors, who also can play catcher, is a natural slap-hitter but has deceptive power.

She went 3 for 3 with two doubles in an 8-3 loss to Hempfield to open the season.

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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