Penn-Trafford notebook: Without Tasso Whipple, wrestling team bows out

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, February 2, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

The Penn-Trafford wrestling team qualified for the WPIAL Class 3A team tournament as a wild card.

The short-handed Warriors dropped a tough decision to North Hills, 40-25, in a preliminary round match.

Penn-Trafford was missing star 189-pound senior Tasso Whipple, who has not wrestled since injuring his foot at the Brookville Duals on Jan. 17.

Whipple is ranked No. 2 in the WPIAL behind Latrobe sophomore Hunter Snyder at 189.

“Not having Tasso in the lineup hurt and might have been the difference in the match,” Penn-Trafford coach Travis McKillop said. “He brings so much energy to the mat and would have inspired some of the others to wrestle hard.”

North Hills opened up a 34-0 lead and held on for the win.

Dylan Barrett (114) and Sidney Hand (145) had pins for the Warriors, and Luke DeSantis (121) and Jake Lang (127) recorded technical falls.

The WPIAL individual tournament begins Feb. 15 with the section tournaments. McKillop said he hopes Whipple is back for that tournament.

Whipple also recently made news by committing to play college football at IUP.

He was the Warriors’ leading rusher the past two seasons.

Icemen return

The Penn-Trafford hockey team was set to return to action after a two-week break Jan. 30 at Armstrong.

The Warriors are in a battle for the top spot in the PIHL’s Class 2A division with Latrobe and Fox Chapel.

They finish the regular season with home games against Hempfield (Feb. 3), Latrobe (Feb. 10) and Fox Chapel (Feb. 17).

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.

Tags: Penn-Trafford