Sewickley Herald notebook: 3 Quaker Valley wrestlers make it to states

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, March 8, 2026 | 11:01 AM

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Three Quaker Valley wrestlers qualified for the PIAA Class 2A tournament off their performances at the Southwest Regional at Altoona.

“Survive and advance. That’s the mindset we’ve been taking week by week,” QV coach Austin Heinl said. “We lost some tough matches and won some tough matches. It’s just another opportunity to wrestle and learn to prepare for the real fun of the state tournament.”

The top seven finishers at the Southwest Regional advanced to the state meet set for March 5-7 at Hershey’s Giant Center.

Matt Danna placed fifth at 160 pounds at regionals. Danna, a junior, has a 45-13 record in 2025-26.

Seniors Bruce Anderchak (121) and Trey Dunlap (189) finished sixth in their respective weight classes. Anderchak has a 36-5 record; Dunlap is 40-15.

“Bruce is now a three-time state qualifier,” Heinl said, “and Matt earned his second trip. Trey won an exciting ultimate tiebreaker match to advance to the state tournament for the first time. We are excited to compete.”

QV junior Harper Sipes (27-14) placed eighth at 145 to narrowly miss out on a spot in the PIAA tournament.

Sewickley girls prepared

The Sewickley Academy girls basketball team was set to enter the PIAA Class A tournament having won four of its past five games, including three of four in the WPIAL playoffs.

The Panthers are 16-10 and were scheduled to play March 7 at Farrell in the first round of the state tournament.

“Our team has many strengths. One of them is the ability to make adjustments when needed,” said Sewickley’s Mikeala Mbandi, a 6-foot freshman forward. “Most of our team are freshmen, and I think the returning players did a good job building relationships and trust with the new players on and off the court.

“We also adjust really well when going over gameplay. Our coaches often watch film on our opponents to determine what we need to do to succeed on both offense and defense, and when they make changes, I feel we are very coachable and execute well without pushback.”

QV matchup

Quaker Valley (19-7) was scheduled to visit Northwestern on March 6 in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A girls basketball playoffs.

Northwestern is located in Albion in the northwest corner of the state. The Wildcats are 21-3 overall.

The game’s opening tip is set for 7 p.m.

Spring forward

The first official practice date for WPIAL teams for the spring season was March 2.

Defending Class 2A champion Quaker Valley will host a sectional meet March 18 in track and field with Sewickley Academy, Nazareth Prep, Cornell, Aquinas Academy and Sto-Rox scheduled to be in attendance.

The QV tracksters won both the WPIAL boys and girls team titles in 2025.

Going for gold

The Winter Olympics gold medal game in men’s hockey broke TV viewership records as the USA defeated Canada, 2-1, in overtime.

“I was extremely excited when Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal,” said Quaker Valley’s sophomore forward Matthias Lezama, who was named a Class A Player of the Month by the PIHL this season. “I watched the game with my dad.”

Did you know?

Did you know that former Pitt guard Trey Woodall is an assistant coach with the Sewickley Academy boys basketball team?

Greg Cercone and Mike Fitzgerald also are assistants for Mike Iuzzolino, who is in his second season as the Panthers’ head coach.

How about this?

Did you also know that Sewickley Academy’s Amare Spencer, a 6-foor-2 senior forward on the boys basketball team, is the older brother of 5-9 freshman forward Alana Spencer, who plays for the girls basketball team?

Tags: Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy