Trinity, Burgettstown awarded top seeds for WPIAL wrestling tournament

By: Paul Schofield
Thursday, January 25, 2024 | 1:13 PM

The WPIAL wrestling committee didn’t waste much time setting up the team tournament.

Hours after teams wrapped up section competition Wednesday night, committee officials gathered to slot out pairings Thursday morning.

In Class 3A, undefeated Trinity (8-0) was awarded the No. 1 seed and undefeated Franklin Regional (16-0) was picked second.

The third seed went to Connellsville (9-2), still the only team since 1974 to qualify for every WPIAL team tournament. The fourth seed went to Bethel Park (9-1), and North Allegheny (16-3) was seeded fifth. Fox Chapel (12-1), which captured its first section title since 1971, was seeded sixth. Latrobe (7-3) earned the seventh seed and Norwin (11-5) an eighth seed.

“We had a great season, and we put our self in position for a good seed,” Franklin Regional coach Matt Lebe said. “There are good teams in our quadrant. We just have to go out and wrestle to our ability.”

Connellsville and Hempfield are the only teams to reach the semifinals in 2023 that qualified for the postseason.

Last season’s champion, Canon-McMillan, and Waynesburg Central, which won three WPIAL titles from 2020-22, fell short of qualifying for the team tournament. The Big Macs last missed the team tournament in 1997, besides the 2021 covid-impacted season. They have won 10 team titles since the team tournament began in 1974.

In Class 2A, returning champion and unbeaten Burgettstown (7-0) was seeded No. 1 followed by Burrell (10-2) at No. 2, Quaker Valley (10-1) at No. 3 and Derry (10-3), a second-place finisher in Section 6, at No. 4. Section 2 champion Mt. Pleasant (10-2) was seeded fifth, McGuffey (11-1) was sixth, Bentworth (5-2) was seventh and Frazier (9-6) was eighth. Burrell won 15 straight titles between 2007-21. Quaker Valley won in 2022.

Last year’s Class 2A semifinalists were Burgettstown, Burrell, Quaker Valley and Frazier.

The tournament begins Monday with four preliminary-round matches.

In Class 3A at Kiski Area, the Cavaliers will host Moon at 7:15 p.m., and Pine-Richland faces Hempfield at 6 p.m.

In Class 2A at Avonworth, Laurel battles Central Valley at 6 and the Antelopes face Hampton at 7:15 p.m.

The first round and quarterfinals will be Wednesday. In Class 3A, Trinity, Bethel Park, Connellsville and Franklin Regional are the host sites, whereas in Class 2A Burgettstown, Derry, Quaker Valley and Burrell will host first-round and quarterfinal matches.

The semifinals and finals are slated for Feb. 3 at Peters Township’s AHN Arena.

Class 2A starts at 10 a.m. with the finals at 11:30 p.m., and Class 3A will be at 1:30 pm. with the finals at 3.

Wrestling

WPIAL team tournament

Class 3A

Preliminary round

Monday’s schedule

Moon (6-4) at Kiski Area (7-9), 7:15 p.m.

Pine-Richland (4-3) vs. Hempfield (3-8) at Kiski Area, 6 p.m.

First round

Wednesday’s schedule

Kiski Area/Moon winner at Trinity (8-0), 6 p.m.

Norwin (11-5) vs. Plum (7-4) at Trinity, 6 p.m.

North Allegheny (16-3) vs. Baldwin (3-2) at Bethel Park, 6 p.m.

North Hills (9-3) at Bethel Park (9-1), 6 p.m.

Ringgold (16-3) at Connellsville (9-2), 6 p.m.

Peters Township (14-5) vs. Fox Chapel (12-1) at Connellsville, 6 p.m.

Latrobe (7-3) vs. West Allegheny (8-1) at Franklin Regional, 6 p.m.

Pine-Richland/Hempfield winner at Franklin Regional (16-0), 6 p.m.

Class 2A

Preliminary round

Monday’s schedule

Laurel (8-9) vs. Central Valley (5-4) at Avonworth, 6 p.m.

Hampton (6-5) at Avonworth (6-5), 7:15 p.m.

First round

Wednesday’s schedule

Laurel/Central Valley winner at Burgettstown (7-0), 6 p.m.

Frazier (9-6) vs. Montour (6-1) at Burgettstown, 6 p.m.

Mt. Pleasant (10-2) vs. Indiana (8-6) at Derry, 6 p.m.

Southmoreland (7-4) at Derry (10-3), 6 p.m.

Hopewell (5-7) at Quaker Valley (10-1), 6 p.m.

Freedom (7-0) vs. McGuffey (11-1) at Quaker Valley, 6 p.m.

Bentworth (5-2) vs. Highlands (13-4) at Burrell, 6 p.m.

Avonworth/Hampton winner at Burrell (10-2), 6 p.m.

*Quarterfinal-round matches will follow immediately after first round

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.