Upsets, close calls highlight opening day of PIAA Class AAA wrestling tournament
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Thursday, March 7, 2019 | 1:30 AM
Upper St. Clair’s Jake Slinger wrestles Governor Mifflin’s Jordan Espinosa in the 285-pound first round bout in class AAA during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Kiski’s Cam Connor shares a word with opponent Waynesburg’s Luca Augustine after the 152-pound first round class AAA match during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Kiski’s Cam Connor wrestles in front of Waynesburg’s Luca Augustine in the 152-pound first round class AAA match during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Hempfield’s Ty Linsenbigler takes on Jeffrey Boyd of McDowell in neutral for the 138-pound class AAA first round bout during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Franklin Regional’s Colton Camacho wrestles atop Liberty’s Mike Torres in the 126-pound first round class AAA match during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Belle Vernon Area’s Logan Seliga is taken down by Council Rock’s Luke Lucerne in the 120-pound class AAA bout during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Franklin Regional’s Finn Solomon wrestles Liberty’s Tal-Reese Flemming in the 113-pound class AAA first round during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Franklin Regional’s Finn Solomon wrestles Liberty’s Tal-Reese Flemming in the 113-pound class AAA first round during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Kiski Area’s Jack Blumer snaps his headgear on before heading to the mat to wrestle against North Penn’s Patrick O’Neill in the 160-pound first round class AAA bout during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Canon-McMillan’s Gerrit Nijenhuis wrestles Spring Grove’s Anthony Hinson in the 170-pound class AAA first round bout during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Armstrong’s Ogden Atwood wrestles Central Dauphin’s Marques Holten in the 220-pound class AAA first round bout during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Norwin’s Kurtis Phipps watches the scoreboard while waiting on deck to wrestle William Tennent’s T.J. England in the 120-pound first round bout during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
West Allegheny’s Ty McGeary, left, wrestles Mariana Bracetti’s Luis Morales in the 160-pound preliminary round in class AAA during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Greensburg Salem’s Trent Patrick is taken down by Red Land’s Dylan Rodenhaber in the 220-pound class AAA preliminary round bout during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Franklin Regional’s Zach McCann works on getting out of a hold by Quakertown’s Domenic DeFalco in the 132-pound preliminary both during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Greensburg Salem’s John Meyers walks off the mat after losing to Norther York’s Kyle Swartz in the 195-pound first round bout in class AAA during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Thursday, March 7, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
HERSHEY — It’s been awhile since fans were treated to such craziness that occurred during the first day of the PIAA Class AAA wrestling championships.
There were upsets and some close calls for some of the top wrestlers in the state Thursday at the Giant Center, which turned into a house of thrills.
And WPIAL wrestlers were in the middle of a lot of it. There were at least 13 upsets.
It all started with Connellsville sophomore Mason Prinkey (34-6) stunning third-ranked Kyle Hauserman of Council Rock North, 6-4, with a takedown in overtime at 106 pounds.
“I really wanted this win,” Prinkey said. “I pushed him the entire match, and I felt my training won out. He was getting tired in the third period.”
Franklin Regional freshman Finn Solomon (38-7) followed by defeating Bethlehem Liberty senior Tai-Reese Flemming, 4-2, with two third-period reversals at 113. Flemming placed third at 106 in 2018.
Norwin junior Kurtis Phipps (35-2), the top seed, didn’t lose, but William Tennent junior T.J. England gave him a scare. Phipps won 4-2 at 120.
Canon-McMillan senior Ken Hayman downed Stroudsburg junior Patrick Noonan, the fourth seed, 7-5, with a takedown at 126.
Even North Hills junior Sam Hillegas (132 pounds) and Thomas Jefferson senior Max Shaw (195) had close calls.
The biggest upsets came at 138 pounds. Penn-Trafford senior Nick Coy, the second seed, was beaten by Spring Ford sophomore Jack McGill, 5-1. While that was going on, Hempfield sophomore Ty Linsenbigler was taking down a returning state champion, Erie McDowell senior Jeffrey Boyd, 3-1.
“It’s the state tournament, anything can happen,” said Shaw, who recently committed to wrestle at North Carolina. “You can’t take anyone lightly and have to be prepared for battles. I expected every match to be tough.
“It doesn’t matter. You have to keep winning, it doesn’t matter what the final score is. If you have dreams of getting on the podium, they can go down the drain pretty quick.”
Ten of the 12 WPIAL champions survived the first round. Only Coy and Seneca Valley sophomore Antonio Amelio (145) suffered losses.
The winners to advance were Seneca Valley sophomores Dylan Chappell (106) and Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (113), Phipps, Franklin Regional senior Colton Camacho (126), Hillegas, Kiski Area senior Cam Connor (152), Kiski Area junior Jack Blumer (160), Canon-McMillan junior Garrett Nijenhuis (170), Mt. Lebanon junior Luke Stout (182), Shaw, Norwin junior Ryan Weinzen (220) and Upper St. Clair senior heavyweight Jake Slinger.
The WPIAL advanced 24 of 48 wrestlers to the quarterfinals.
Kiski Area advanced four, Franklin Regional and Hempfield three, and Canon-McMillan, Seneca Valley and Norwin two each.
Returning state champions Hillegas and Herrera-Rondon (113) also advanced.
The Class AAA tournament resumes at 2:15 p.m. Friday with quarterfinals, with winners advancing to Saturday morning’s semifinal 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.
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