W2W4 in WPIAL sports for Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021
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Friday, January 8, 2021 | 11:18 PM
Hempfield’s Kyle Burkholder wrestles North Allegheny’s Bradley Stipetich in the 113-pound quarterfinal at the WPIAL Class 3A individual tournament on Friday, March 1, 2019 at Canon-McMillan High School.
There is always something going on at North Allegheny High School, but Saturday will be a long and busy day of activities at the gym in McCandless.
The mats will be out in the morning and afternoon hours as the school hosts the first of two North Allegheny individual wrestling tournaments starting at 9 a.m.
More than 100 wrestlers from 10 area schools will take part in the tournament that is expected to conclude around 4 p.m.
The school will host another wrestling tournament Jan. 23.
After the mats are rolled away, the top two WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball teams will square off as North Allegheny hosts Upper St. Clair at 7:30 p.m.
The top-ranked and defending WPIAL champion Tigers defeated the No. 2 Panthers in the 2020 Class 6A semifinals, 39-27.
The game will feature some of the top players in the district in seniors Lizzy Groetsch and Paige Morningstar for NA against a bunch of super sophomores for USC led by Mia Brown.
Watch both events at TribHSSN.TribLive.com.
Champion Mustangs open
On Friday, defending WPIAL champions Butler in 6A, North Catholic in 3A and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in 2A were all winners.
Now it is time for Class 5A champion Laurel Highlands to open up defense of its title.
The Mustangs visit McKeesport at 12:30 p.m. on HSSN. Last year, the two teams were section foes and split their two meetings with the Tigers winning at home, 81-77.
Laurel Highlands remains in Section 1 this season while McKeesport moved to Section 3.
Golden girls
Twelve years ago, Mt. Lebanon and North Catholic were sitting atop the district basketball world.
On Saturday, they do battle at 1:30 p.m. in Cranberry as ranked teams early in the restarted campaign.
North Catholic is No. 1 in Class 3A after moving down following four straight WPIAL Class 4A championships. The Trojans are 1-0 after beating Mars on Dec. 11.
Mt. Lebanon opens its season as the No. 3 ranked team in Class 6A.
In 2009, the Blue Devils won the first of back-to-back Class AAAA district crowns while North Catholic was celebrating a second Class A title in the last three years.
Tags: Laurel Highlands, North Allegheny
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