WCCA Tournament notebook: Kapusta cousins following in their dads’ footsteps

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, January 7, 2022 | 9:48 PM

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The Kapusta brothers, Brian and Jeff, were two-time Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association champions when they wrestled for Greensburg Salem in the late 1980s and early ’90s.

They went on to become NCAA Division II All-Americans at North Dakota State. Brian was a three-time champion and four-time All-American. Jeff was a three-time All-American.

Now, their sons — Hempfield junior Lucas Kapusta (Brian) and Franklin Regional sophomore Ty Kapusta (Jeff) — are trying to win their first county titles.

Both advanced to Saturday’s semifinals at Kiski Area at the 69th annual Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association tournament.

Ty will face Derry’s Dylan Klim at 106 pounds, and Lucas will take on Kiski Area’s Ethan Connor at 145.

Ty defeated his cousin, Tanner Trageser of Hempfield, in the quarterfinals. Tanner’s mom, Maria, is Brian’s and Jeff’s younger sister. Lucas advanced with first-period pins against Kiski Area’s Logan Reynolds (54 seconds) and Latrobe’s Braden Bronson (31 seconds).

“We have a lot of opportunities to learn from both of our dads and coaches,” Lucas Kapusta said. “It’s also fun wrestle around with Tanner and Ty. Football games turn into wrestling matches, and we have a lot of fun.”

Added Ty Kapusta about his cousins: “We’re pretty close. We wrestle all of the time. We wrestle at the same club, and when we’re at tournaments, we’re always checking out to see how the other did.”

Angelicchio’s upset

There weren’t many upsets during the first day of the tournament. The biggest came from Latrobe’s Lucio Angelicchio, who knocked off No. 3 seed Antonio Giordano, 9-3.

“I wasn’t surprised that he won,” Latrobe coach Mark Mears said. “He’s pretty good. He just needs more confidence. This win was good for him.”

Angelicchio will face Penn-Trafford’s Hayden Coy in the semifinals.

Latrobe atop team standings

Latrobe leads the team standings with 116 points, followed by Kiski Area (82.5), Hempfield (80), Penn-Trafford (79) and Mt. Pleasant 65.

Latrobe advanced nine to the semifinals, Kiski Area seven, Penn-Trafford six and Franklin Regional and Hempfield five each.

Pin, pins, pins

There were 140 bouts contested during the first night of the tournament, and 105 were pins.

There were 23 decisions, four major decisions and eight technical falls.

Latrobe heavyweight Wyatt Held had the fastest fall of 8 seconds. Burrell’s Calio Zanella (113) was next with a 10-second fall. Latrobe freshman Luke Willochell was next with a 14-second pin, and Penn-Trafford junior heavyweight Joe Enick followed with a 17-second pin.

This and that

There were numerous wrestlers missing from the tournament for various reasons.

Belle Vernon senior Cole Weightman (215) is recovering from knee surgery. His coach, Bob Bove, hopes Weightman returns in a couple of weeks.

Others missing included Ligonier Valley’s Josh Harbert, Belle Vernon’s Kole Doppelheuer and Giovanni Weightman and Mt. Pleasant’s Colin Gnibus.

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.