Westmoreland County Senior Spotlight: Latrobe’s Leo Joseph

By: Anthony DiFilippo
Monday, March 17, 2025 | 12:19 PM

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When the PIAA wrestling tournament concluded March 8, Latrobe’s Leo Joseph knew his high school career had come to an end.

It was a career to be proud of, one with 140 victories, including a personal-best 39 wins in his senior season.

One of those wins was a sudden overtime thriller against Connellsville’s Nolan Rice, securing the WPIAL Class 3A title at 121 pounds.

“At the match, I knew that I just needed to get a takedown on my feet,” Joseph said. “He’s good at defending shots once you’re in, but I knew I just needed a clean finish and that was going to win me the match.”

Joseph was one of five Wildcats to compete at the WPIAL championships, with teammates Luke Willochell and Hunter Snyder finishing second and third, respectively.

While some of his teammates were disappointed with their results, Joseph was proud to see a strong Latrobe presence.

“It didn’t end up working out for Hunter and Luke at WPIALs, so I know they were actually a little disappointed,” Joseph said. “We all had the mindset that we were going to do well because of last year.”

At the PIAA tournament, Joseph placed fourth at 121 pounds.

While he was satisfied with his overall performance, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of disappointment about missing a chance to wrestle for a state title.

“I feel like I wrestled well,” Joseph said. “I would’ve liked to wrestle my semis match and had a chance to win states, but I was really happy that I was able to wrestle back after losing in the semis and go for third or fourth.”

Joseph has dealt with injuries on and off all year, but it didn’t stop him from finishing out the best season he’s ever had.

Accumulating more than 100 wins is no easy feat, and there were lessons he learned along the way to help him get to that level.

“I learned early from my coach that good things usually happen to those that work hard,” Joseph said. “I’d say my freshman and my sophomore year, I didn’t really have a lot of confidence. Then, once I was able to get more confidence my junior and senior year, that really helped me out a lot and it made the difference.”

After high school, Joseph plans to attend the U.S. Naval Academy.

This week, Joseph took some time for a Senior Spotlight Q&A:

How did you get started with wrestling?

I’d say my dad’s really the reason that I started wrestling because he wrestled in college. And I think I started in third grade. I wrestled for the school that year.

How did this season as a whole go?

I’d say it went pretty well all year. I didn’t really lose any matches I felt that I shouldn’t have. Last year, maybe there were a couple matches that I felt like I shouldn’t have lost, but I didn’t wrestle my best. But this year, even with some injuries, I was able to win all the matches that I felt like I should have.

Is there a match or moment from your career that stands out as your favorite?

My freshman year, we wrestled Connellsville for the section title, and I was losing to Evan Petrovich. And I ended up pinning him, which really set the tone for the rest of the match. After that, we ended up blowing Connellsville out when it was supposed to be a close match. That one really stood out to me.

What went into your decision to join the Naval Academy?

One of my teammates went to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. When I saw him doing that, I really fell in love with wanting to go to the military academies, and I was pretty set on that. Really ever since my junior year, I was set on going to one of the academies. After I went to visit the Navy, I liked that one by far the most. I knew that was the right fit for me, with a great coaching staff, too, and just all around a really nice college.

What is one thing that people may not know about you?

I’m a good golfer. My dad likes to golf a lot. I just fell in love with it. After wrestling season, that’s all I do is golf.