What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Feb. 1, 2023: Wrestling playoffs kick into gear

By: Don Rebel
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 | 11:52 PM

Purchase Photo Options

The February frenzy in high school sports begins with a busy night of postseason action on the district mats.

The WPIAL team wrestling playoffs kick into full gear with first-round and quarterfinal bouts Wednesday.

Last year, the second-longest team championship run in WPIAL history ended when Burrell lost to Quaker Valley in the Class 2A finals to end its run of 15 titles in a row.

If the Bucs are going to start a new championship run, they will have to do so as the No. 3 seed in the 2A tournament behind top seed Burgettstown and No. 2 Quaker Valley.

The four sites in 2A are Burgettstown, Highlands, Burrell and Quaker Valley with first-round matches at 6 p.m. followed by the two winners at each site clashing in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m.

The 2A first round matches are:

At Burgettstown: Southmoreland at Burgettstown and Montour vs. Mt. Pleasant

At Highlands: Indiana at Highlands and Hopewell vs. Frazier

At Burrell: Knoch at Burrell and Laurel vs. Central Valley

At Quaker Valley: Jefferson-Morgan at Quaker Valley and Freedom vs. McGuffey

3A playoff grappling

Waynesburg has a long way to go to match the 15-year title run by Burrell in Class 2A, but the defending 3A champs are in search of a fourth straight team wrestling title this week.

The Raiders are the top seed in the 3A playoff field.

The program is no stranger to championship wrestling runs. Waynesburg won a 3A-record six straight titles between 1959-1964.

If the Raiders win gold again Saturday, they would match Canon-McMillan (2010-2013) for the third-longest 3A championship run in WPIAL wrestling history. Canonsburg won five outright titles in a row from 1936-1940, then split the 1941 crown with Waynesburg.

Waynesburg and Canon-McMillan are two of the four sites Wednesday in the 3A first round and quarterfinals. The other two sites are Connellsville and Butler.

The 3A first round matches are:

At Waynesburg: Fox Chapel at Waynesburg Central and Plum vs. North Allegheny

At Connellsville: Franklin Regional at Connellsville and Pine-Richland vs. West Allegheny

At Butler: Peters Township at Butler and Trinity vs. Hempfield

At Canon-McMillan: Penn-Trafford at Canon-McMillan and Norwin vs. Latrobe

The King looks to add on

A day after he set the all-time WPIAL boys basketball career scoring record, Aquinas Academy senior Vinnie Cugini wastes little time in trying to add to his record-breaking scoring totals.

The Crusaders visit Hillel Academy on Wednesday in a Section 3-A contest.

Even though we are down to the final week and a half left in the regular season, this is the first meeting of the year between the two section foes.

The two will square off again in six days at Aquinas Academy on Tuesday.