WPIAL announces section wrestling tournament pairings

By: Paul Schofield
Thursday, January 20, 2022 | 12:31 PM

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The WPIAL announced pairings Thursday for wrestling section tournaments as part of the team championship.

The section tournaments will be held Wednesday at the sites of the first-place team in the B subsections.

There was a three-way tie for second place in Section 1-A. Fort Cherry was awarded the spot over Washington and Chartiers-Houston based on most victories.

WPIAL committee chairman Frank Vulcano Jr. said the second tiebreaker was used. The first tiebreaker is unsportsmanlike penalty points.

Fort Cherry ended up with 12 wins, Washington 11 and Chartiers-Houston 10.

The returning WPIAL champions are Waynesburg in Class 3A and Burrell in Class 2A.

Burrell coach Josh Shields said he knows if his team wants to win a 16th straight WPIAL Class 2A title, it must beat some good teams in the field.

“There is a lot of parity this year,” Shields said. “We’re a young team, but I like the progress were making. Our first test comes at Mt. Pleasant when we face Southmoreland and then probably Mt. Pleasant.

“Once we’re in the team tournament, I know our semifinal match will be tough. I believe we’re ready to defend.”

Shields points to a tough schedule his team has wrestled. They were in the King of the Mountain, Powerade and Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association tournaments and the Brookville Duals, where they defeated Reynolds and Fort LeBoeuf.

The team finals are slated for Feb. 5 — Class 2A at Chartiers-Houston and Class 3A at Peters Township.

Here’s a look at the pairings for the section tournaments:

WPIAL section team tournaments

Jan. 26 (6 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.)

Class 3A

Section 1 at Franklin Regional

Armstrong vs. Franklin Regional

Penn-Trafford vs. Kiski Area

Section 2 at Latrobe

Thomas Jefferson vs. Latrobe

Norwin vs. Connellsville

Section 3 at North Allegheny

Pine-Richland vs. North Allegheny

West Allegheny vs. Butler

Section 4 at Peters Township

Bethel Park vs. Waynesburg

Canon-McMillan vs. Peters Township

Class 2A

Section 1 at Beth-Center

Jefferson-Morgan vs. Burgettstown

Fort Cherry vs. Beth-Center

Section 2 at Quaker Valley

Montour vs. Laurel

Freedom vs. Quaker Valley

Section 3 at Mt. Pleasant

Southmoreland vs. Burrell

Knoch vs. Mt. Pleasant

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.

Tags: Armstrong, Beth-Center, Bethel Park, Burgettstown, Burrell, Butler, Canon-McMillan, Connellsville, Fort Cherry, Franklin Regional, Freedom, Jefferson-Morgan, Kiski Area, Knoch, Latrobe, Laurel, Montour, Mt. Pleasant, North Allegheny, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Peters Township, Pine-Richland, Quaker Valley, Southmoreland, Thomas Jefferson, Waynesburg, West Allegheny