WPIAL approves new section alignment for next 2 wrestling seasons

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, March 14, 2022 | 11:59 PM

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Say goodbye to the subsections.

The WPIAL will crown 12 section wrestling champions next winter in a new alignment approved Monday that eliminates the use of subsections in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.

This winter’s alignment had only seven sections, with each section divided into two subsections. The new alignment has 12 separate sections. The WPIAL had to make changes because a large number of schools switched classification in the newest PIAA enrollment numbers.

“The wrestling committee comes in quite a bit in the month of February, and every time we talked about it, we tried to come up with solutions,” WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said. “Where the (new) numbers were, to go back to those subsections, they have to be either very small or very large.”

Currently, the WPIAL has more wrestling teams in Class 3A (45) than in 2A (37), but that changes next winter. The new alignment has 35 teams in Class 3A and 43 in 2A.

Class 3A

Section 1: Armstrong, Central Catholic, Fox Chapel, Kiski Area, Plum, Shaler

Section 2: Butler, Mars, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley

Section 3: Franklin Regional, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Ringgold, Thomas Jefferson, West Mifflin

Section 4: Connellsville, Gateway, Latrobe, Hempfield, McKeesport

Section 5: Chartiers Valley, Moon, South Fayette, Trinity, Waynesburg, West Allegheny

Section 6: Baldwin, Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan, Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township, Upper St. Clair

Class 2A

Section 1: Bentworth, Beth-Center, Burgettstown, Fort Cherry, Jefferson-Morgan, McGuffey, Washington, West Greene

Section 2: Albert Gallatin, Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward, Frazier, Mt. Pleasant, Southmoreland, Yough

Section 3: Avonworth, Carlynton, Keystone Oaks, Montour, Quaker Valley, South Allegheny, South Park

Section 4: Ambridge, Beaver, Blackhawk, Central Valley, Freedom, Hopewell, South Side

Section 5: Ellwood City, Hampton, Highlands, Knoch, Laurel, North Catholic, Summit Academy

Section 6: Burrell, Derry, Greensburg Salem, Indiana, Ligonier Valley, Riverview, Valley

“There was a lot of discussions and a lot of options,” Scheuneman said. “This is what the committee felt would be the most appropriate. It’s the same for both 2A and 3A. It will allow the opportunity for more section championships.”

For the individual tournament, the WPIAL will combine Sections 1 and 2, Sections 3 and 4, and Sections 5 and 6 to create three sectional qualifiers, named Northern, Southern and Eastern. The top six wrestlers from each sectional will advance to the WPIAL individual tournament.

The top three teams from each section will advance to the WPIAL Team Tournament.

Eliminating the subsection tournaments will create an extra week at the end of the regular season for teams to complete matches.

Four schools opted out of receiving a section schedule but will field a team this season: Chartiers-Houston, New Castle, Penn Hills and Woodland Hills. The WPIAL recently sent a notice to schools reminding them that they’re not required to have a section schedule for their wrestlers to compete in the individual tournaments.

It’s primarily an option for schools that have only a small number of wrestlers.

“They are still able to get their own schedule,” Scheuneman said, “they’re able to go to tournaments, and they’re still able to enter their individuals into the WPIAL tournament.”

The WPIAL on Monday also approved new alignments for track and field, swimming and diving, boys tennis and boys volleyball.

The basketball alignment can’t be approved until after the PIAA calculates its competitive-balance formula to see which teams might be forced into a higher classification. That formula can’t be tabulated until the state playoffs reach the finals.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.