WPIAL wrestling notebook: Hempfield looking for new coach

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, August 16, 2024 | 6:11 PM

Purchase Photo Options

Hempfield is in the process of interviewing for a new wrestling coach.

Steve Santia resigned at the end of the school year for personal reasons, leaving athletic director Brandon Rapp with the job of finding a replacement.

“I have two kids now under 3. It has been a lot, and I need to spend more time with them,” Santia said.

Santia, a PIAA Class 3A heavyweight champion, coached one season at his alma mater. The Spartans finished 5-12 overall and 2-2 in the section, losing in the WPIAL team championships to Pine-Richland.

The Spartans graduated three seniors, including Eli Carr, who placed third in the PIAA and was the WPIAL Class 3A 152-pound champion.

Rapp said he hopes to have a coach hired at the September board meeting.

Brown commits to Pitt

Belle Vernon junior Elijah Brown made an oral commitment to attend Pitt.

Brown was 44-4 as a sophomore with 19 pins. He is 79-18 overall.

He was a WPIAL Class 2A and Southwest Regional champion.

He also won a U.S. Marine Corps 16-and-under freestyle national championship in Fargo, N.D.

Other WPIAL wrestlers to commit include Quaker Valley’s Jack Kazalas (Binghamton), Plum’s Rylen Campbell (Ashland), Plum’s Sam Snyder (Saint Vincent), Plum’s Carson Yocca (Ashland), Albert Gallatin’s James Standish (West Liberty), Thomas Jefferson’s Maddox Shaw (Ohio State), Connellsville’s Evan Petrovich (Pitt), Pine-Richland’s Vaughn Spencer (Lehigh), Latrobe’s Luke Willochell (Wyoming), Kiski Area’s Mark Gray (Columbia), Fort Cherry’s Braedon Welsh (Brown), Thomas Jefferson’s Bode Marlow (Pitt), Indiana’s Nico Fanella (Brown), Ringgold’s Jake Conroy (Cornell) and Fox Chapel’s Joshua Alexander (Ohio University).

3 coaches hired

Three schools recently hired wrestling coaches, while one other is still interviewing.

Terry Quashnock was hired to replace Dan Boring at Southmoreland. Quashnock was Boring’s assistant.

Tyler Kenney was chosen at Frazier to replace Buck Watkins. Kenney was the junior high coach.

Jurdon Maier was hired at Canon-McMillan to replace Brian Krenzelak. Maier was on Krenzelak’s staff.

Burrell is still looking to replace Josh Shields.

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: Belle Vernon, Hempfield