WPIAL wrestling notebook: Waynesburg, Canon-McMillan could collide again

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, February 4, 2020 | 6:49 PM

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Looking at the pairings for the PIAA Class AAA wrestling tournament, there is a decent chance that WPIAL champion Waynesburg and Section 4 rival Canon-McMillan could meet in the semifinals.

Canon-McMillan (15-4) was beaten by Seneca Valley in the WPIAL semifinals, denying the Big Macs a second shot at the Raiders in the championship match.

Waynesburg (12-0) defeated Canon-McMillan in a classic in the Section 4 finals on criteria j, most near-fall points in a match.

Canon-McMillan advanced to the state tournament by defeating Hempfield in the third-place match at WPIALs and then defeating Pittsburgh City League champion Carrick, 63-15, in a PIAA pigtail-round match Monday.

The Big Macs’ path won’t be easy as they draw District 3 champion Gettysburg (21-0) in Thursday’s first round, and if they win, they’ll face the winner of the match between District 4 champion Williamsport (10-1) and District 11 runner-up Bethlehem Catholic (12-2).

Waynesburg faces District 3 third-place team Central Dauphin (19-2), and if it wins, it will get either District 10 champion Erie Cathedral Prep (18-1) or District 1 runner-up Quakertown (19-1).

Seneca Valley (15-2) is on the top half of the bracket and will face District 6 champion State College (11-4) at 6 p.m. Thursday. If the Raiders win, they’ll get the winner of the match between District 11 champion Nazareth (17-1) and District 1 fourth-place team Garnet Valley.

Dibert’s milestone

Franklin Regional sophomore Carter Dibert bounced back from a loss to Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell in the second round of the WPIAL team tournament by collecting his 100th career win at the Penn-Trafford’s Ultimate Warrior tournament.

Dibert, who lost to Chappell in the 2019 WPIAL finals, beat Chappell in the 2019 PIAA 106-pound final.

Dibert and Chappell might meet again this season if Chappell follows Dibert down to 113 pounds.

Another PIAA final rematch was wrestled in the dual.

Seneca Valley’s Alejandro Herrera-Rondon, a two-time PIAA champion, edged Franklin Regional’s Finn Solomon, 5-1.

Lawrence returns

Frazier senior Thayne Lawrence picked up five victories at the Montour Duals on Saturday.

The two-time PIAA champion had missed more than a month while recovering from a shoulder injury.

Since his return, Lawrence has gone 6-0.

The Commodores also picked also picked up their second and third dual meet wins of the season by defeating Fort Cherry and Ambridge.

Frazier is scheduled to face Pine-Richland on Wednesday.

Looking ahead

In Class AA, the WPIAL, Districts 5 and 6 will begin individual tournament action Feb. 14.

The WPIAL section tournament will be held Feb. 14 at Canon-McMillan and the WPIAL championship is Feb. 15.

The PIAA Southwest Regional for is Feb. 21-22 at IUP’s Kovalchick Conference and Athletic Complex.

The PIAA tournament is March 5-7 at Hershey’s Giant Center.

In Class AAA, section tournaments are Feb. 22 at the following sites: Section 1 at Kiski Area, Section 2 at Thomas Jefferson, Section 3 at Fox Chapel and Section 4 at Chartiers Valley.

The Class AAA WPIAL/PIAA Southwest Regional championships are Feb. 28-29 at Canon-McMillan.

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.