Wrestling standout Dylan Pitzer remains ineligible following WPIAL hearing

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, October 14, 2024 | 6:50 PM

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Wrestling standout Dylan Pitzer, a WPIAL runner-up last winter, remains ineligible for his junior season after a hearing Monday at the league office in Scott.

The WPIAL board found that Pitzer’s transfer from Mt. Pleasant to Derry was athletically motivated, said WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer. As a result, Pitzer is ineligible for the entirety of the wrestling season this winter.

He also must sit out the upcoming football playoffs under PIAA rules that make most transfers postseason ineligible. He did not qualify for a postseason waiver, according to the WPIAL board.

Derry can appeal the board’s decisions to the PIAA.

The WPIAL in September initially denied him wrestling eligibility based on transfer paperwork submitted by the schools. Mt. Pleasant flagged his move as potentially motivated by athletics, Seltzer said at the time.

Pitzer went 44-4 as a sophomore last season. He placed second in WPIAL Class 2A and fourth in the state at 285 pounds. His four losses included two against Central Valley’s Brenan Morgan, the WPIAL and PIAA champion who has graduated, making Pitzer a possible title favorite this year.

He has a career record of 79-16, including a fourth-place WPIAL finish as a freshman at 215 pounds.

His brother, Dayton Pitzer, is a three-time state champion now wrestling at Pitt.

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.