Trinity earns spot in WPIAL team wrestling tournament
Trinity won nine of 14 bouts, including two by forfeits by lineup error, to defeat Hopewell, 45-25, in a Section 4-A fifth-place match in Class AAA, advancing to the WPIAL Team Tournament..
The Hillers trailed through eight bouts until Hopewell accidentally sent its 132-pound wrestler out for the 126-pound bout, awarding Trinity’s AJ Marino (126) and DJ Long (132) wins by forfeit. Ryan Yocum added a pin at 138 to help the Hillers pull away for the win. Austin Fife (285) and Michael Kolosky (120) also got pins for Trinity.
Mapletown 48, Mt. Pleasant 21: Mapletown is in the WPIAL Team Tournament for the first time in school history.
After the Maples’ program was dormant for nearly three decades and spent the past five years rebuilding, they advanced to the WPIAL Team Tournament with a 48-21 win over Mount Pleasant in a Section 2-A fifth-place match in Class AA.
The Maples (11-9) got a pin from Noah Hixon (106) to start the match, but the Vikings (6-5) fought back with three consecutive wins to take the lead. Mapletown responded with three pins by Seth Shubert (145), Kevin Hayes (152) and Brandon Smotzer (160), plus two two forfeits. Tanner Weston (220) added a pin over to secure the win.
Alex Miscovich (126) and Austin Mihalchik (132) both had pins for Mt. Pleasant.
Derry wins 2-AA title: Host Derry pulled out a 32-25 victory over McGuffey to win the Section 2-AA team title.
Derry won four of the final six bouts, including two by fall. McGuffey did not have a pin the championship match.
The Highlanders advanced to the finals by defeating Southmoreland 45-22. Aaron Harris (138), Jeff McConn (145) and Luke Shingle (182) each won by fall for McGuffey.
Derry defeated Beth-Center 56-14 to advance to the title match. B-C’s Tony Welsh 917) won by pin. The Bulldogs lost the third-place match to Southmoreland, 43-33.
South Fayette’s streak ends: South Fayette’s string of three consecutive section titles ended with a 34-30 loss to host Freedom in the Section 1-AA tournament. South Fayette advanced to the title match by handling Burgettstown 54-21 while Freedom was a 40-30 winner over Chartiers-Houston.
Chartiers-Houston defeated Burgettstown in a third-place match by winning nine of 14 bouts with pins by Josh Kuslock (138), Nick Kalafatis (145) and Tre Lober (285).