Sites set for WPIAL Team Tournament
It almost went as predicted.
Home sites for the WPIAL Team Wrestling Tournament went to four of the top five ranked teams in both classifications.
Canon-McMillan, the No. 4 team in the Observer-Reporter Wrestling Rankings, joins No. 5 Franklin Regional, No. 2 Kiski and No. 1 Belle Vernon as home sites in Class AAA.
McGuffey, ranked fourth by the O-R, No. 5 Freedom, No. 3 Derry and No. 1 Burrell got home sites in Class AA.
Preliminary-round action in Class AAA begins Monday and first-round and quarterfinal bouts are Wednesday.
Class AA begins Wednesday with first-round and quarterfinal meets. Semifinals and finals for both classifications will be held Saturday. Class AA will be held at Chartiers-Houston and Class AAA at Penn Hills. The top three teams from both classes will qualify for the PIAA Team Championships in Hershey so a third-place bout will be held alongside the finals at both sites.
Preliminary bouts are at 7 p.m. All first-round matches begin at 6 p.m. with the quarterfinals immediately after, aproximately 7:30 p.m.
Canon-McMillan is fresh from a 39-27 victory over Waynesburg in the Section 4 championship dual meet, the second time this season the Big Macs defeated the Raiders.
C-M head coach Jason Cardillo knows the team that wins the WPIAL team title is going to have to get through Belle Vernon somehow. The Leopards looked strong in defeating Upper St. Clair, 69-6, in the Section 2 semifinals and Connellsville, 57-12, in the finals.
“It’s going to be tough,” Cardillo said. “They’ve got a nice lineup. It’s going to take some things to happen. They’ll be tough to beat. Can we beat them? We’re sure going to try. If everyone goes into place, we could definitely do it. We just need guys where they need to be.”
North Hills, Latrobe and the winner of the preliminary match between Peters Township and West Allegheny will be in Canon-McMillan’s pod.
At Franklin Regional, Waynesburg will take on North Allegheny and the winner of the bout between Trinity and Upper St. Clair will take on FR.
In Class AA, McGuffey wrestles South Side Beaver and surprising Mapletown get South Fayette.
Chartiers-Houston drew Indiana at the Derry pod, Beth-Center wrestles South Allegheny at the Freedom pod and Burgettstown faces Southmoreland at the Burrell pod.
Full pairings can be found in the Scoreboard section on Page C-2.