Burgettstown has three-for-all at WPIAL tourney
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Joey Sentipal of Burgettstown has Kyle McCollum of Beth-Center on his back during the 132-pound final bout in the WPIAL Class 2A Individual Tournament Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Grant Mackay of Laurel turns Trevor Pettit of Beth-Center to his back during their 160-pound final bout in the WPIAL Class 2A Individual Tournament Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School. ackay won by fall.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Parker Sentipal of Burgettstown is about to pin Shawn Robertson of Fort Cherry in their 106-pound final bout in the WPIAL Class 2A Individual Tournament Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Joey Sentipal tries to bring Peter Chacon of Montour to the mat during their 132-pound semifinal bout in the WPIAL Class 2A Individual Tournament Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School. Sentipal wona 6-0 decision.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Chase Framel of Jefferson-Morgan grabs the leg of Ryan Celaschi of Frazier during their 145-pound semifinal bout in the WPIAL Class 2A Individual Tournament Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School.
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Cameron Carter-Green, left, of Washington bumps heads with Mason Neiderhiser of Southmoreland during their heavyweight semifinal bout in the WPIAL Class 2A Individual Tournament Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School. Cameron-Green won by fall.
CANONSBURG – To say the Sentipal brothers are competitive with each other is like saying the sun will go down tonight.
Burgettstown’s Parker and Joey Sentipal are incredibly competitive from seeing who is better at video games to who has to take the most breaks during the marathons they run in the offseason.
So it only stands to reason that when Parker won his first WPIAL title, then Joey had to win his finals bout here or there would be teasing for the next two weeks until they both hit the mat again.
Parker Sentipal, a sophomore, pinned Shawn Robertson of Fort Cherry in 1:57 to capture the 106-pound title in the WPIAL Class 2A Championships at Canon-McMillan High School Saturday afternoon.
Burgettstown led the way with three champions, the two Sentipals and Joe Baronick, who finally upended top-ranked and top-seeded Cameron Carter-Green, 4-1, in the heavyweight finals.
Bentworth’s Chris Vargo is halfway home to becoming a four-time WPIAL champion. The sophomore from Bentworth shut out Cooper Hornack of Burrell, 5-0, in the 120-pound finals for his second straight first-place finish.
Joey Sentipal, a junior, decisioned Kyle McCollum of Beth-Center, 6-0 in the 132-pound finals. Joey Sentipal came into this event as the second seed and Parker Sentipal was the top seed.
“Sports, games, everything,” Parker Sentipal said of where the competitiveness lies between the two brothers.
And who might be the better wrestler?
“I don’t know,” said Parker Sentapil in his most politically correct voice. Then he said, “I’d say it’s me. He would say it’s him.”
“We have a rivalry over everything, ever since we were little,” said Joey Sentipal. “We run marathons and bet to see who has the fastest time and who takes the least amount of breaks. The list goes on. Most takedowns? I’ve got him with that one.”
Little do they know – or maybe they do – that the rivalry is making them both better wrestlers.
“I think Joey had a little bit more of a tougher road than Parker,” said Burgettstown head coach Joey Vigliotti, who was named Class 2A Wrestling Coach of the Year and his assistant coach and brother, Louie, was named the Class 2A Assistant Wrestling Coach of the Year by a vote of their peers.
“Parker and Joey both have higher goals than a WPIAL title,” Joey Vigliotti said. “We’re looking at the bigger picture. It’s nice that the kids wrestle on the big stage like this. We go match to match. We don’t overlook anybody, especially at this level.
“It’s been a grind for us getting through the section team stuff, the WPIAL team stuff and the state team stuff. We had to go to Fort Lebouef for the preliminary match Monday and roll into Hershey on Wednesday. My kids are grinders and I’m so proud of them.”
Robertson came into the bout as the No. 2 seed and gave up a takedown with 23 seconds left in the first period. Just 16 seconds later, Parker Sentipal turned and pinned him.
McCollum took a 1-0 lead into the third period, then gave up and escape, takedown and three backpoints in a span of 1:11.
Baronick was caught in another close bout. He lost three of those this season to Carter-Green but this time would be different. Baronick got a stalling point when the laces on one of Carter-Green’s came undone. Baronick got the takedown with 30 seconds.
“The last time I wrestled him was at our invitational and I lost in sudden victory,” Baronick said. “I think this time I had a better mind set and was in better condition than him.”
Vargo broke open a scoreless bout with a reversal and three backpoints in the third period.
“Now, I’m looking for that regional title and have some fun doing it,” said Vargo, who placed third in the state at 113 pounds. “Putting him in immediate danger was a nice way to win.”
Vitali Daniels of Bentworth was pinned by Dayton Pitzer of Mt. Pleasant in the 215-pound finals.
It was a tough tournament for Beth-Center, which had three losses in the finals.
Along with McCollum, Tyler Berish dropped a 3-2 decision to Josh Richey of Quaker Valley at 152 pounds; and Trevor Pettit was pinned in 56 seconds by returning state champion Grant MacKay in the 160-pound finals.
A takedown with 23 seconds left gave Shawn Szymanski of Burrell a 5-4 decision over Chase Frameli of Jefferson-Morgan at 145 pounds.
Seth Burns, trying to become the first WPIAL champion for West Greene since Colt Blumer in 2010, lost a 5-2 decision to Colin Bartley of Laurel in the 113-pound finals.