Mar 3, 2024 By Jonathan Guth 5 min read

ALTOONA – For one match in Saturday night’s finals of the PIAA Southwest Class 2A Regional Wrestling Championships, AAHS Fieldhouse turned into the gymnasium at Bentworth High School.

Bentworth senior Chris Vargo earned a 13-7 decision over Bishop McCort’s Jax Forrest in the finals at 127 pounds to win his fourth regional championship.

Forrest, a sophomore, is ranked second in the country by the website MatScouts, but Vargo was not intimidated and threw a headlock that nearly pinned Forrest with 36 seconds left in the first period for a 6-2 lead. Forrest escaped in the second to cut the deficit to three, but Vargo scored a second takedown and turned Forrest for another three near-fall points that extended his advantage to 11-3.

Forrest scored two takedowns in the third and allowed two escapes, but Vargo kept himself in good position to finish off a victory that had everyone not wearing Bishop McCort colors applauding the Edinboro commit, who became the eighth wrestler in the history of the southwest regional tournament to win four titles.

“I have a lot of respect for the Bishop McCort guys,” Vargo said. “They work tremendously hard. I’ll give a lot of credit to the crowd. The crowd was awesome. It gave me a lot of motivation and momentum. I wrestled him (Forrest) two years ago and it was a close match, but people forget about that because I’m Chris Vargo and he’s Jax Forrest. I had confidence going out there, honestly. I got a great warm-up in, so props to my warm-up partner, Owen Ivcic.”

Vargo is no slouch himself, as he is a four-time state qualifier, and finished third as a freshman, fifth as a sophomore and was runner-up last year at the Giant Center in Hershey.

“Right now, four regional titles mean nothing because we got a state title to win,” Vargo said. “I hope to see him (Forest) at states because I have to beat him twice.”

Chartiers-Houston’s Jorden Williams won his first regional title following a 5-3 decision over Chestnut Ridge’s Easton Mull in the finals at 114. Williams is the Bucs’ first regional champion since Garrett Vulcano accomplished the feat in 2013. Vulcano is currently the head coach at Avonworth.

“Easton is a really tough kid, strong and his hands are heavy, so I didn’t want to tie-up with him,” Williams said. “I wrestled him this year and he beat me 7-2, so it feels pretty good to beat him this time.”

Williams, who wrestled his first two years in high school at District 3 Hempfield, will be making his third trip to the state tournament. He has 96 career wins, and a state title would give him an even 100 for his career.

“The goal is to win a state title, but if not, I hope to place as high as I can on the podium,” Williams said.

Belle Vernon’s Elijah Brown and Fort Cherry’s Braedon Welsh wrestled for a fifth time this season in the finals at 172 pounds. After a scoreless first period, Brown scored a reversal in the second but Welsh countered with a takedown in the third to tie the match at 2-2.

Welsh allowed Brown to escape in an effort to complete another takedown for the victory, but Brown held on for a 3-2 victory and his first regional championship. He also qualified for the state tournament for the first time.

Brown has won all five matches against Welsh this season, but all have been close.

“I’ll probably wrestle him (Welsh) again at states,” Brown said. “I scored on the edge, and was able to get to a leg late in the period and hang on for the win towards the end of the match. My goal at the state tournament is to place as high as I can.”

Welsh, a junior and Brown commit, will be making his third trip to Hershey. He was fourth last season.

Burgettstown’s senior quartet of Parker Sentipal (133), Gaven Suica (139), Rudy Brown (152) and Joey Baronick (285) are Hershey bound after finishing in the top six.

Sentipal was fourth and will be making his third trip to the Giant Center. His best finish was fifth as a sophomore. As a freshman, Sentipal was recognized as a state qualifier because the COVID-19 pandemic cut the state bracket down to eight individuals per weight.

Suica was third and is in the same situation as Sentipal in that he would have been a state qualifier as a freshman during a normal season. Suica was eighth as a sophomore.

Baronick finished fourth and is back at states for the third time. He was sixth last year.

Brown placed fifth and clinched his second berth in the state tournament. He qualified as a sophomore.

Ivcic qualified for the state tournament after finishing second at 145. Bentworth freshman Drake McClure (2nd at 114) and senior Vitali Daniels (4th at 189) are headed to the state tournament. Daniels is a three-time state qualifier.

McGuffey sophomore Lucas Barr advanced to the state tournament for the second time in as many years after placing fourth at 127. Teammate Emmett Wolfe placed sixth at 121 to punch his ticket to Hershey for the first time.

Beth-Center sophomore Mason Wright finished fifth at 121 to advance to the state tournament. Wright attends school in nearby California, as the Bulldogs and Trojans have a co-op for wrestling.

Jefferson-Morgan senior Chase Frameli is headed to states for the third time after placing third at 160 after Frazier’s Ryan Celaschi had to medically forfeit.

West Greene sophomore Colin Whyte (215) battled back through the consolation rounds to place fourth after losing in the quarterfinals. Whyte advanced to the state tournament for the first time.

Belle Vernon’s Kole Doppelheuer will make his first trip to Hershey after placing fourth at 145.