Mar 5, 2024 By Jonathan Guth 4 min read

The PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships consist of three 12-hour days.

This year’s version will still consist of three days, but Day 2 could turn into Day 3 with a girls division being contested for the first time.

Girls wrestling became an officially sanctioned sport by the PIAA on May 17 after several years of competing for unofficial state championships. The addition of girls wrestling has added 390 matches.

The state tournament begins at 9 a.m. Thursday morning at the Giant Center in Hershey with preliminary and first-round action in Class 2A. The girls first round will be 2 p.m. and Class 3A is set for 4 p.m. with preliminary and first-round action.

Day 2 begins at 8 a.m. Friday with the Class 2A quarterfinals. Action continues throughout the day, but the big change will be in the semifinals, which are scheduled to run in all divisions at 7 p.m. A round of consolations will follow the semifinals at 9 p.m. in all three divisions.

Trinity wrestling has a girls coach in Grant Lowther, but other schools only have one head coach for both boys and girls, which could make for a hectic Friday night.

“We had the girls tournament added when we wrestled the WPIALs and it was a madhouse on Saturday,” Trinity boys coach Ron Tarquinio said. “It shouldn’t be as hectic on Thursday, but regardless of the changes in the schedule, we tell our guys to not worry about things they can’t control.”

The Hillers have four qualifiers in Class 3A with Blake Reihner being the sole returning state qualifier at 139 pounds. Reihner, a Davidson commit, was fifth in last year’s tournament. He comes in as the third-place finisher out of the WPIAL (District 7/Southwest Region).

Reihner also passed Andy Migyanko for the most wins in program history at the WPIAL Championships last weekend. Reihner has a career record of 144-33.

Teammate and fellow Davidson commit Bodie Morgan will make his debut at the state tournament at 172 pounds. TJ Allison (145) and Robbie Allison (189) have also qualified.

“Blake is a top-notch kid who works really hard and was able to pass one of our coaches for career wins in program history,” Tarquinio said. “The other guys are making their first trip to the individual tournament, but they were able to experience the Giant Center in the team tournament, so we hope that helps them.”

Bentworth may be small, but the Bearcats have shown their worth, and bring four possible medalists into Class 2A action.

Chris Vargo (127), Drake McClure (114), Owen Ivcic (145) and Vitali Daniels (189) make up the quartet for coach Mike Shrader.

“All of our guys with the exception of Drake, who is a freshman, have experience at the state tournament,” Shrader said. “Chris and Vitali are our two senior leaders, and we hope the guys under them can continue that run.”

Vargo has placed three times at the state tournament and his confidence is high after defeating Bishop McCort’s Jax Forrest, who was ranked No. 2 in the country by MatScouts, during the regional finals last weekend.

“Our guys are confident, but they are not cocky,” Shrader said. “They work extremely hard and don’t take anything for granted. People always congratulate me as a coach, but I always tell them I am grateful to have kids with this kind of talent and humility.”

Bentworth didn’t have a qualifier for the girls division, but Shrader sees a growth moving forward, and even though the tournament may be a tad hectic, he would be glad to be running from mat to mat Friday night.

“My family understands the sacrifices that are made, but I would be glad to have some other kids to chase after Friday night,” Shrader said. “We had a girl (Baylee Oreski) lose in the blood round at the regional tournament, and she is coming back, so hopefully she can qualify next year.”

Canon-McMillan has eight girls and four boys in Class 3A. The Big Macs’ Valarie Solorio could be the first girls champion crowned in the state at 100 pounds. Andrew Binni (127) was a finalist last year and the senior is looking for his first gold medal.