Mar 22, 2024 By Jonathan Guth 4 min read

The final match of his high school career didn’t go as planned, but when you look at the body of work during his senior year, Bentworth’s Chris Vargo gets the nod as the Wrestler of the Year on the Observer-Reporter’s All-District Team.

Vargo, who attends school at Charleroi but wrestles for the Bearcats as part of a co-op, came up short against Bishop McCort’s Jax Forrest in the PIAA Class 2A finals at 127 pounds inside the Giant Center at Hershey to finish second in the state.

Vargo may have lost the match, but Forrest was rated by the wrestling website MatScouts as No. 2 in the state prior to their bout in the PIAA Southwest Regional finals, which Vargo won 13-7 for his fourth regional title.

Trinity’s Bodie Morgan had a run to the PIAA Class 3A finals but dropped the championship bout 8-4 to Pine-Richland’s Vaughn Spencer at 172. Morgan was 30-5 his senior year and had a career record of 94-34.

Vargo and Morgan are two of the 26 wrestlers that make up the all-district first and second teams.

The first team features Vargo, Morgan, Binni; Belle Vernon’s Elijah Brown (172); Bentworth’s Vitali Daniels (189); Burgettstown’s Gaven Suica (139) and Joey Baronick (Hvy); Canon-McMillan’s Geno Calgaro (215); Chartiers-Houston’s Jorden Williams (114); Fort Cherry’s Braedon Welsh (172); Peters Township’s Nicholas McGarrity (107); Ringgold’s Jake Conroy (215) and Waynesburg’s Ky Szewczyk (127).

The second team consists of Belle Vernon’s Kole Doppelheuer (145); Bentworth’s Owen Ivcic (145); Beth-Center’s Mason Wright (121); Burgettstown’s Parker Sentipal (133) and Rudy Brown (152); Canon-McMillan’s Collier Hartman (121); Jefferson-Morgan’s Chase Frameli (160); McGuffey’s Lucas Barr (127); Trinity’s Blake Reihner (139) and TJ Allison (145); Waynesburg’s Brock Evans (160) and Roan Tustin (Hvy.) and West Greene’s Colin Whyte (215).

The Class 2A Coach of the Year is Joey Vigliotti of Burgettstown and the Class 3A Coach of the Year is Ron Tarquinio of Trinity.

As usual, inclusion on the all-district team was determined by the accomplishments of each wrestler within his respective weight class.

Vargo was 41-3 in his final high school season and finished with a career record of 133-12. He will continue wrestling in college at Edinboro, but will step on the mat as a high school student one more time at the 50th Annual Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic on March 30 at Peters Township’s AHN Arena.

Vargo will represent Team Pennsylvania at 127 in a match against JJ McComas of Stillwater, Okla. McComas is ranked No. 4 in the country by FloWrestling and headed to Oklahoma State, but Vargo proved this year he can compete with anybody.

“I am just going to go out there and let it fly,” Vargo said. “I will be the first wrestler from Charleroi or Bentworth to wrestle in the premier event at the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic, which is an honor.”

Vargo’s brother, Jonathan, competed for a team of WPIAL All-Stars at the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic in 2019. Binni, Morgan, Suica and Williams will be on the team of WPIAL All-Stars, as they wrestle the New Jersey All-Stars.

Vargo worked on pushing the pace this season, and a key match was a 5-4 victory over Canon-McMillan’s Andrew Binni in the finals of the Tri-CADA tournament.

“I was down 3-0 in that match and really had to turn it on,” Vargo said. “That overtime win was a big part of my season. I really worked on scoring points this year and getting ready for the next level. Everyone you wrestle in college is good. I am excited to get to Edinboro and start my collegiate career.”

Wrestler of the Year: Chris Vargo, Bentworth

Class 2A Coach of the Year: Joey Vigliotti, Burgettstown

Class 3A Coach of the Year: Ron Tarquinio, Trinity

First Team

Chris Vargo, Bentworth (127, 12, 41-3)

Bodie Morgan, Trinity (172, 12, 30-5)

Andrew Binni, Canon-McMillan (127, 12, 35-8)

Jake Conroy, Ringgold (215, 11, 45-4)

Gaven Suica, Burgettstown (139, 12, 45-9)

Jorden Williams, Chartiers-Houston (114, 12, 31-9)

Braedon Welsh, Fort Cherry (172, 11, 40-9)

Nicholas McGarrity, Peters Township (107, 9, 43-4)

Joey Baronick, Burgettstown (Hvy, 12, 43-13)

Vitali Daniels, Bentworth (189, 12, 41-8)

Ky Szewczyk, Waynesburg (127, 12, 32-11)

Geno Calgaro, Canon-McMillan (215, 12, 23-3)

Elijah Brown, Belle Vernon (172, 11, 44-5)

Second Team

Collier Hartman, Canon-McMillan (121, 10, 29-10)

TJ Allison, Trinity (145, 11, 31-7)

Blake Reihner, Trinity (139, 12, 47-6)

Kole Doppelheuer, Belle Vernon (145, 11, 27-10)

Colin Whyte, West Greene (215, 10, 33-12)

Owen Ivcic, Bentworth (145, 10, 39-12)

Chase Frameli, Jefferson-Morgan (160, 12, 39-8)

Lucas Barr, McGuffey (127, 10, 39-10)

Parker Sentipal, Burgettstown (133, 12, 43-9)

Rudy Brown, Burgettstown (152, 12, 48-8)

Brock Evans, Waynesburg (160, 11, 24-14)

Roan Tustin, Waynesburg (285, 10, 24-6)

Mason Wright, Beth-Center (121, 10, 35-13)