High school wrestling notebook: Kiski Area cements No. 1 ranking

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, December 26, 2018 | 1:33 AM

Kiski Area showed why it is ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL and No. 2 in the state.

The Cavaliers knocked off No. 2 Canon-McMillan, 36-33, and No. 4 Seneca Valley, 39-32, in a duals tournament at Canon-McMillan on Friday.

No. 3 Hempfield beat Canon-McMillan, 42-24, before losing to Seneca Valley, 34-33.

Kiski Area coach Chris Heater said he was pleased to see his team compete in an early-season tournament.

Kiski Area is starting to get healthy but still doesn’t have a 106-pound wrestler ready.

Waynesburg 18th at Beast

Waynesburg placed 18 ^th as a team and had two top-five finishers at the prestigious Beast of the East tournament Saturday. Trey Howard was fifth at 145 and Luca Augustine fifth at 152.

Burkholder to Seton Hill

Hempfield senior Kyle Burkholder announced on Twitter he is going to wrestle at Seton Hill. Burkholder placed third in the WPIAL and PIAA last season.

He recently dropped a decision to Seneca Valley sophomore Alejandro Herrera-Rondon in a dual match. Herrera-Rondon is the returning PIAA champion at 106.

Highlands bounces back

After a difficult 2017-18 season, Highlands is making headway in a rebound year.

A 60-16 Section 3-AA victory last week over South Allegheny gave the Golden Rams (6-5, 1-1) their first section win since the 2016-17 season.

That win, plus a pair of third-place finishes at the North Hills Duals and the Sharpsville Duals, is giving Highlands confidence as it moves into the new year.

Highlands competed in the difficult Section 3-AAA each of the past two seasons and went a combined 1-9 while competing against larger schools. The Golden Rams moved back down to Class AA this season.

Evan Henry, Owen Burrows, Chase D’Angelo, Jeremiah Saunders and Jeremiah Nelson won by pinfall for Highlands against South Allegheny.

With just one senior among its starting lineup, Highlands believes it can make a push toward the playoffs this season and potentially more in the next few years.

Staff writer Doug Gulasy contributed. Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Hempfield, Kiski School, Waynesburg, Waynesburg Central