Alle-Kiski Valley high school wrestling notebook: County glory awaits

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, January 1, 2019 | 9:36 PM

Burrell, Kiski Area and Valley are preparing to try to prove themselves in WPIAL wrestling circles with the team playoffs arriving in about a month. First, though, their wrestlers will aim for some county glory.

The 66th annual Westmoreland County Coaches Association championships will take place Friday and Saturday at Norwin High School.

Kiski Area, fresh off a fourth-place finish at the Powerade Wrestling Tournament, comes into the WCCA tournament as the three-time defending champion. Cavaliers senior 132-pounder Darren Miller is a two-time champion at the event, and Valley senior David Schuffert won the heavyweight title last season.

Miller, who beat Latrobe’s Gabe Willochell in the 120-pound championship last season, comes into this week’s tournament on perhaps the best run of his high school career. The Bucknell recruit began the season with a championship at the Eastern Area Invitational Wrestling Tournament, and last week he claimed second at Powerade.

“I feel like I’m moving better this year,” Miller said at Powerade. “I have better shots, better technique on my feet, and I feel like that really put me to the next level. Hopefully I can still grow from there.”

Schuffert dominated the 2018 tournament, winning by a first-period pin in the final. The Valley senior is coming off a third-place finish at the Southmoreland Holiday Classic. Teammate Noah Hutcherson, also a senior, finished third at last season’s WCCA tournament.

Kiski Area had three individual champions last season, two of whom graduated. Senior Cam Connor and junior Nick Delp were runners-up last season.

Burrell finished fourth in the team standings last season, with the graduated Corey Christie winning tournament MVP honors after winning the 152-pound title. Sophomore Ian Oswalt is the Bucs’ highest returning medalist after he finished second at 113 pounds in 2018.

Rematch on tap?

Oswalt lost his first real matchup against friend and practice partner Kurtis Phipps, dropping a 4-0 decision to the Norwin junior in the 120-pound semifinals at Powerade.

But Phipps himself conceded that whoever won might not have bragging rights for long: a rematch might be in the cards as early as this week at the WCCA championships.

That matchup might be for the county title as the Norwin junior and Burrell sophomore could enter as the top two seeds.

Big weekend for Kiski Area

Kiski Area still is seeking its first Powerade champion after Miller lost by a single point to North Hills’ Sam Hillegas in the 132-pound final Saturday, but the Cavaliers keep coming up with strong performances at the tournament.

Five wrestlers claimed medals at the two-day event, tied for the best for Kiski Area since it began competing at Powerade in 2015. The Cavaliers also finished fourth in the team standings, highest of any team from Pennsylvania. They finished second at the event in 2016, when they also had five medalists.

“It’s the second-best tournament in the nation,” coach Chris Heater said. “You come here, you know what you’re going to get. You’re going to get a tough guy every match, every round. Sometimes in tournaments you get someone easier the first couple rounds, but that’s not the case here.”

Murphy led

With a roster of fewer than 10 wrestlers, it’s difficult for Riverview to compete in dual matches against teams of better numbers. But the Raiders came away from the annual Steve DeAugustino Holiday Classic at West Mifflin with a pair of medalists in brothers Isaac Murphy and Lucas Murphy.

Lucas Murphy, a senior, finished fifth at 120 pounds after winning four of six matches. He pinned Montour’s Ryan Reconnu in the fifth-place match. Isaac Murphy, a sophomore, took eighth place at 126 pounds, falling to Mars’ Anthony Maiure in the seventh-place match.

“With the team being so small, it’s hard to practice every day with the same couple kids and know we’re never going to win any team matches unless we wrestle another team like us,” said Joe Murphy, Riverview’s coach and Isaac and Lucas’ father. “It’s nice to get to individual tournaments and (see) some of them come away with medals or even have a good weekend.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Burrell, Kiski School, Plum, Riverview, Valley