What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Jan. 13, 2021: Wrestling rivals collide

By: Don Rebel
Tuesday, January 12, 2021 | 11:30 PM

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Last year, they met in the regular season and again in the team sectionals.

On Wednesday, the Washington County rivals square off for the first, but possibly not the last time on a busy night of WPIAL wrestling.

After winning their regular season match, Canon-McMillan beat Trinity again in the Section 4-AAA semifinals, 52-24.

Both earned berths into the district team tournament with the Hillers falling in a preliminary round match while the Big Macs advanced to the semifinals before falling to Seneca Valley.

Trinity visits Canon-McMillan at 7 p.m. and you can hear the match on HSSN.

Postseason participants

Three other matches scheduled for Wednesday also feature teams that qualified for the WPIAL team playoffs a year ago.

In Section 3B-AAA, North Allegheny visits Pine-Richland.

In Class AA, Keystone Oaks visits Burgettstown in a Section 1A match while Elizabeth Forward hosts Mt. Pleasant in Section 3B action.

There are several sections that have scheduled doubleheaders in an effort to get regular season section matches in before the team sectionals Feb. 8.

Mid-week sectional

With the WPIAL announcing that the basketball postseason would be an open tournament with every team allowed to participate if they choose, some of the stress of section games has been eased a bit.

Four boys and one girls section basketball game are scheduled for Wednesaday, including a Section 3-3A matchup as Shady Side Academy visits East Allegheny.

Last year, the Bulldogs (then known as the Indians) swept the Wildcats in both games, winning by nine and 12 points.

Those results were the difference in making the playoffs as SSA finished in fourth place with a 6-6 record to qualify for the postseason while EA missed out by a game when it finished 5-7.