Zero upsets during fast opening round of WPIAL Class AAA wrestling tournament

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 2, 2018 | 7:24 PM

If fans were hoping for upsets in the opening rounds of the WPIAL Class AAA individual wrestling championships Friday afternoon, they were disappointed because there weren't any.

The opening rounds went quick and as expected, with about 276 bouts in two-and-half hours.

Laurel Highlands senior Ian Edenfield had the fastest fall of the first round — 10 seconds against Trinity sophomore Regis Seng.

There were 78 pins in the preliminary and first round and 17 technical falls.

In the eight heavyweight matches, all resulted in pins.

North Hills senior Nathan Mankey reached the 100-win milestone with his first-period pin of Armstrong sophomore Gram Hepner.

The only tight match involving a highly-seeded wrestler was at 126 pounds when Waynesburg senior Caleb Morris edged Norwin freshman John Altieri, 5-3.

Morris is a two-time WPIAL champion. The other two-time champion is Albert Gallatin senior Tim Wallace.

Some of the key quarterfinal-round matches include Connellsville senior No. 5 seed Mason Franks facing Latrobe sophomore No. 4 seed Gabe Willochell at 126 pounds and Morris facing Canon-McMillan junior Kenny Hayman.

Another interesting battle is at 138 pounds were Waynesburg senior No. 3 seed Jackson Henson faces Hempfield freshman No. 6 seed Tyler Linsenbigler.

There are two good bouts at 152. Kiski Area sophomore No. 4 seed Jack Blumer gets Belle Vernon senior No. 5 seed Brock Godzin, and Waynesburg junior No. 3 seed Trey Howard battling Pine-Richland freshman No. 6 seed Cole Spencer.

Two interesting clashes will occur at 160 pounds where Central Catholic senior No. 5 Vincenzo Rauso faces Kiski Area sophomore No. 4 Nick Delp, and North Allegheny junior No. 7 Jon Hoover gets Canon-McMillan sophomore No. 2 Gerrit Nijenhuis.

Greensburg Salem senior Jesse Quatse, seeded No. 4, has a tough opponent in No. 5 Tyler Gross of Seneca Valley.

The quarterfinals are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Friday.

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Albert Gallatin, Armstrong, Belle Vernon, Canon-McMillan, Connellsville, Greensburg Salem, Kiski School, Latrobe, Laurel Highlands, North Hills, Norwin, Seneca Valley, Waynesburg, Waynesburg Central