Canon-McMillan, Butler latest to opt out of wrestling team postseason

By: Paul Schofield
Monday, February 8, 2021 | 2:07 PM

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Two more Class AAA wrestling teams pulled out of the WPIAL team postseason, which begins Monday with the section tournaments.

Joining No. 3-ranked Hempfield and No. 4 Franklin Regional are No. 7 Canon-McMillan and No. 7 Butler.

Butler is being replaced by West Allegheny in the Section 3-AAA tournament at Seneca Valley. There will not be a replacement for Canon-McMillan in the Section 4 tournament. Peters Township will receive a bye in the first round.

According to Canon-McMillan athletic director Frank Vulcano Jr., who also is the WPIAL wrestling committee chairman, the Big Macs pulled out because a few of the wrestlers showed symptoms of covid-19 but have not tested positive.

“We’re just taking extra precautions,” Vulcano said. “We just want to be safe.”

Hempfield and Franklin Regional pulled out Friday and Sunday, respectively, out of concerns for contracting covid-19. Both programs wanted to make sure their wrestlers have a chance to achieve their goals in the individual portion of the postseason and didn’t want to risk having to shut down and quarantine.

Teams that reach the finals of their respective section tournaments will advance to the WPIAL quarterfinals on Wednesday. The Class AAA and AA finals are scheduled for Saturday at Canon-McMillan.

The WPIAL isn’t the only district that had teams opt out of postseason tournaments.

District 10 (Northwest Pennsylvania) announced that due to the overwhelming number of opt-outs by Class AAA teams, the tournament will not be held and Erie’s Cathedral Prep will be declared district champion. The Class AA tournament is still scheduled to be held.

District 11 (Allentown-Bethlehem area) has also announced that its team tournaments will not be held. Bethlehem Catholic (Class AAA) and Notre Dame-Green Pond (Class AA) were announced as champions.

The PIAA team tournament is scheduled to be held after the PIAA individual tournament, which is March 12-13 at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Butler, Canon-McMillan, West Allegheny