Franklin Regional wrestler Ty Kapusta believes it’s his time in state finals
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Friday, March 8, 2024 | 10:03 PM
Franklin Regional’s Tyler Kapusta takes down Quakertown’s Mason Ziegler in their 121-pound match during the PIAA Class 3A championships Friday, March 8, 2024, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Penn-Trafford’s Hayden Coy is taken down by Elias Long of Central York in a PIAA Class 3A 145-pound match Friday, March 8, 2024, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Latrobe’s Luke Willochell controls Luke Ritter of Council Rock South during the PIAA Class 3A championships Friday, March 8, 2024, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Hempfield Area’s Eli Carr controls Keegan Demarest of PM East during a 152-pound match at the PIAA Class 3A championships Friday, March 8, 2024, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Franklin Regional’s Juliano Marion takes down Brody Rebuck in their 215-pound match at the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships Friday, March 8, 2024, at Giant Center in Hershey.
Latrobe’s Hunter Snyder controls Bekhruz Sadriddinov at 172 pounds at the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships Friday at Hershey’s Giant Center.
HERSHEY – Franklin Regional senior Ty Kapusta is having the tournament of his life and he’s not surprised.
Kapusta reached the 121-pound finals of the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championship at the Giant Center with two impressive wins Friday.
He knocked off Quakertown senior Mason Ziegler, 3-2, in the quarterfinals and followed that with a 7-2 victory against West Scranton senior Tyson Cook.
Now he’s in the 4 p.m. Saturday finals against Bethlehem Catholic sophomore Keanu Dillard, who defeated Latrobe junior Luke Willochell, 4-2, in overtime.
“Someone mentioned to me about meeting Ziegler in the quarterfinals,” Kapusta said. “I figured if you want to be a state champion, I had to beat him at some point.
“This is what I’ve been practicing for all season. I knew I had it in me, trust me. I have a lot of support.”
This was the third time Kapusta and Cook have met. They were 1-1 coming in.
“I love Tyson. We’re both very cool,” Kapusta said. “I love wrestling him because we battle, but midway through this season, I found my stride. Basically I told myself that if you just beat the guy, now you’re the guy and it carried me through.”
Willochell and Dillard battled into overtime where the returning PIAA champion (107) secured the winning takedown.
Norwin freshman Landon Sidun reached the finals, as expected. But it’s not the opponent he was hoping to face.
Sidun (41-2) won a high-scoring match, 9-8, against Northampton freshman Gabriel Ballard. Sidun rallied from a 5-4 deficit late in the second period. He got an escape to tie the score and then a reversal and a two-point nearfall to build a 9-5 lead.
The surprise came in the other semifinal when Ridley junior Curtis Nelson stunned Butler sophomore Santino Sloboda with a reversal and a three-point nearfall in the final 10 seconds for a 6-4 victory.
“I would have liked to wrestle Santino again,” Sidun said. “I got it done. You have to respect everyone. Every match I’m prepared to go to war.
“Curtis is having a good tournament and is beating guys at the end. I’ll watch what he does tonight and get ready for Saturday.”
Hempfield senior Eli Carr have up a quick takedown and lost to a returning state champion from Quakertown, junior Collin Gaj, 11-1, at 152 pounds.
Latrobe freshman Hunter Snyder, who defeated Council Rock South senior Bekhruz Sadriddinov, 5-0, in the quarterfinals, dropped a hard-fought 5-3 decision to Trinity senior Bodie Morgan.
The two split high-scoring matches this season, Snyder winning in the WPIAL semifinals. But Morgan slowed Snyder down and didn’t get into a high-scoring shootout.
“Bodie wrestled smart,” Trinity coach Ron Tarquinio said. “It was a good battle.”
Kiski Area sophomore Cooper Roscosky was beaten by Daniel Boone senior Tucker Hogan, 12-1, at 189 pounds. Roscosky reached the semis with a pin of Strath Haven sophomore Michael Spielman.
Connellsville junior Evan Petrovich lost a 1-0 decision to returning state champion Luke Simcox of Central Mountain. Petrovich almost took Simcox down twice, but he just couldn’t finish the move at 145.
Norwin senior Nathan Campbell was pinned in the semifinals at 189 by Northern York senior Cole Bartram. He reached the finals by pinning Freedom senior Jared Karabinus.
In Class 2A, Burrell sophomore Cam Baker fell to Faith Christian Academy freshman Joey Bachmann, 20-5. He reached the semifinals by defeating Tussey Mountain sophomore Dakota Santamaria, 5-4, in the quarterfinals.
Baker’s teammate, senior Cooper Hornack, lost his chance at repeating as a state champion when he dropped a 4-3 decision to Midd-West junior Matthew Smith.
Hornack, however, will earn his fourth PIAA medal after winning his blood-round match.
Derry freshman Mason Horwat also lost in the quarterfinals to Brookville junior Cole Householder. He earned a PIAA medal by defeating Belle Vernon junior Cole Doppelheuer in the blood round, 4-1.
The other Derry freshman, Brady Brown, lost to Frazier junior Jackson Angelo, 3-0, in the quarterfinals and then fell in a blood-round match to Bentworth senior Vitali Daniels, 5-2.
Mt. Pleasant sophomore heavyweight Dylan Pitzer lost to Berks Catholic senior Brody Kline, 3-2. He bounced back to defeat Big Springs senior Owen Hutchinson, 11-0, to earn a medal.
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.
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