High school roundup for Jan. 29, 2020: Top seeds hold serve in WPIAL wrestling playoffs

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 29, 2020 | 11:51 PM

Eight bouts into its WPIAL Class AAA team wrestling tournament quarterfinal match Wednesday night, No. 2 Seneca Valley looked primed for an upset.

Six matches later, the Raiders looked primed to challenge for a WPIAL title.

Tyler Chappell (106) recorded a fall to start a run of six straight wins, leading Seneca Valley to a 42-20 victory over Thomas Jefferson.

Brendan Finnerty (170) won by technical fall and Michael Zacur (145), Brian Finnerty (170), Jake Fisher (182), Trystan Alava (195) and Logan Danielson (285) took decisions as TJ built a 20-9 lead.

Chappell, Hunter Swedish (113), Dylan Chappell (126), Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (132) and Chanz Shearer (138) recorded falls in the final six bouts. Drew Vlasnik (152) and Nick Funovits (220) also had pins for Seneca Valley.

All four remaining teams in the Class AAA bracket are section champs that look like title contenders. No. 1 Waynesburg defeated Latrobe, 49-15. No. 3 Canon-McMillan topped North Allegheny, 39-21. No. 4 Hempfield beat Kiski Area, 45-23.

In Waynesburg’s win over Latrobe, Noah Tustin (195), Colton Stoneking (138), Eli Makel (160) and Luca Augustine (170) won by fall. Nate Roth (120), Gabe Willochell (132) and Jack Pletcher (152) recorded victories for the Wildcats.

Waynesburg will meet Hempfield and Seneca Valley will take on Canon-McMillan in the semifinals Saturday at Norwin.

Burgettstown 58, Freedom 17 — No. 2 Burgettstown stated its case as a legitimate threat to Burrell’s dominance in the Class AA WPIAL team tournament, turning in a decisive victory over Freedom in a quarterfinal match.

Turner Lehman (195) recorded a fall to tie the match 6-6, and when Freedom was penalized a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct, Burgettstown had the lead for good. Tyler Cody (220), Jacob Noyse (138), Ryan Green (152) and Shane Kemper (160) had pins for Burgettstown, which defeated Mt. Pleasant 54-18 in the first round.

The seeds held in all four Class AA quarterfinals. No. 1 Burrell rolled past Beth-Center, 58-15. No. 3 McGuffey topped Elizabeth-Forward, 44-33. No. 4 Quaker Valley defeated Highlands, 50-21.

Burrell will face Quaker Valley and McGuffey will square off with Burgettstown in Saturday’s semifinals at Chartiers-Houston.

First round

Beth-Center 34, Southmoreland 31 — The No. 9 Bulldogs (9-5) rallied from a 31-12 deficit with five straight victories from 106 to 132 pounds to edge the No. 8 Scotties (14-5) in a WPIAL first-round match at Burrell. Tyler Berish scored a 4-0 decision at 132 pounds to give Beth-Center the victory. Todd Fisher (138), Trevor Pettit (152), Ryan Lynch (182), Davis Stepp (106), Joe Holmes (113), Kyle McCollum (120) and Tyler Fisher (126) also scored victories for Beth-Center, who advanced to face No. 1 Burrell in the quarterfinals.

Burgettstown 54, Mt. Pleasant 18 — No. 2 Burgettstown (13-0) knocked Mt. Pleasant (7-5) out of the WPIAL Class AA team tournament in a first-round match. Luke Geibig, Lucas Shaulis, Noah Gnibus and Kyle Jones won by fall for the Vikings.

Canon-McMillan 55, Norwin 17 — The Big Macs got out to an early advantage in the Class AAA first round with three straight victories to start the contest from Jacob Houpt (106 pounds), Brandon Dami (113) and Constantine Moore (120).

Canon-McMillan (12-3) also closed out the first-round meet with four straight pins from Matthew Furman (170), Tyler Rohaley (182) and Evan Miller (220) along with Austin Smith (285). Furman and Smith each recorded pins in under 40 seconds.

John Altieri (145) recorded a technical fall win over Tyler Soule, 22-7, for Norwin (11-3), starting a swing of three straight match victories including Chase Kranitz (152) and Frankie Gill (160). Gill pinned Blake Joseph in 4:17.

Latrobe 42, Connellsville 28 — No. 9 Latrobe (7-2) upended No. 7 Connellsville (11-3) in a Class AAA first round matchup at Waynesburg.

Seneca Valley 59, Franklin Regional 10 — Caden Leighty (160), Liam-Volk Klos (170), Conor Hayes (195) and Hunter Swedish (113) won by fall as Seneca Valley (13-1) won 10 straight bouts to pull away in a Class AAA WPIAL first-round match. At 120 pounds, Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell knocked off top-ranked Carter Dibert of Franklin Regional (5-3), 8-5. Mason Spears (145) and Dalton Oneil (126) won matches for the Panthers.

Basketball

Boys

Allderdice 74, Perry 28 — Rob Jones scored 20 points with three baskets from behind the arc and Tony Henderson added 14 with four 3-pointers to push Allderdice (14-4, 7-0) past Perry (0-15, 0-7) in City League action. Harrison Hatcher led Perry with seven points.

Armstrong 59, United 37 — A 17-3 advantage after one quarter by the Riverhawks put them in control for the game’s remainder as 13 points from Eli Wiles and 12 from Gavin Szymanski assisted Armstrong (4-13) in earning an out-of-district win over United. Austin Kovalcik scored a game-high 19 points for Lions.

Brashear 69, Carrick 47 — Thirty-nine points from Cheron Collington led Brashear (7-7, 5-2) to a City League victory over Carrick (3-14, 1-6). Collington scored his 1,000th point during the game. Amaru Caldwell led Carrick with 23 points.

Carmichaels 51, West Greene 49 — Christopher Barrish produced 20 points to lead Carmichaels (8-11) to a come-from-behind win over West Greene (6-10). The Mighty Mikes trailed 37-29 after three quarters before winning the final period, 22-12. Drake Long added 19 points for Carmichaels. Ben Jackson led West Greene with 14 points.

Gateway 78, West Mifflin 44 — Oliver Elgin totaled a game-high 20 points for Gateway (7-10) as the Gators outscored West Mifflin (1-16) in the second half, 49-24, to secure the nonsection victory. Braden Moore led the Titans with 14 points.

Ligonier Valley 86, Saltsburg 63 — Matthew Marinchak scored 21 points, including four 3-pointers in the third quarter, to lead Ligonier Valley (18-2, 12-0) to a Heritage Conference win. Isaac Neidbalson had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Michael Marinchak added 13 points and nine boards, and Kyle Silk had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Norwin 67, Elizabeth Forward 60 — Four Knights were in double digits as Jayden Walker led the way offensively with 16 points for Norwin (12-6). Joshua Williams added 15 points along with 13 from Tyler Bilinsky and 12 from Nick Fleming in a nonsection win over Elizabeth Forward (7-11).

Laurel Highlands 62 Uniontown 54 (OT) — Rodney Gallagher scored 29 of Laurel Highlands’ 62 points to guide the Mustangs (12-6) to an overtime triumph over Class 4A No. 2 Uniontown (16-2). Caleb Palumbo also added 10 points. Billy DeShields led the Red Raiders with 16 points and was among four Uniontown players to reach double-digit scoring.

South Allegheny 81, Serra Catholic 54 — The Gladiators jumped out to a 26-7 lead after one quarter and never looked back in a nonsection battle of ranked teams. Bryce Epps produced a game-high 23 points with four three-pointers for South Allegheny (17-1), the No. 3 team in Class 3A. Jayden Bristol led Serra Catholic (10-8), the No. 5 team in Class 2A, with 17 points. Omar Faulkner added 18 points with eight rebounds for the Gladiators along with 12 from Ethan Kirkwood with four shots made from beyond the arc.

Girls

Mt. Lebanon 71, Canon-McMillan 33 — Ashleigh Connor totaled a game-high 23 points and helped Class 6A No. 4 Mt. Lebanon (16-3, 11-1) compile a 41-13 halftime advantage en route to a Section 2-6A victory. Canon-McMillan (1-18, 0-12) was led by Tori Wesolowski with 12 points. Bridget Bruni added 13 points while Moran Palmer 10 from the Blue Devils.

Greensburg Salem 40, Monessen 35 — Abby Mankins produced a game-high 16 points for Greensburg Salem (7-11) to lead the Golden Lions to a nonsection win over Monessen (12-6). Carissa Caldwell also added 11 points with two 3-pointers. Kendelle Weston led the Greyhounds with 13 points.

Riverview 54, Greensburg Central Catholic 23 — Francesca Lio recorded a game-high 19 points while Sydney McDonough added 16 for Riverview (11-8) in a nonsection road victory over ranked competiton. The Class A No. 4 Centurions (12-5) were held to single-digit points in each quarter. Emma Riley and Gia Scala each led GCC with six points.

Shenango 42, Union 29 — Emilee Fedrizzi produced a 21-point game as Janie Natale also added 11 for Shenango (11-8) in a nonsection win over Union (3-16). Elise Booker was the Scotties leading scorer with nine points.

Washington 47, Beth-Center 37 — Cassandra Lewis led the Prexies with 16 points as Washington (5-13, 3-8) defeated Beth-Center (8-10, 4-7) in Section 2-3A play. Elizabeth Trump led the Bulldogs with 13 points. Randi Thomas added 13 points while Kyla Woods also contributed 11 for Washington.

West Mifflin 46, Yough 23 — Lauren Yuhas and Shelby each led West Mifflin (10-8, 8-4) with 13 points to guide the Titans to a Section 3-4A victory. Yough (3-17, 0-12) was held to single digits in each quarter. Kaylynn Odelli led the Cougars in scoring with 14 points.

Tags: Burgettstown, Seneca Valley, Waynesburg