Norwin’s DeAugustine set to face former team Hempfield in Section 1 semifinals

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, January 22, 2019 | 7:54 PM

Norwin wrestling coach Vince DeAugustine knew this day would come.

The day the first-year Norwin coach sat across the mat from the team he coached for the past 13 seasons.

DeAugustine compiled a 218-52 record at Hempfield before resigning last summer to take over a Norwin program that had rarely reached the postseason.

The neighboring rivals will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the WPIAL Class AAA Section 1 tournament. The WPIAL separated the schools to balance out the section. Norwin was placed in subsection A with Kiski Area, Latrobe, Greensburg Salem and Plum.

“It will be different for sure,” DeAugustine said. “But we’ve already met a couple times in tournaments.”

Hempfield (11-1) is No. 2 in the Trib HSSN rankings and Norwin (8-2) is No. 7. No. 1 Kiski Area (9-0), winner of subsection A will face No. 10 Greensburg Salem (6-2) in the other semifinal match.

The winners will meet at the conclusion of the semifinals for the section title.

“This isn’t about me; it’s about the kids and a match between Hempfield and Norwin,” DeAugustine said. “I’m excited for my wrestlers to be able to compete in this environment.”

DeAugustine left Hempfield because of difference with the administration.

While there, he coached six state champions, two runners-up, 12 WPIAL champions, 39 state qualifiers, 28 state placewinners and had 34 section champions. Hempfield won its only WPIAL team title in 2007 and was a two-time PIAA placewinner.

He knows his new team faces a stiff challenge because he trained almost all the wrestlers on the Hempfield roster.

“I have a lot of good memories coaching this group at Hempfield,” DeAugustine said. “I know we’ll be the underdogs, I’m just hoping we’ll be able to compete.”

DeAugustine said his Knights will have to pull off some upsets if they hope to win the semifinal match.

Hempfield coach Tommy Dolde said his team is ready for a battle.

“Vince does a good job preparing his wrestlers,” said Dolde, who previously coached at Connellsville. “We’ve talked to the team, and their focus has to be on beating Norwin, nothing else matters.

“It’s a classic battle of the youth of Norwin against the more experienced wrestlers of Hempfield. It’s going to be a great match with a lot of close matches.”

Dolde wants his wrestlers to focus on Norwin. He doesn’t want them looking ahead to a possible match against Kiski Area.

A Hempfield/Kiski Area match could be a preview of the WPIAL finals, and DeAugustine said he feels Hempfield has a good chance of winning a WPIAL title.

When Dolde was at Connellsville, other than a couple years when Belle Vernon had strong teams, the Falcons dominated the section tournament.

Hempfield goes into this tournament as the underdog to Kiski Area.

“This is exciting,” Dolde said. “The four teams in this tournament are very good. All four are well-coached, and I’m looking forward to two good battles.”

Dolde said the 220-pound bout between Dillon Ferretti and Norwin’s Ryan Weinzen will be exciting, while DeAugustine feels the 132-pound match between Chase Kranitz and Hempfield’s Jared Brean and the 145-pound matchup of Luke Merkovsky and Hempfield’s Trevor Verkleeren will be key.

All four teams, along with the winner of the Section 1 fifth-place match between Franklin Regional (3-2) and Latrobe (4-2) will advance to the WPIAL Class AAA tournament, which begins Monday.

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Hempfield, Norwin