WPIAL wrestling notebook: What new sections could look like

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, February 1, 2022 | 6:03 PM

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Over the next few weeks, the WPIAL wrestling committee will be realigning the sections for the next two seasons.

And because seven Class 3A teams are dropping to 2A, the landscape will look a lot different.

There will be 37 teams in 3A and 44 teams in 2A.

Dropping down are Albert Gallatin, Beaver, Belle Vernon, Greensburg Salem, Hampton, Highlands and Indiana.

Wrestling committee chairman Frank Vulcano Jr. said they are waiting for feedback from schools who may not want a schedule from the WPIAL.

Those schools will not be permitted to participate in the WPIAL team tournament, but their individuals are permitted to enter tournaments and participate in the WPIAL and PIAA individual championships.

Vulcano said New Castle has already indicated it does not want a WPIAL schedule.

“(Executive Director Amy Scheuneman) has sent every school a letter to see if any other school doesn’t want a WPIAL schedule,” Vulcano said. “Once we get responses, we’ll proceed and set up new sections.”

Vulcano said when the committee gets together, they’ll try to set up competitive conferences based on geography and strength of teams.

In the past, 3A had four sections and 2A three. With seven more teams, there is a good chance 2A will expand to four sections.

So let’s guess, without any inside information, what new sections may look like.

Let’s assume the WPIAL will continue to use sub-sections and go with four sections in each class. In Class 3A, that means three nine-team sections and one with 10 teams. In Class 2A, there will be four 11-team sections.

Class 3A (37 teams)

Section 1A: Armstrong, Kiski Area, Plum, Fox Chapel, Penn Hills. Section 1B: Franklin Regional, Gateway, Penn-Trafford, Woodland Hills.

Section 2A: Connellsville, Baldwin, Thomas Jefferson, Ringgold, West Mifflin. Section 2B: Central Catholic, Hempfield, Latrobe, McKeesport, Norwin.

Section 3A: Butler, Pine-Richland, Mars, Seneca Valley, West Allegheny. Section 3B: North Allegheny, North Hills, Moon, Shaler.

Section 4A: Canon-McMillan, Chartiers Valley, Trinity, South Fayette, Waynesburg. Section 4B: Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township, Upper St. Clair.

Class 2A (44 teams)

Section 1A: Albert Gallatin, Bentworth, Beth-Center, Jefferson-Morgan, West Greene. Section 1B: Burgettstown, Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry, McGuffey, South Park, Washington.

Section 2A: Beaver, Blackhawk, Central Valley, Ellwood City, Freedom, Laurel. Section 2B: Ambridge, Knoch, Quaker Valley, South Side, Summit.

Section 3A: Avonworth, Carlynton, Hopewell, Keystone Oaks, Montour, South Park. Section 3B: Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward, Frazier, South Allegheny, Yough.

Section 4A: Burrell, Hampton, Highlands, North Catholic, Valley. Section 4B: Derry, Greensburg Salem, Indiana, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant, Southmoreland.

Bedford tournament

District 5 Chestnut Ridge won the annual Thomas Automotive Family wrestling tournament at Bedford on Saturday by crowning five champions and finishing with 268 team points.

Burrell placed second with 146 points. The Bucs had seven wrestlers earn medals.

Cooper Hornack (120 pounds) and Shawn Szymanski (145) finished second, Isaac Lacinski (138), Luke Boylan (215) and Calio Zanella (113) finished third, while Cole Clark (189) and Nico Ferra (132) placed fifth.

Athens finished third with 143.5 points and Beth-Center was fourth with 138.5

The Bulldogs had six placewinners. Tyler Berish won the 152-pound title while Kyle McCollum was second at 132. Trevor Pettit (160) placed third, while David Stepp (120), Jacob Layhue (172) and Tyler Debnar (145) placed fifth.

Ligonier Valley and Beaver Falls also participated but had no placewinners.

P-R, Peters in top 3

Pine-Richland, Peters Township, Laurel and Montour each had one champion from the Fred Bell Wrestling Tournament at Grove City on Saturday.

The Rams placed second with 132 points behind tournament champion Penn Valley, which had 157.5.

Anthony Ferraro won the 126-pound title. Dom Ferraro (120), Shane Simpson (113) and Joey Schneck (295) placed third, and Jake Lukez (160) finished seventh.

Peters Township finished third with 128 points. Darius McMillon was the 113-pound champion. Phil Nave (215) placed second while Chris Cibrone (138) and Issac Meyers (106) placed sixth and Noah Schratz (145) and Eliot Schratz (152) ended up eighth.

Laurel placed ninth with 99 points. Grant MacKay won the 160-pound title and Colin Bartley placed second at 113.

Belle Vernon had three placewinners: Logan Hoffman (second at 172), Kole Doppelheuer (third at 132) and Luke Bryer (sixth at 189).

Peter Chacon won the 132-pound title for Montour.

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.