Raiders send 9 wrestlers to WPIALs
Seeing as how I gave a brief preview of the recent PIAA AA Southwest Regional tournament last week, I thought it only fair to do the same for the AAA tourney, also known as the WPIAL Championships. However, before I move up to the big schools, I think a brief look back at a historically poor showing by District 7 is in order.
Believe it or not, the WPIAL managed just two AA champions (126, 182) at IUP, and both of those weights were guaranteed to go the league’s way. Jefferson-Morgan’s Gavin Teasdale defeated Burrell’s Dillan Jeffrey at 126 pounds, before Beth-Center’s Dom Fundy stopped Derry’s Dominic DeLuca at 182 pounds.
Obviously, this level of futility by the big bad boys of District 7 more than entertained the District 5 and District 6 fans that may have enjoyed seeing the WPIAL flounder just as much as their own wrestlers score title after title.
Anyways … getting back to AAA, Waynesburg Central qualified an impressive nine wrestlers out of Saturday’s Section 4 tournament at Trinity High School. Several Raiders could have some pretty interesting opponents if they want to get to the Giant Center at Hershey next weekend.
Caleb Morris was rewarded for a fine junior season with the top seed at 132 pounds. He was seeded ahead of talented junior Job Chisko of Penn Trafford, who was the WCHS standout’s semifinal opponent at this year’s Powerade tournament. The two could once again meet at Canon-McMillan High School and if the first meeting, which ended in a 4-3 Morris win, is any indication, that could be one of the best bouts of the event.
Moving up to 145 pounds, sophomore Trey Howard did a fine job of building off a solid freshman season and enters the weekend with a 28-7 record and the No. 5 seed. WCHS fans should be very familiar with the second seed of the weight class, North Allegheny senior Jake Hinkson.
Hinkson has already suffered postseason losses to former Raider standouts A.C. Headlee and Shaun Wilson during his high school career. While he is the prohibitive favorite in a matchup with Howard, another defeat will likely give the NA standout a lifelong phobia of the red and black color combination.
Last year, Kyle Homet surprised a lot of people when he qualified for the state tournament. This year, he is much more of a known commodity and received his due respect with the third seed at 170 pounds.
If Homet wants to return to Hershey as a WPIAL champion, he will likely have to go through a wrestler who I feel is one of the most underrated in the district. Albert Gallatin junior Tim Wallace has gone about his business of piling up wins — 31-2 this year — in the relative obscurity of Fayette County. Not even Connellsville, one of the most storied programs in the state, seems to get much attention paid to it anymore.
The 195-pound weight class is loaded at the top with three senior Division I talents. Waynesburg’s Colin McCracken is the two seed behind another North Allegheny standout, Jake Woodley, while Upper St. Clair’s Eli Grape is one of the best three seeds of the tournament. This bracket could wind up being one of, if not the toughest to both predict and win.
It will certainly be tough for WCHS to repeat last year’s feat of getting six of its own to the upcoming PIAA championships. However, few people expected to see Cole Rush, Terry Victory and Homet wrestle at the Giant Center. Maybe a few more Raiders are on the verge of creating their own surprises.