WPIAL wrestling notebook: Waynesburg, Seneca Valley grapplers eye 2nd Powerade titles

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, January 26, 2021 | 6:28 PM

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Waynesburg sophomore Mac Church and Seneca Valley senior Alejandro Herrera-Rondon are the only WPIAL wrestlers looking for their second Powerade Tournament titles this weekend.

Church won the 106-pound title in 2019 and Herrera-Rondon nabbed the 113-pound crown in 2018.

Because of Gov. Tom Wolf’s state shutdown of all high school athletic events in December, the tournament was moved to Friday and Saturday at the Monroeville Convention Center.

After tournament director Frank Vulcano Jr. released the seeds for the tournament Tuesday, he was informed that Connellsville was forced to pull out because of a positive covid-19 test within the program.

Connellsville athletic director Rich Evans said the team is shut down until Feb. 5.

Here are the No. 1 seeds:

• 106: Brandon Wentzel, Montoursville

• 113: Vinny Kilkeary, Latrobe

• 120: Mason Gibson, Bishop McCort

• 126: Joey Fischer, South Park

• 132: Dylan Chappell, Seneca Valley

• 138: Ian Oswalt, Burrell

• 145: Wyatt Henson, Waynesburg

• 152: Alejandro Herrera-Rondon, Seneca Valley

• 160: A.J. Corrado, Burrell

• 172: Luca Augustine, Waynesburg

• 189: Mac Stout, Mt. Lebanon

• 215: Nick Feldman, Malvern Prep

• 285: Cole Deery, Malvern Prep.

There will be three sessions on Friday.

• Session 1: Weight classes 106-126, 9 a.m.; three rounds.

• Session 2: Weight classes 132-152, 1 p.m.; three rounds.

• Session 3: Weight classes 160-285, 5 p.m.; three rounds.

Saturday’s schedule:

• Session 4: Weight classes 106-138, quarterfinals, 8 a.m. and semifinals, 10:15 a.m.

• Session 5: Weight classes 145-285, quarterfinals, noon, and semifinals, 2:30 p.m.

• Session 6: All classes, seventh round consolations, 4 p.m.; consolation and championship finals, 5:30 p.m.

Waynesburg rules

The two-week shutdown didn’t seem to slow down Waynesburg, ranked No. 1 in Class AAA.

The Raiders went 5-0 at the Cavalier Duals at Kiski Area on Saturday by defeating No. 2 Seneca Valley (42-12), No. 5 Franklin Regional (57-3), No. 7 Kiski Area (66-6); Penn-Trafford (66-3) and Mount Lebanon (72-4).

Seneca Valley went 4-1, Franklin Regional 3-2 and No. 4 Canon-McMillan 2-3.

Streak in jeopardy

The longest consecutive playoff appearance streak in the WPIAL Team Tournament could be in jeopardy.

Connellsville, which has never missed the playoffs since it began in 1978, might not qualify for the Section 2 tournament because the program has been shut down until Feb. 5 because someone within the program tested positive for covid-19.

The team tournament begins Feb. 8, and the Falcons have competed in only one of five section matches.

During the 42 years of the tournament, the Falcons claimed seven WPIAL Class AAA titles and one PIAA title. They lost twice in the state finals.

Baxter MVP; Butler perfect

Butler went a perfect 5-0 in the winning the Southmoreland Classic on Saturday. The Golden Tornado defeated Greensburg Salem in the finals, 51-18.

Cooper Baxter was named tournament MVP after recording five pins during the day.

Beth-Center placed third by defeating Pine-Richland, 39-24.

Frazier freshman Rune Lawrence also had a big day. He went 5-0 with four first-period pins and a forfeit. The Commodores, however, went 0-5.

Lawrence is the younger brother of two-time PIAA and four-time WPIAL champion Thayne Lawrence.

Strong tournament for Cats

The Latrobe wrestling team had five finalists and three champions at the North Allegheny Invitational.

Claiming titles were sophomore Vinny Kilkeary (113), sophomore Nate Roth (132) and junior Jack Pletcher (152).

Placing second were juniors Lucio Angelicchio (120) and Gabe Golden (138).

Latrobe finished third behind North Allegheny and General McLane.

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.