High school roundup for Feb. 2, 2022: Dramatic win sends Mt. Pleasant into WPIAL wrestling semifinals

By: Tribune-Review
Thursday, February 3, 2022 | 12:14 AM

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Trailing 5-0 in the third period of the next-to-last bout, Duncan Blose pinned Jackson Gwyer at 126 pounds to spark Mt. Pleasant to a 37-28 victory over Beth-Center in the WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinals Wednesday night.

Noah Gnibus (189) won by decision, Jackson Hutter (215) and Dayton Pitzer (285) recorded pins and William Shipley (113) rallied for a 17-8 win after trailing 8-2 to give the Vikings a 31-21 lead. Blose’s pin came with Mt. Pleasant (12-4) up seven with two matches left.

Tyler Debnar (145) won by decision, Kyle McCollum (132) by major decision and Tyler Berish (152), Trevor Pettit (160) and Jacob Layhue (172) by pin for Beth-Center (12-3).

Mt. Pleasant beat Jefferson-Morgan, 51-19, in the first round. The Vikings will meet top-seeded Burrell in the semifinals at noon Saturday at Chartiers-Houston.

Waynesburg 52, Norwin 10 – Eli Makel, Mac Church, Colton Stoneking and Brody Evans won by fall to lead top-seeded Waynesburg (14-0) to victory in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals. Jake Stephenson and Rocco Welsh had technical falls. Chase Kranitz won by major decision for the Knights (10-4).

Norwin advanced to the quarterfinals with a 34-33 victory over Franklin Regional (6-2) in the first round thanks to a pin by AJ Hewitt in the final bout. Waynesburg rolled past Thomas Jefferson, 61-3.

Canon-McMillan 43, North Allegheny 24 – Tyler Soule (145) and Ashten Slavick (152) had back-to-back pins to start a string of five straight wins for Canon-McMillan that blew open a close match in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals. Gianmarco Ramos (160) had a decision and Matt Furman (172) and Geno Calgaro (189) had pins as the Big Macs turned a 12-10 deficit into a 37-12 lead.

Brandon Dami (113), Jacob Hoput (120) and Tanner Mizenko (106) also won for Canon-McMillan (11-3).

Dylan Coy (126), Nathan Monteparte and Jayson Flener (138) won bouts for North Allegheny (7-1).

Canon-McMillan advanced to the quarterfinals with a 45-28 win over West Allegheny. The Tigers beat Bethel Park 38-27 in the first round. Canon-McMillan will meet Waynesburg in the semifinals at noon Saturday at Peters Township.

Connellsville 42, Kiski Area 18 – Connellsville won five straight matches from 113 to 138 pounds to pull away in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal. Evan Petrovich (113) won by pin, Jacob Layton (120) by major decision, Gabriel Ruggieri (126) by decision, Chad Ozias (132) by tech fall to turn a 10-0 deficit into a 24-9 lead for the Falcons (17-1).

Zach Bigam (160), George Schultz (189) and Dennis Nichelson (215) added pins for Connellsville.

Stone Joseph (285) won by fall, Clayton Cramer (106) by major decision and Ethan Connor (145), Mark Gray (152) and Enzo Morlacci (172) by decision for the Cavaliers (14-4).

Connellsville advanced to the quarterfinals with a 56-10 win over Peters Township. Kiski Area beat Pine-Richland, 48-19. Connellsville will face Latrobe in the semifinals at noon Saturday at Peters Township.

Quaker Valley 48, Laurel 26 – Quaker Valley (16-3) advanced to the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals with a win over Laurel (9-3). The Spartans defeated Knoch, 60-9, in the first round. Quaker Valley will meet Burgettstown in the semifinals at noon Saturday at Chartiers-Houston.

Burgettstown 60, Southmoreland 9 – Burgettstown (14-0) rolled to the WPIAL semifinals with a quarterfinal win over Southmoreland (10-6). The Scotties beat Freedom, 48-19, in the first round.

Nonsection

Ringgold 45, McGuffey 25 – Chase Capicatto (172) and Isaiah Dale (145) won by major decision and Danny Verscharen (106) won by tech fall as Ringgold (7-9) beat McGuffey (4-7). Jake Conroy (189), Brandon Wilcher (215), Logan Trilli (113), Noah Mimidis (120) and Jack Duncan (126) all recorded pins for the Rams. Henry Hess (285) won by decision and Brennen Mullins (152), Kyle Brookman (160) and Cameron Dames (132) all scored pins for the Highlanders.

Riverview 36, Woodland Hills 18 – Aidan Draxinger (145) won by fall for Riverview (6-7) in a nonsection match. Arthur Probola (138), Russel Preisach (189) and Jason Lewis (215) had pins for the Wolverines (1-18).

Boys basketball

Armstrong 63, Indiana 39 – Jack Valesak had 23 points and Cadin Olsen scored 16 to pace Armstrong (9-10, 3-7) in a Section 4-5A win. Evan Brocious led Indiana (3-14, 0-9) with 16 points.

Bishop Canevin 78, Berlin-BrothersValley 53 – Kai Spears scored 17 points, Amari Evans added 14 and Kevaughn Price finished with 13 as Bishop Canevin (12-4) beat Berlin-BrothersValley in nonsection play.

California 69, Frazier 46 – Cory Frick scored 20 points, Hunter Assad put up 14 and Fred Conard added 10 to lead California (5-12, 3-4) to a Section 4-2A win over Frazier (0-17, 0-7). Keyshaun Thompson scored 14 points and Logan Butcher added 12 for the Commodores.

Derry 69, Mt. Pleasant 43 – Gabe Carbonara led all scorers with 20 points, Nate Papuga added 17 and Tyson Webb finished with 16 as Derry (4-11, 1-9) beat Mt. Pleasant (3-16, 1-8) in a nonsection game. Dante Giallonardo scored 14 and Aden Wisnewski added 12 points for the Vikings.

Kiski Area 64, Freeport 45 – Isaiah Gonzalez scored 24 points and Lebryn Smith had 13 to help Kiski Area (13-6) earn a nonsection win at Freeport (12-7). Vinnie Clark led the Yellowjackets with 16 points and Ben Lane contributed 11.

Leechburg 72, Neighborhood Academy 61 – Eli Rich recorded a double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds to help Leechburg (13-3, 4-2) defeat Neighborhood Academy (9-5, 4-2) in Section 3-A. Braylan Lovelace had 18 points for the Blue Devils and Marcus Cleveland scored 17.

Mapletown 93, Hundred (WV) 40 – Landan Stevenson and Braden McIntire each scored 24 points and Cohen Stout chipped in with 11 as Mapletwon (8-6, 3-3) won a nonsection game. Colton Whitehill scored 15 points for Hundred (WV).

Mohawk 55, Freedom 52 – Jay Wrona had 23 points and sank five 3-pointers to help Mohawk (5-13) edge Freedom (2-15) in a nonsection game. Keigan Hopper added 11 points for the Warriors. Carter Huggins had 21 points and made five 3s for the Bulldogs.

Northgate 63, Riverside 58 – Josh Williams led all scorers with 25 points and Stevie Goetz followed with 23 points and four 3-pointers as Northgate (10-9, 2-6) beat Riverside (5-14, 0-8) in nonsection play. Bo Fornataro put up 15, Rob Janis added 14, and Nate Kolesar finished with 12 points on four 3-pointers for the Panthers.

Seton LaSalle 77, Steel Valley 67 – Connor Spratt scored 26 points and made six 3-pointers while John Wilkins put up 18 and J.R. Jones added 11 for Seton LaSalle (15-2) in a nonsection win. Makhai Valentine led all scorers with 35 points, Cruce Brookins finished with 12 and Emmett Harris chipped in 11 for Steel Valley (9-9).

Sewickley Academy 53, Hillel Academy 25 — Nolan Donnelly scored 20 points and Sean Donohoe added 11 to lead Sewickley Academy (3-9) to a nonsection win.

Summit Academy 57, Apollo-Ridge 55 – Kylee Davenport scored 17 points to help Summit Academy (4-6) slip past Apollo-Ridge (4-14) in a nonsection game. Gage Johnston had 33 points and eight 3-pointers for the Vikings.

Girls basketball

Apollo-Ridge 61, Springdale 32 – Brinley Toland led all scorers with 18 points, Sydney McCray added 12 and Sophie Yard scored 10 for Apollo-Ridge (13-3, 4-2) in their Section 4-2A win. Grace Gent scored nine points for Springdale (4-12, 2-5).

Aquinas Academy 46, Leechburg 9 – Emily Fisher scored 10 points and Aquinas Academy (9-5, 5-0) prevailed in Section 3-A. Maddie Mastalerz scored seven points for Leechburg (0-13, 0-4).

Beaver 58, Central Valley 24 – Payton List put up 26 points and Lauren Hansen scored 12 as Beaver (10-4, 7-2) beat Central Valley (5-11, 4-6) in Section 2-4A. Abrielle Underwood scored nine points to lead the Warriors.

Belle Vernon 67, Gateway 63 (OT) – Viva Kreis scored 23 points with five 3-pointers, and Jenna Dawson and Farrah Reader added 14 apiece as Belle Vernon (15-4, 8-2) won a close nonsection game against Gateway (2-12, 2-7). Alexis Margolis led all scorers with 32 points including four 3-pointers and Marino Grado chipped in with 10 for the Gators.

Carmichaels 41, Beth-Center 15 – Sophia Zalar scored 24 points and Ashton Batis had 13 to lead Carmichaels (6-10, 3-5) past Beth-Center (2-15, 0-8) in Section 2-2A.

Charleroi 57, Bentworth 19 – McKenna DeUnger had 17 points, Riley Jones netted 16 and Avery Pendo scored 10 for Charleroi (11-8, 5-4) in a Section 2-3A win over Bentworth (5-12, 2-8).

Fort Cherry 42, Carlynton 30 – Raney Staub led all scorers with 20 points as Fort Cherry (12-6, 5-2) beat Carlynton (6-10, 1-6) in Section 3-2A play. Amari Turner scored 11 points for the Cougars.

Freedom 46, Laurel 29 – Shaye Bailey paced Freedom (13-4, 7-2) with 18 points and Julz Mohrbacher chipped in 12 in a Section 1-3A win. Danielle Pontius had eight points for Laurel (10-7, 5-4).

Keystone Oaks 38, South Allegheny 31 – Eriona Neal scored 18 points for Keystone Oaks (10-8, 7-3) and Jamie Riggs scored 12 for South Allegheny (7-12, 4-7) in Keystone Oaks’ Section 3-3A win.

Ligonier Valley 46, Jeannette 8 – Madison Marinchak scored 25 points while Lyla Barr pulled in 12 rebounds and Sydnee Foust grabbed 13 boards as Ligonier Valley (2-15) beat Jeannette (0-15) in nonsection play.

North Catholic 54, Ellwood City 40 – Alayna Rocco had 19 points and Anna Waskiwiecz and Tori Drevna scored 13 each to help North Catholic (13-4,10-0) top Ellwood City (7-10, 4-6) in Section 1-3A.

Sewickley Academy 37, Hillel Academy 0 – Virginia Gaither scored 15 points to lead Sewickley Academy (5-6) to a nonsection win against Hillel Academy.

South Park 61, Seton LaSalle 58 – Nora Ozimek scored 21 points and Maddie Graham added 11 as South Park (15-3) won a nonsection contest against Seton LaSalle (13-5). Allory Daly led all scorers with 27 points with five 3-pointers and Ava Dursi followed with 19 for the Rebels.

Thomas Jefferson 49, Ringgold 20 – Graci Fairman scored 13 points and Laekyn Finn put up 12 to lead Thomas Jefferson (10-9, 7-3) to a Section 3-5A win over Ringgold (5-13, 2-7).

Union 42, Wilmington 15 – Kelly Cleaver scored eight points and pulled in 10 rebounds to lead Union (17-0) to a nonsection victory over Wilmington.