Wrestling notebook: Team playoff picture will clear up with big matches Wednesday

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, January 23, 2024 | 8:16 PM

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Wednesday will be interesting for wrestling fans as teams try to secure a spot in the upcoming WPIAL and PIAA tournaments.

The regular season ends Wednesday, and the WPIAL wrestling committee will meet Thursday to set up the Class 3A and 2A tournaments, which begin Monday and resume Wednesday.

The WPIAL finals for both classifications will be Feb. 3 at Peters Township. The PIAA championship is Feb. 8-10 at Giant Center in Hershey.

Here’s a look at what teams have clinched and what teams are in the running:

Class 3A

Section 1: Fox Chapel (4-0), Plum (3-1) and Kiski Area (2-2) are in.

Section 2: North Allegheny (4-0) is in. North Hills (3-1), Seneca Valley (2-2), Pine-Richland (2-2) and Butler (1-3) are in the running. North Hills hosts Seneca Valley, and Pine-Richland is at Butler (1-3). Tiebreaker could be used to decide second and third.

Section 3: Franklin Regional (4-0) is in. Norwin (3-1), Penn-Trafford (2-2) and Ringgold (2-2) are battling for second and third. Norwin at Penn-Trafford is the key match.

Section 4: Connellsville (3-0), Latrobe (2-1) and Hempfield (2-1) are in. Hempfield and Connellsville battle for first place.

Section 5: Trinity (4-0) is in. West Allegheny (3-1), South Fayette (2-2) and Moon (2-2) battle for the other two spots.

Section 6: Bethel Park (4-0) is in. Baldwin (3-1), Peters Township (3-1) and Canon-McMIllan (2-2) are in the running. If Canon-McMillan defeats Peters Township and Bethel Park defeats Baldwin, a three-way tie will occur. If Canon-McMillan wins eight of the 13 matches, the Big Macs are second and Peters Township third because of the total number of matches won. If the Big Macs win and win only seven, they are out and Baldwin is in.

Class 2A

Section 1: Burgettstown (6-0), Bentworth (5-1) and McGuffey (5-1) are in.

Section 2: Mt. Pleasant (5-0), Frazier (4-1) and Southmoreland (4-2) are in.

Section 3: Quaker Valley (5-0) in. Montour (3-1) is in with a win against Carlynton on Tuesday. Avonworth (3-2) is in with a win. Carlynton (2-2) needs to win and get help.

Section 4: Freedom (6-0), Hopewell (5-1) and Central Valley (4-2) are in.

Section 5: Highlands (5-0), Hampton (4-1) and Laurel (4-1) are in. Hampton faces Laurel for second place.

Section 6: Burrell (5-0) and Derry (4-1) are in. Indiana (3-2) is in with a win against Valley or a Ligonier Valley loss to Derry.

Back in the lineup

Three wrestlers have returned from injuries.

Canon-McMillan welcomed back Tanner Mizenko, Bodie Morgan returned for Trinity and three-time WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A champion Rune Lawrence is back at Frazier.

Sophomore Jonah Erdely has been out of Frazier’s lineup since the Powerade Tournament.

Looking for four

Thomas Jefferson junior Bode Marlow captured his third Allegheny County Wrestling Tournament title with a convincing win against Baldwin’s Keith Mincin.

He has a chance to become the sixth wrestler for be a four-time champion.

Bedford showdown

Several WPIAL teams will head to Bedford to compete in the Thomas Automotive tournament Friday and Saturday. It is one of the top Class 2A tournaments in the state.

Heading east are Burrell, Chartiers-Houston, Derry, Frazier and West Greene.

Grove City will host the Fred Bell Tournament. The WPIAL teams entered are Belle Vernon, Central Valley, Fort Cherry, Hampton, Laurel, McGuffey, Montour, Moon, Pine-Richland, South Side and Trinity.

A moment of silence

Before the finals of the Allegheny County Wrestling Tournament Sunday at Fox Chapel, a moment of silence was held for official Jim Sterner, who died recently. Sterner was a wrestling official for 40 years.

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.