WPIAL Class AAA Individual Wrestling – Day One Recap

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, February 26, 2015 | 11:47 PM

The biggest news from the first day of the AAA WPIAL individual Championships happened before any wrestlers even touched the mat. That was when news broke that the top seed at 126 pounds, Gus Solomon of Franklin Regional, would scratch from the tournament. Solomon, who was the top ranked wrester in the state at 126 pounds, will be out the remainder of the postseason due to a shoulder injury. The other big scratch came at 106 pounds where Daniel Florentino of Peters Township, who was the number four seed, will not wrestle in the tournament.

On the mats the wrestling went as expected minus a few upsets on Thursday. The first three were minor. One came at 145 pounds, where six seed David Badamo of North Hills dropped a 3-2 decision to Bryce Butler of Connellsville. The second came at 170, where six seed DiMantae Bronaugh of Hopewell lost to Vinny Romano of Kiski Area 3-0. The third was at 182, where Mike Mahon of Fox Chapel pinned five seed Tommy Provance of Connellsville in 5:18.

The two biggest upsets though came in the heavier weights. At 220 pounds, number four seed Stephon Peake of Hopewell dropped an overtime decision to Jake Pickup of Franklin Regional, 3-1. The other upset was at 285 pounds, where number two seed Brendan Furman of Canon McMillan was pinned in 25 seconds by Miguel Cobbs of Woodland Hills.

Action gets back underway Friday at 5:30 PM, with quarterfinals and the first round of consolations being wrestled at Penn Hills High School.

Quarterfinal Pairings:

106
Caleb Morris (Waynesburg) vs. Louis Newell (Seneca Valley)
Alex Salas (Pine Richland) vs. Jason Miller (Norwin)
Vincent Distefanis (Hempfield) vs. Brady Sherback (Latrobe)
Job Chishko (Penn Trafford) vs. Logan Macri (Canon McMillan)

113
Devin Brown (Franklin Regional) vs. Dom Devine (Thomas Jefferson)
Alex Lynch (Seneca Valley) vs. Michael Kalosky (Trinity)
Noah Levett (Kiski Area) vs. Hunter Baxter (Pine Richland)
Mason Schaefer (West Allegheny) vs. Gage Curry (North Hills)

120
Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional) vs. Tim Hritsko (Canon McMillan)
Cole Rush (Waynesburg) vs. Chris Eddins (Greensburg Salem)
Kevin Miller (Norwin) vs. Zeke Beatty (Laurel Highlands)
Doug Gudenburr (Ringgold) vs. Zachary Hartman (Belle Vernon)

126
Mike Heinl (Shaler) vs. Luke Kemerer (Hempfield)
Logan Henderson (Waynesburg) vs. Joe Blumer (Kiski Area)
Tyler Kenney (Connellsville) vs. Camden Fotenot (Canon McMillan)
Phil Mary (Peters Township) vs. Ethan McCoy (Latrobe)

132
Luke Pletcher (Latrobe) vs. Neiko Kuntz (Belle Vernon)
Cam Reynolds (Trinity) vs. Ian Moritz (Fox Chapel)
Josh Ridgeway (Norwin) vs. Tommy Zummo (Plum)
Jake Hinkson (North Allegheny) vs. AC Headlee (Waynesburg)

138
Sam Krivus (Hempfield) vs. Gianni Fera (Central Catholic)
David Kelly (Pine Richland) vs. Mitchell Hartman (Belle Vernon)
Shaun WIlson (Waynesburg) vs. Nick Burkett (Thomas Jefferson)
Dom Giannangeli (Franklin Regional) vs. Cameron Coy (Penn Trafford)

145
Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional) vs. Michael Risnear (Penn Trafford)
Brandon Ingram (McKeesport) vs. Austin Bonacci (West Mifflin)
Micah Kusturiss (Canon McMillan) vs. Bryce Butler (Connellsville)
Jake Willochell (Latrobe) vs. Jarod Verkleeren (Belle Vernon)

152
Vincenzo Joseph (Central Catholic) vs. Noah Wright (Moon)
Derek Verkleeren (Belle Vernon) vs. Nino Bonaccorsi (Bethel Park)
Ethan Smith (Latrobe) vs. Shane Piper (Waynesburg)
Jake Gerard (Ringgold) vs. Josh Maruca (Franklin Regional)

160
Josh Shields (Franklin Regional) vs. Jimmy Pierce (Laurel Highlands)
Zach Mattucci (Greensburg Salem) vs. Brendan Burnham (Pine Richland)
Nate Hall (West Allegheny) vs. Tony Palumbo (Central Catholic)
Jeremiah Bortmas (Butler) vs. Paul Dunn (Bethel Park)

170
TeShan Campbell (Penn Hills) vs. Brandon Olszewski (Hampton)
Brooks Wilding (Upper St. Clair) vs. Austin Leon (Seneca Valley)
Jake Shaffer (Latrobe) vs. Vinny Romano (Kiski Area)
Jake Woodley (North Allegheny) vs. Austin Bell (Belle Vernon)

182
Kellan Stout (Mount Lebanon) vs. Michael McAleavey (Peters Township)
Mike Mahon (Fox Chapel) vs. Colin McCracken (Waynesburg)
Tommy James (Canon McMillan) vs. Milton Kobaly (Belle Vernon)
Matt McGillick (Penn Trafford) vs. Josh Bahr (West Allegheny)

195
Drew Phipps (Norwin) vs. Joe Gluzman (West Allegheny)
Eli Grape (Upper St. Clair) vs. Nathan Barcaskey (Moon)
Chad Kuhn (Kiski Area) vs. Bakhtiyar Zaynullaev (Mount Lebanon)
Travis Schmeling (Latrobe) vs. Zach Smith (North Allegheny)

220
Tyler Worthing (Kiski Area) vs. Dylan Davis (Latrobe)
Derek Berberick (Greensburg Salem) vs. Jake Pickup (Franklin Regional)
Robert West (Trinity) vs. Michael Fine (Belle Vernon)
Matt Butler (Connellsville) vs. Fred Mantsch (Hempfield)

285
Tyler Mears (Latrobe) vs. Billy Korber (Belle Vernon)
Isaac Reid (Kiski Area) vs. Louis Mauro (Connellsville)
Zach Jablonski (Montour) vs. Chase Logan (Hempfield)
Hayden Rice (Norwin) vs. Miguel Cobbs (Woodland Hills)