High school roundup for Jan. 15, 2020: Connellsville clinches first place with comeback win

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, January 16, 2020 | 12:32 AM

Jared Keslar (145) won by technical fall to give his team the lead for good and George Schultz (152) clinched the victory with a pin as Connellsville rallied past Thomas Jefferson for a 35-29 win in a battle of unbeatens to claim the Section 2A-AAA title Wednesday night.

Logan Danielson recorded a pin at heavyweight as Thomas Jefferson (4-1) jumped out to a 22-0 lead. Chad Ozias (106) and Mason Pinkney (113) had pins to kick off the comeback for Connellsville (5-0).

Penn-Trafford 48, Central Catholic 18 — Boaz Chishko (126), Ryan Auel (132), Lucas Paszek (138) and Eli Glaser (145) recorded consecutive falls to stake Penn-Trafford (2-3) to a big lead in a Section 1A-AAA victory over Central Catholic (0-5). Tony Zona (170), Scott Coy (195) and Peyton Kelly (285) also won by fall for the Warriors.

Norwin 74, Plum 3 — Slater McGonicle (132), John Altieri (145), Frankie Gill (160) and Josh Page (170) delivered pins in the middle of the lineup to lead Norwin (4-1) to a decisive victory in Section 1A-AAA. Conner Henning (113), Luke Passarelli (120) and Evan Kline (285) also had bonus point wins for the Knights. Cole Yocca (126) won for Plum (1-4).

Latrobe 67, Penn Hills 3 — Enzo Angelicchio (126), Gabe Willochell (132) and Tyler Lynch (195) recorded pins to lead Latrobe (4-1) to a win and a second-place finish in Section 1B-AAA. Rickey Armstrong (145) and Sam Snyder (170) also won for the Wildcats. Steve Tucibet (120) won for Penn Hills (1-4).

Gateway 45, Woodland Hills 18 — Evan Whiteside (120) and Floyd McKeena (152) won matches to lead Gateway (2-3) to a Section 1B-AAA win. Arthur Probola (138) and Keyshawn Frazier (182) had pins for Woodland Hills (0-5).

West Mifflin 63, Belle Vernon 18 — Howard Congdon (195), Christian Michaels (120), Tony Salopek (138) and Gavin Russo (160) as West Mifflin (3-2), the third-place finisher in Section 2A-AAA, topped belle Vernon (0-5).

Upper St. Clair 43, Baldwin 21 — Ben Cedar (138), Dan Kyle (145), Damian Foust (170) and Jaden Keating (195) had pins to lead Upper St. Clair (2-3) to a Section 2B-AAA win. John Starusko (126) and Dillon Digiannurio (152) won by fall for Baldwin (0-5).

Seneca Valley 56, Pine-Richland 15 — Liam Volk-Klos (170), Marshall Adamson (182) and Conor Hayes (195) recorded consecutive pins to spark No. 2 Seneca Valley (5-0) to a Section 3A-AAA victory. Cole Spencer (152) and Kelin Laffey (132) won by fall for Pine-Richland (3-2).

North Allegheny 51, Hampton 25 — Adam Rohan (132), Maximus Stedeford (138) and Freddy Junko (145) strung together consecutive pins to help North Allegheny (4-0) break open a close match and clinch first place in Section 3B-AAA. Grant Mackay (160) and Nick Marcenelle (195) also won by fall for the Tigers. Corey Scherer (182) and Zachary Wright (126) had pins for Hampton (4-1).

Fox Chapel 40, North Hills 39 — Fox Chapel (5-5, 2-3) survived a late rally from North Hills (4-5, 2-3) in a Section 3B-AAA match. The Foxes earned wins by pinfall in four matches from Josh Miller (152 pounds), Luke O’Connor (182), Eddie Farrell (220) and Jordan White (285). Fox Chapel also won two matches by forfeit.

Waynesburg 55, Trinity 18 — Cole Homet (132) and Wyatt Henson (138) opened the match with pins as No. 1 Waynesburg (4-0) clinched the Section 4B-AAA title. Luca Augustine (160) and Eli Makel (170) strung together back-to-back falls as Waynesburg (4-0) jumped out to a 34-0 lead. Cole Whitmer accepted a forfeit at 220 pounds for his 100th career win for Trinity (3-1).

Fort Cherry 36, Washington 33 — Julian Moore (113) won by fall at the next-to-last weight to lock up a victory for Fort Cherry (2-2) in Section 1A-AA. Jacob Merriman (126), Nasier Sutton (132), Jake Tkach (145) and Robbie West (220) also had pins for Fort Cherry. Heavyweight Cameron Carter-Green won by fall for Washington (0-4).

McGuffey 45, Beth-Center 36 — Ethan Barr (152) and Seth Burgdolt recorded pins in the last two matches to lead McGuffey (4-0) to a comeback win in a showdown for the Section 1B-AA title. Kyle McCollum (120), Tyler Fisher (126) and Tyler Berish (132) had consecutive pins as Beth-Center (3-1) took a 36-24 lead. McGuffey’s comeback started with a major decision from Rocco Ferraro (145) and a disqualification win for Eric Donnelly over Trevor Pettit due to an illegal slam in the first period.

Laurel 59, Ellwood City 24 — Nick Moore (132) and Chase Tinstman (145) recorded pins and Aiden Pearce (126) won by technical fall to help Laurel (5-0) finish unbeaten in Section 2A-AA. Ryan Nazari (138), Rodney Grimes (220) and Ben Gallenz (113) had pins for Ellwood City (3-2).

Blackhawk 34, Central Valley 33 — Andrew Culley (220) won by fall and Peyton Hastings added a major decision to help Blackhawk (2-3) to a Section 2A-AA win. Nate Stiteler (182) had a pin for Central Valley (1-4).

Hopewell 30, Carlynton 25 — Gianni Bertucci (132) had a pin to help Hopewell (3-2) to a Section 2B-AA win. Bryce Rodriguez (126) and Chase Brandebura (106) won by fall for Carlynton (1-4).

Highlands 57, Summit Academy 18 — Highlands clinched a spot in the team playoffs for the first time since 2006 with a 3A-AA victory. The Golden Rams (13-2, 4-1) finished second place behind Burrell in the Section 3A-AA standings. Cyler Strader (113 pounds), Luckas Simpson (126), Brock White (160), Jeremiah Saunders (220), and Jeremiah Nelson (285) won via pin for Highlands. Blake Clark (145) earned a 13-11 decision over Summit Academy’s Jamier Griffin. Shquincy Smart-Johnson (170) won by fall for Summit Academy (5-6, 3-2), and Demetrius Murphy and Ishmael Carabello won decisions.

South Allegheny 42, Riverview 18 — Riverview (0-5, 0-5) won all three matches that were contested, but South Allegheny (3-6, 1-3) received seven victories via forfeits in a Section 3A-AA win. Isaac Murphy (132 pounds), Giovanni Savko (160) and Ethan Zahner (182) won by fall for the Raiders.

Elizabeth Forward 46, Yough 30 — Donovan Woytsek (120), Ryan Michaels (126) and Caden Brock (132) recorded pins in the final three matches to lead Section 3B-AA champ Elizabeth Forward (5-0) to a comeback victory. Lee Ritzer (138), Cole Castronis (145), Glenn Christner (170), Vinny Davidson (220) and Shane Momyer (113) had pins for Yough (1-4), which got out to a 30-28 lead. Noah Hunnel (152), Nick Hunnel (160), Ethan Cain (195) and Nick Murphy (285) also won by fall for Elizabeth Forward.

Mt. Pleasant 42, Derry 37 — Noah Gnibus recorded a first-period pin to give Mt. Pleasant a 42-37 victory over Derry in a back-and-forth match Wednesday night with third place in Section 3B-AA on the line. Kyle Jones (152) and Pat Brewer (170) had back-to-back pins as the Vikings (3-2) took an early 12-7 lead. Eric Catone (195), Colton McCallen (120) and Tyler Cymmerman (132) won by fall as Derry (2-3) took a 37-36 lead into the final bout. Colton Zellmore (285), Luke Geibig (113) and Damian George (126) also had pins for Mt. Pleasant.

Southmoreland 41, Frazier 18 — Dakota Kaylor (106), Tristan Ice (113), Henry Miller (132), Nick Yeskey (152), Austin Mcbeth (160), Tyler Constantine (170) and Bret Huffman (220) recorded wins as Southmoreland (4-1) clinched second place in Section 3B-AA with a win over Frazier (0-5).

South Park 48, Jefferson-Morgan 24 — Noah Pritchard (132) won by fall to help South Park to a nonsection win. James Larkin (182) and Mya Flores (106) had pins for Jefferson-Morgan.

Boys basketball

Aliquippa 56, Hopewell 43 — Zuriah Fisher scored nine points to lead Aliquippa (8-6). Jacob McGovern led Hopewell (6-9) with 16 points.

Avonworth 63, New Brighton 61 — Andre Gannon hit for 33 points to carry Avonworth (7-6). Jamison Ahmed led New Brighton (2-12) with 23.

Ringgold 75, Frazier 39 — Luke Wyvratt scored 21 points and Chris Peccon added 20 to lead Ringgold (9-5). Josh Skotnicki had 11 for Frazier (0-13).

California 63, Beth-Center 47 — Led by 28 points from Malik Ramsey, 12 from Nate O’Savage and 10 from Kwondre’ Porter, California (7-7) won a nonsection matchup. Andrew Bower and Cameron Palmer had 12 points for Beth-Center (5-8).

Chartiers-Houston 66, Jefferson-Morgan 53 — Alijah Vaden scored 22 points and Evan Simpson added 15 to lead Chartiers-Houston (9-6). Tahj Jacobs led Jefferson-Morgan (4-11) with 25.

Mohawk 61, Beaver County Christian 41 — Brett Bobin scored 18 and Josh Kurtz added 16 for Mohawk (4-12). James Condon had 16 for Beaver County Christian.

Ligonier Valley 89, Purchase Line 57 — Led by 22 points from Matthew Marinchak, 21 from Kyle Silk and 20 from Michael Marinchak, Ligonier Valley (12-2, 8-0) won in the Heritage Conference. Hunter Antisider had 16 for Purchase Line.

Riverview 72, Brentwood 61 (OT) — Riverview (7-8) outscored Class 2A No. 5 Brentwood, 19-8, in overtime on its way to a nonsection win. Aiden Sebastian had 22 points for the Raiders and connected on five 3-pointers. Gideon Deasy added 16 points, and Nate Black scored 14. Chase Rosing led Brentwood (10-3) with 17 points.

New Castle 88, Freeport 40 — Garrett Schaffhauser and Vinnie Clark scored 12 points apiece for Freeport (3-9) in a nonsection loss at New Castle (8-5). Mike Wells had 24 points for the Red Hurricane, and Sheldon Cox scored 21.

Belle Vernon 67, Carrick 53 — Devin Whitlock scored 19 points, and Mitch Pohlot added 16 points and eight rebounds to lead Belle Vernon (11-4) to a nonsection win. Cam Nusser added 15 points, sinking three 3-pointers. Ashton Gianetti led Carrick (3-1) with 16 points.

Girls basketball

Lincoln Park 53, Central Valley 50 — Taylor Smith had 21 points and Paige Brown added 19 to lead Lincoln Park (9-4). Christiane Frye had 26 for Central Valley (10-2).

Ringgold 52, Steel Valley 50 — Nya Adams scored 22 points and Martina Costa added 10 as Ringgold (7-8) rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit. Abby Gongaware and Kelsey Salopek had 15 each for Steel Valley (3-1).

Ellwood City 53, Union 25 — Chloe Sturgeon scored 15 points and Marie Ionelli added 13 for Ellwood City (2-11). Zoe Lepri led Union (2-12) with nine.

Carmichaels 55, Mapletown 27 — Sophia Zalar scored 21 points and Kylie Sinn had 14 for Carmichaels (4-11). Morgan Williamson led Mapletown (1-11) with 12.

Apollo-Ridge 51, Winchester Thurston 28 — Rylee Eaton scored a game-high 19 points for Apollo-Ridge, which topped Class 2A No. 2 Winchester Thurston (10-2) for a nonsection win. Madi Marks added 12 points for the Vikings (7-6). Nadia Moore led Winchester Thurston with 18 points.

Aquinas Academy 40, Cheswick Christian Academy 31 — Daisy Hamilton scored 13 points for Cheswick Christian Academy (7-4) in a nonsection loss. Isabella Hite led Aquinas Academy (6-6) with 14 points.

Tags: Connellsville, Thomas Jefferson