PIAA Class AAA wrestling finals to feature 3 all-WPIAL matchups
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Saturday, March 9, 2019 | 11:37 AM
Seneca Valley’s Alejandro Herrera celebrates defeating Karl Shindledecker of Chambersburg in the 113-pound Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Herrera, the returning PIAA champion, will face Franklin Regional’s Finn Solomon in the final.
Canon-McMillan’s Gerrit Nijenhuis Maximus Hale of Downington West in the 170-pound Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Hempfield’s Kyle Burkholder walks off the mats after losing to Franklin Regional’s Finn Solomon in the 113-pound Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Franklin Regional’s Finn Solomon celebrates with coach Matt Lebe after defeating fellow Westmoreland County WPIAL opponent Kyle Burkholder of Hempfield in the Class AAA 113-pound semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Solomon faces returning champion Alejandro Herrera of Seneca Valley in the championship final.
Kiski’s Darren Miller wrestles Patrick Gould of East Stroudsburg South in the 126-pound Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Franklin Regional’s Colton Camacho advanced to the final in 126-pound Class AAA and will face Kiski’s Miller in the championship bout.
Franklin Regional’s Colton Camacho reels in Canon-McMillan’s Kenny Hayman in the 126-pound Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Camacho defeated Hayman and will face Kiski Area’s Darren Miller in the championship bout.
Kiski Area’s Cam Connor raises a fist in victory over Bellefonte’s Ethan Richner for the 152-pound bout in the Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Connor will face Daniel Mancini of Owen J. Roberts for the Class AAA 152-pound championship.
Norwin’s Kurtis Phipps bleeds from the head while wrestling Shane Hanson-Ashwo of Council Rock South in the 120-pound Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Phipps faces Sean Pierson of Nazareth in the 120-pound Class AAA championship.
Franklin Regional’s Carter Dibert wrestles Connellsville’s Mason Prinkey in the Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Dibert won 10-1 by major decision and moves on to face Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell in the 106-pound final.
Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell wrestles Kyle Waterman of Council Rock South in the Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Franklin Regional’s Carter Dibert wrestles Connellsville’s Mason Prinkey in the Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Dibert won 10-1 by major decision and moves on to face Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell in the 106-pound final.
Franklin Regional’s Carter Dibert wrestles Connellsville’s Mason Prinkey in the Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Dibert won 10-1 by major decision and moves on to face Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell in the 106-pound final.
Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell wrestles Kyle Waterman of Council Rock South in the Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Chappell defeated Waterman 2-1 by decision and moves on to face Franklin Regional’s Carter Dibert in the Class AAA final.
Upper St. Clair’s Jake Slinger defeats Michael Wolfgram of Central York in the 285-pound Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Slinger moves on to the Class AAA final against Kuwuan DeBoe of Cathedral Prep.
Franklin Regional’s Carter Dibert wrestles Connellsville’s Mason Prinkey in the 106-pound Class AAA semifinals during the PIAA state wrestling tournament on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Dibert won 10-1 by major decision and moves on to face Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell in the 106-pound final.
HERSHEY — The state wrestling finals will feature some WPIAL tournament reprisals.
Three bouts featuring two WPIAL wrestlers will highlight the championship matches of the PIAA Class AAA tournament, which begin at 7 p.m. Saturday at Hershey’s Giant Center.
The three all-WPIAL bouts — Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell vs. Franklin Regional’s Carter Dibert at 106 pounds, Seneca Valley’s Alejandro Herrera-Rondon vs. Franklin Regional’s Finn Solomon at 113 pounds and Franklin Regional’s Colton Camacho vs. Kiski Area’s Darren Miller at 126 — all are rematches from last week’s WPIAL Class AA tournament.
“Obviously, we’re going into that one knowing what he’s going to do, and he’s knowing what I’m going to do,” said Chappell, who beat Dibert, 5-1, in overtime in the WPIAL finals at Canon-McMillan. “It’s going to be tough.
“We’re friends, actually. It makes it a little difficult, but it’s going to be fun, I know that for sure.”
In addition to the three all-WPIAL bouts, five more wrestlers will compete for state titles after winning semifinal matches Saturday morning: Norwin’s Kurtis Phipps at 120 pounds, Kiski Area’s Cam Connor at 152, Canon-McMillan’s Gerrit Nijenhuis at 170, Mt. Lebanon’s Luke Stout at 182 and Upper St. Clair’s Jake Slinger at heavyweight.
The semifinals began with Chappell riding out Council Rock South’s Kyle Waterman in an ultimate tiebreaker overtime period, earning a 2-1 victory, while Dibert beat Connellsville’s Mason Prinkey by 10-1 major decision.
Herrera-Rondon, a defending PIAA champion, won a 6-0 decision in his semifinal match. Solomon overcame an early takedown to beat Hempfield’s Kyle Burkholder, 3-2, in the section rivals’ fourth meeting of the season. Burkholder beat Solomon twice during the season, while Solomon claimed a win by injury default.
“I don’t know if he really wanted to wrestle me, but I wanted to wrestle him,” Solomon said. “I wanted to get after him. I lost to him twice, but I thought I could beat him.”
Herrera-Rondon beat Solomon, 10-1, at the Powerade Christmas Tournament and 3-0 in the WPIAL semifinals.
Camacho beat Canon-McMillan’s Kenny Hayman, 4-1, in the semifinals and Miller beat East Stroudsburg’s Patrick Gould to set up their fourth meeting of the season. Miller won the first two matches, 4-3, in the finals of the Eastern Area Invitational and Section 1-AAA tournaments, but Camacho claimed a 4-2 decision in the WPIAL finals.
Phipps, who is attempting to become Norwin’s first PIAA wrestling champion, beat Council Rock South’s Shane Hanson-Ashworth, 5-3, in overtime with a reversal in the second tiebreaker period.
Connor beat Bellefonte’s Ethan Richner, 9-3, in the semifinals at 152. Nijenhuis, who lost a controversial match in last season’s PIAA semifinals, left no doubt this time with an 8-1 decision over Maximus Hale of Downington West.
“You don’t want to dwell on something like (last year),” Nijenhuis said. “You go back to the drawing board, come back better from it. I feel like that’s exactly what I did, and gave myself a really good opportunity to come away with a gold medal.”
Stout earned his spot in the finals with a 19-4 technical fall victory over Unionville’s Tyler Mousaw, while Slinger beat Central York’s Michael Wolfgram, 9-4, to set up a heavyweight championship bout against a fellow undefeated wrestler, Cathedral Prep’s Kawaun DeBoe.
The marquee matchup of the semifinals came at 132 pounds, between North Hills junior Sam Hillegas and Northampton’s Julian Chlebove, both two-time PIAA champions. Chlebove used a second-period reversal to beat Hillegas, 2-1, dealing Hillegas just the second loss of his high school career.
Other WPIAL wrestlers who fell into the consolation bracket after semifinal losses included Prinkey, Burkholder and Hayman; Latrobe’s Gabe Willochell, who like Hillegas was defeated in the 132-pound semis; and Hempfield heavyweight Isaiah Vance, who lost to DeBoe.
Championship and matches for third/fourth, fifth/sixth and seventh/eighth place will begin at 7.
Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Doug at 412-388-5830, dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter .
Tags: Canon-McMillan, Franklin Regional, Kiski School, Mt. lebanon, Norwin, Seneca Valley, Upper St. Clair
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