Latrobe junior Luke Willochell looks to join impressive list

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 | 6:36 PM

Before Latrobe junior Luke Willochell can think about joining Frazier senior Rune Lawrence as the next four-time WPIAL champion, he has to take care of business Friday and Saturday at the WPIAL Class 3A championships.

Willochell is the only wrestler in this weekend’s tournament at Canon-McMillan with a shot at being a three-time winner, and that task won’t be easy.

Rival and No. 2-seed Tyler Kapusta (39-5), a senior at Franklin Regional, is one of the wrestlers in the 121-pound weight class seeking to derail Willochell’s dreams.

The others are No. 3-seed Connor Smith (24-6) of Seneca Valley, No. 4 Dom Canali (36-8) of Trinity, No. 5 Collier Hartman (23-7) of Canon-McMillan and No. 6 Cael Yanek (34-6) of Moon.

“There are a lot of good wrestlers in the tournament,” Willochell said. “Tyler and I are close. It’s always a tough battle.”

Willochell (34-1) defeated Kapusta, 5-4, to win the 114-pound title in 2023 and he beat him 11-6 in sudden victory at the section tournament at Norwin. Willochell is 5-0 against Kapusta.

Lawrence became the 32nd wrestler in the WPIAL to be a four-time champion. Bentworth senior Chris Vargo and Burrell senior Cooper Hornack became the 86th and 87th three-time champions.

He is one of four returning champions. The others are Thomas Jefferson junior Maddox Shaw at 139, Hempfield senior Eli Carr at 152 and Pine-Richland junior Vaughn Spencer at 172. Two 2023 champions are not in the tournament.

Canon-McMillan senior Tanner Mizenko (107) and West Allegheny senior Shawn Taylor (172) did not participate in last week’s qualifier. Mizenko is injured, and there was no confirmation why Taylor missed.

The top seeds in each weight class were: 107: Connellsville freshman Nolan Rice (33-7); 114: Butler sophomore Santino Sloboda (32-0); 127: Canon-McMillan senior Andrew Binni (28-6); 133: Bethel Park senior Mason Kernan (31-3); 139: Shaw (35-3); 145: Connellsville junior Evan Petrovich (33-6); 152: Carr (28-2); 160: Thomas Jefferson junior Bode Marlow (31-6); 172: Spencer (35-2); 189: Kiski Area sophomore Cooper Roscosky (34-2); 215: Canon-McMillan senior Geno Calgaro (17-0); and 285: Thomas Jefferson junior Shepherd Turk (30-7).

Sloboda, while seeded No. 1, is not the favorite. Norwin freshman Landon Sidun (38-1) is ranked No. 1 in the country at 114.

Other interesting weight classes are at 133, 172, 189 and 215.

Kernan must deal with Baldwin junior Ramil Islamov (33-2), Connellsville freshman Kai Vielma (36-4) and Butler junior Kase Chopp (31-5).

Spencer’s top competitors are Trinity senior Bode Morgan (23-3), Latrobe freshman Hunter Snyder (33-4) and Central Catholic sophomore Nezumiiro Green (27-3).

Roscosky must contend with Central Catholic freshman Roman Thompson (27-1), Norwin senior Nathan Campbell (32-7) and Trinity senior Robbie Allison (23-2).

Calgaro, who will play in the Big 33 Football Classic in May, will be challenged by Franklin Regional senior Juliano Marion (38-5), Ringgold junior Jake Conroy (38-2) and Kiski Area sophomore Abrahm Taylor (32-4).

The Class 3A boys begin 4:30 p.m. Friday and will wrestle through the quarterfinals.

The boys will be joined by the PIAA West Regional for girls Saturday. Action begins at 10 a.m. with the second round of consolations for the boys and quarterfinals for the girls. Semifinals for both will be held at noon.

The finals and placement bouts will be begin at 4 p.m. The top four in each weight class advance to Hershey.

Off to Altoona

The PIAA Class 2A Southwest Regional will begin 3:30 p.m. Friday and run through the quarterfinals.

This is for wrestlers from the WPIAL and Districts 5 and 6. The top six in each weight class advance to the PIAA championships March 7-9 at Hershey.

Action resumes at 9 a.m. Saturday. The finals are slated for 5:15 p.m.

Frazier’s Lawrence (24-1) will be going after his fourth regional title.

Some of the top WPIAL wrestlers must deal with District 6 power Bishop McCort.

Two Brashear wrestlers earn medals

The Pittsburgh City League sent its champion and runner-up to the PIAA Northwest Regional on Feb. 24 at Altoona.

Brashear was the only City League team to have wrestlers earn medals. They, however, did not qualify for a trip to Hershey.

Mustaafa Gurakar placed fourth at 189 pounds, and Elijah Elsor placed sixth at 152 pounds.

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.