The first qualifiers for the PIAA Wrestling Championships were determined Friday night. The top six wrestlers in each weight at the Southwest AA tournament in Altoona advance to Hershey. That means that quarterfinal winners clinch a ticket to states and Bentworth led the way among area teams. Vitali Daniels, Owen Ivcic, Drake McClure and Chris Vargo are all in Saturday’s semifinals. Braydon Taggart is alive in the consolation bracket. Burgettstown’s Parker Sentipal and Gaven Suica are in the semis with four teammates in the consolations. Mason Wright (Beth-Center), Jorden Williams (Chartiers-Houston), Braedon Wright (Fort Cherry) and Lucas Barr (McGuffey) also won their quarterfinal matches to qualify for the state tourney, giving Washington County 10 guaranteed AA qualifiers with another 14 consolation wrestlers still in action. Jeff-Morgan and West Greene have three consolation wrestlers each but no one in the semifinals. Bentworth is second in the team standings behind prohibitive favorite Bishop McCort. Burgettstown is in sixth place heading into Saturday. We’ll have start-to-finish coverage on the WJPA Sports Network with free audio online at wjpa.com and video available via NFHS Network (subscription service).
Southwest AA Regional
8:50 am Semifinals, Consolation Rounds 1-4
5:05 pm Championship & Consolation Finals (3rd, 5th, 7th place)
WPIAL Team Tournament runner-up Trinity sits in third place at the WPIAL AAA Individual Championships, advancing three wrestlers to the semifinals with four others still alive in the consolations. Robbie Allison, Bodie Morgan and Blake Reihner clinch a state tournament berth with one more win. Consolation wrestlers need two straight wins to advance. Canon-McMillan is in seventh place but has four in the semis: Andrew Binni, Geno Calgaro, Collier Hartman and Ryder Joseph. Peters Township (Nicholas McGarrity) and Ringgold (Jake Conroy) each have one semifinalist and four wrestlers in the consolations. Ky Szewczyk and Roan Tustin have reached the semifinals for Waynesburg. The Raiders also have two wrestlers still in consolation brackets. We’ll have coverage of the WPIAL 3A Wrestling Championships and the PIAA West Regional Girls Tournament on the WJPA Sports Network with free audio on WJPA-AM (1450) and online at wjpa.com. We’ll also provide video coverage of the championship finals through the WPIAL partnership with FloWrestling and NFHS Network.
WPIAL AAA Championships & PIAA Girls West Regional
9:50 am Girls Quarterfinals, Boys/Girls Semifinals, Consolation Rounds 2-4
3:50 pm Championship & Consolation Finals (Girls 3rd & 4th place; Boys 3rd-6th place)