Hall leads list of Class AA regional qualifiers
After winning section championships, Class AA wrestlers turned around and competed for WPIAL titles.
On Feb. 17, R.J. Hall finished as a Section 1 runner-up but the Chartiers-Houston grappler reversed the decision the next day at Canon-McMillan and won a District 7 title. With a 3-1 decision against Southmoreland’s Jaden Datz, Hall claimed gold in the 170-pound final.
Meanwhile, Josh Kuslock reversed fortunes. He won a section title at 138 but lost the district crown when Frazier’s Thayne Lawrence scored a fall in the final seconds of the 138-pound bout.
After finishing runner-up in the section, Trey Lober finished fourth in the district. The C-H heavyweight advanced to the Southwest Regional Tournament to be held Feb. 24-25 at IUP. The top seven finishers in the WPIAL AA championships held at Canon-McMillan moved on to the regional with the hopes of qualifying for the PIAA championships set for March 9-11 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Section runners-up from C-H also included Ty Mazutis at 120 and Joey Dunn at 126, Neither one advanced out of the district to the regional.
Meanwhile, South Fayette advanced seven wrestlers. None, however, won WPIAL titles.
After capturing the Section 3 title, Jake Walker finished third at 220.
Colin Dunn and Mike Cusick, both section runners-up, finished fourth in the district at 113 and 145 respectively.
While Camdon Hoover (152) finished fourth in the district, Gary Loeffler (120), Eli Brinsky (126) and Mark Kurchena (195) all earned the final qualifying berth with seventh-place showings.
Keystone Oaks advanced one wrestler to the regional. Tyler Caragien finished seventh in the WPIAL at heavyweight.
Earlier, William Whittington earned a runner-up trophy during the Section 3 tournament. The KO grappler was unable to advance out of the WPIAL tournament to the regional.
Class AAA grapplers begin their quest for titles when section tournaments are held Feb. 25 at four major sites: Kiski, Connellsville, Fox Chapel and Trinity. Top finishers advance to the WPIAL tournament set for March 3-4 at Canon-McMillan. The PIAA finals are also being held March 9-11 in Hershey.