Wrestlers advance to WPIAL championships
By Eleanor Bailey/Almanac Sports Editor/ebailey@thealmanac.net
Jason Montgomery
By Eleanor Bailey/Almanac Sports Editor/ebailey@thealmanac.net
Shamil Zaynullaev
Four area wrestlers captured section titles and led a parade of teammates into the WPIAL Class AAA championships set for March 2-3 at Canon-McMillan High School. The top four finishers in the district then advance to the PIAA championships set for March 15-17 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Jason Montgomery staked claim to the 170-pound crown in Section 2 when he pinned Scott Joll from Belle Vernon in 5:11. The Bethel Park senior will be joined in the district tournament by seven of his teammates including: Hunter Kernan, who was the 152-pound runner-up; Noah Seeberger (third, 182); Luke Montgomery (fourth, 160); Ben Yantek (fourth, 132); Riley O’Mara (fifth, 195); Parker Loera (fifth, 138) and Zuri Lane-Griffore (fifth, 113).
Jackson Gray led the Mt. Lebanon contingent. He captured the 160-pound weight class in Section 2 with an 18-7 victory against Grant Walnoha from Upper St. Clair.
The other WPIAL qualifiers for the Blue Devils included: Natalie McGregor, Darvish Kapitonov, Sean McKinney, Luke Stout and Nathan Hoaglund. Stout and Hoaglund were runners-up at 160 and 285 respectively. McGregor and Kapitonov finished fifth at 106 and 120 while McKinney placed fourth at 126.
In addition to Walnoha, Jake Slinger secured runner-up honors in the section. The junior lost his bid for a title, dropping an 8-4 decision to Ian Edenfield from Laurel Highland in the 220-pound finals.
USC advanced five other wrestlers to the WPIAL finals. Among them are: Danny Kyle (fourth, 120), Tom Kyle (third, 138), Sean Martin (fourth, 152), Quinn Murray (fifth, 182) and Harvey Rauch (third, 195)
Bryce Wilkes dominated the action for Peters Township. He won the 113-pound title in Section 2 with a major decision, 13-4, over West Mifflin’s Tony Salopek.
Donovan McMillon reached the finals in the 132-pound weight class but the Peters Township freshman lost to Connellsville’s Dylan Ross, 10-3, in the championship bout.
Other top finishers for the Indians included: Lucas Attanucci (fourth, 106), Will Kail (third, 120), Brandon Matthews (third, 152), Luke Mary (third, 170), Colton Jezioro (fifth, 145) and Grant Nelson (fifth, 285).
Shamil Zaynullaev dominated the 195 weight class in Section 4. The Chartiers Valley junior won the title with a 9-2 decision over Trinity’s Jared Rice. His teammate, Zach Macy secured second at 132 after dropping a 7-2 decision to Waynesburg’s Luca Augustine in the finals. Other CV grapplers to qualify for the WPIAL championships were: Cody Trout (fourth, 126), Alec Paree (third, 138), Romi Chaouk (fourth, 182), Thomas Chilelli (fifth, 113).
In Class AA, Michael Cusick captured runner-up honors in the Southwest Regional Tournament. After pulling off a second-round upset against District 6 champion Alex Caldwell of Ligonier Valley, 7-4, the South Fayette senior advanced to the finals in the 145-pound weight class. Cusick dropped a 3-2 decision to South Side Beaver’s Joe Demor in the finals.