Peters Township leads list of area wrestlers moving on to WPIAL championships
Peters Township led the list of area wrestlers advancing out of sub-section tournament action to move on to the WPIAL championships.
The top two wrestlers in each weight class from each sub division advanced to section championship matches held this past weekend. The top two finishers from that competition move on to the WPIAL individual championships set for Feb. 27 at Canon-McMillan.
Only the top three District 7 champions will be eligible to compete for a state title because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They will battle in a West Super Regional. Top finishers earn berths in the PIAA championships slated for March 12-13 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
During the Section 4B action Feb. 17 at Upper St. Clair, Jackson Spiteri (120), Chris Cibrone (126), Eliot Schratz (132) and Phillip Nave (189) won championships for the Indians. Richard Meyers (113) and Giovanni DeChicchis (160) finished as runners-up.
In the same competition, Bethel Park crowned four champions: Aiden Bench at 106, Mason Kernan at 113, Bryson Bench at 138 and Vincent Riepole at 172 while Upper St. Clair produced five runners-up in Ben Cedar (145), Danny Martin (152), Ty Shields (172), Jaden Keating (189) and Tim Pollock (285).
Stout out
While two dozen local wrestlers advanced in the WPIAL individual tournament, one big name was missing.
Mac Stout of Mt. Lebanon did not compete in the 4B sub-sectional because of an injury. Stout was a WPIAL champion and PIAA runner-up in 2020.
Stout dislocated his elbow Jan. 30 during the Powerade Tournament. Though X-rays indicated no fractures, a follow-up MRI revealed a torn ligament. He underwent surgery to repair the damage
Prior to the injury, Stout was ranked No. 1 at 189 in the district and the state. He had a 17-3 record this season.
Five Lebo wrestlers, however, experienced success.
During opening action in the individual sub-sectional at USC, heavyweight Ben Streiff and 145-pounder Louis Pietragallo gained gold medals. Nick Busalacchi (138), Sean Coffman (132) and Alex Tambouratzis (215) finished as runners-up.
Evans leads CV
Chartiers Valley’s Dylan Evans used a 9-4 victory over Waynesburg’s Cole Homet to propel himself to a title in the 138-pound weight class during the Section 4A tournament at Canon-McMillan.
Homet had been ranked No. 1 in the weight class before Evans pulled off the upset.
Also for CV, Christopher Beatty (160) and Josh Sarasnick (215) advanced as runners-up.
While CV’s Brady Joling and South Fayette’s James Anderson lost to champion Joseph Simon from Waynesburg, Anderson won a 6-0 decision over Joling in head-to-head competition in the round-robin competition.