Hillegas focused ahead of semifinals
Five WPIAL top seeds advance to Saturday
HERSHEY, Pa. — For most wrestlers, seeing their name on the wall of their school’s wrestling room as a third-place finisher at the PIAA championships would be a dream come true.
For North Hills senior Sam Hillegas, it has been a recurring nightmare.
After winning PIAA titles in each of his first two seasons, Hillegas had to settle for third place a year ago after losing a thrilling battle to three-time PIAA champion Julian Chlebove of Northampton in the semifinals. That loss has stuck with Hillegas all year long, and he’s reminded of it every day at practice in the Indians wrestling room.
Now, after a dominant 12-2 major decision win against Nazareth’s Dashawn Farber — a two-time Georgia state champion — Friday night in the quarterfinals, Hillegas is back in the semifinals for the fourth time and only two wins away from closing his career with a third PIAA title.
“This is a war right now,” Hillegas said. “You’ve just got to just sharpen your spear and drop your shield and just go after it.”
Hillegas (37-2) wasted no time attacking Farber’s legs and scoring a first-period takedown before adding a three-point near-fall to take a 5-0 lead. He scored another takedown and near-fall in the second period to make it 10-0, then added a third takedown in the final period for good measure.
Despite being a two-time state champion, Hillegas didn’t receive a top-five seed for this year’s PIAA tournament because he lost to Waynesburg’s Wyatt Henson, 4-3, in the final of the WPIAL Class 3A championships. Hillegas defeated Henson, 8-3, earlier in the year, and the two now are on a collision course for a rubber match Saturday night in the state finals if they both win their semifinal matchup in the morning.
Henson (48-4) advanced to the semifinals with a 13-4 major decision against DuBois’ Chandler Ho.
“I have nothing to say about it right now, but if that’s the match that happens, it’s going to be a fun one for my last high school match to go down,” Hillegas said.
The WPIAL did have seven top seeds competing in the 14 weight classes in Class 3A, though, and five of the seven advanced to the semifinals.
At 120 pounds, Seneca Valley junior Dylan Chappell (47-4) eked out his second consecutive 1-0 decision, this time against Bethlehem Catholic’s Matt Mayer. Chappell’s teammate, junior Alejandro HerreraRondon (41-3), took a more offensive approach in his 132-pound quarterfinal. The two-time defending PIAA champion defeated DuBois’ Trenton Donahue via a 12-2 major decision.
Norwin senior Kurtis Phipps (38-1), a two-time PIAA finalist and four-time placewinner, has looked like a man on a mission in his previous trip to Hershey. After posting a 16-1 technical fall in his firstround matchup, Phipps dominated Council Rock South’s Kyle Waterman en route to an 11-0 major decision to clinch a spot in the semifinals for the third year in a row.
“I’m like the veteran of this tournament now,” Phipps said. “I know how to come in here and deal with the nerves, so I’m just trying to turn them into a good thing.”
At 182 pounds, top-seeded and defending PIAA champion Gerrit Nijenhuis of Canon-McMillan (45-0) continued his perfect senior season with a 7-1 win against Spring-Ford’s Joey Milano. Now with 179 career wins, Nijenhuis can tie the all-time WPIAL record with a win in the semifinals, and can take over sole possession of first place on the career wins list by capturing his second state title.
The last of the WPIAL’s top seeds to advance, Mt. Lebanon senior Luke Stout (400), also remained unbeaten at 195 pounds after posting a 21-6 technical fall in his quarterfinal match against Central Dauphin’s Jackson Talbott. He will be joined in the semifinals by his younger brother, Mac (41-2), who scored a 4-1 decision against Easton’s Dominic Falcone in the 170-pound quarterfinals.
“I know I’m the best guy in this bracket,” Mac Stout said. “I’ve just got to wrestle to my ability and I can beat anyone.”
The only top-seeded WPIAL wrestlers to fall in the quarterfinals were Franklin Regional junior Carter Dibert (38-3) at 113 pounds and Hempfield junior Ty Linsenbigler (39-3) at 138 pounds. Dibert and Linsenbigler won their consolation bouts to clinch a spot on the podium.
Overall, 21 WPIAL wrestlers advanced to the semifinals Saturday, while 15 others earned medals by battling their way through the consolation bracket.