CELEBRATING WPIAL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
The PIAA will have one fewer weight class during the 2020-21 season and the state tournament will have significantly fewer participants. But don’t expect the WPIAL’s domination in Class 3A to end.
For seven consecutive seasons, the WPIAL has been the most dominant district in the PIAA Class 3A individual tournament.
In 2014, eight of the 14 PIAA champions were from the WPIAL. Four others placed second.
In 2015, nine WPIAL wrestlers claimed PIAA crowns, while four others came home with a silver medal.
In 2016, the WPIAL had 10 wrestlers in the finals, including five champions.
In 2017, five WPIAL grapplers won state titles, while six others were silver medalists.
In 2018, the WPIAL had nine wrestlers advance to the finals and five won gold medals.
In 2019, the WPIAL had 11 wrestlers in the finals, including four champions.
Last season, WPIAL wrestlers claimed six gold medals and seven silver medals.
Seven of last season’s PIAA finalists are back, including three champions: Latrobe’s Vincent Kilkeary, Hempfield’s Ethan Berginc and Waynesburg’s Wyatt Henson.
The four returning silver medalists are Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell, Waynesburg’s Rocco Welsh, Mt. Lebanon’s Mac Stout and Hempfield’s Isaiah Vance.
And don’t forget Seneca Valley’s Alejandro Herrera-Rondon and Franklin Regional’s duo of Carter Dibert and Finn Solomon, who were finalists in 2019. Herrera-Rondon is a twotime PIAA champ who placed fourth last season.
One WPIAL finalist decided not to come back this year. Peters Township’s Donovan McMillon, a runner-up at 182 last season, decided not to wrestle this year. McMillon accepted a football scholarship to Florida.
The PIAA adopted a 13weight class format for the next two seasons. The new alignment is: 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 172, 189, 215 and 285.
The section tournaments are tentatively scheduled for Feb. 20 at four sites. The WPIAL tournament will be held the following weekend. A West super regional will be held March 6. The PIAA tournament will be held March 13 with only eight participants in each weight class.