Latrobe earns victory in semis
All four finalists from the WPIAL team tournaments a year ago entered the semifinals Friday night at Norwin High School with a chance to make a return trip to the finals. Three of the four were successful.
Four-time defending Class AAA champion Canon-McMillan saw its reign come to an end, while seven-time defending Class AA champ Burrell earned its 11th consecutive title berth.
Latrobe (12-1), seeded No. 2 in the 20-team Class AAA bracket, earned its second title berth in three years with a convincing 42-20 win against previously unbeaten Canon-McMillan (16-1), the No. 3 seed.
“We had five bouts circled as toss-ups,” Latrobe coach Tad Harbert said. “We were able to win four of the five. That was the difference in the match.”
Harbert was referring to wins by Ethan McCoy, Ethan Stas, Ethan Smith and Tyler Mears. McCoy opened the match with a 6-2 win against the Big Macs’ Brendan Price at 113. Stas recorded a 2-1 double-overtime victory against Josiah Hritsko at 132. Smith registered a 7-4 win against Malachi Krenzelak at 145. Mears won, 3-2, in triple overtime against Brendan Furman at heavyweight.
Luke Pletcher (120), Jake Shaffer (160), Zack Zavatsky (182) and Logan Carns (220) added pins for Latrobe. Camden Fontenot (106) and Solomon Chishko (152) had pins for Canon-McMillan.
Latrobe will face top-seeded Franklin Regional (18-1) in the championship at 6:30 p.m today at Chartiers Valley.
Franklin Regional earned a return trip to the final with a 49-24 win against previously unbeaten North Allegheny (121), the No. 4 seed. The Panthers received pins from Devon Brown (106), Michael Kemerer (138), Josh Maruca (145), Nate Painter (170) and Charlie Mazon (285). North Allegheny’s Colton Byerly (195) and Zach Smith (220) also had falls.
Burrell (11-3), the No. 1 seed in the Class AA bracket, had no trouble in its semifinal match with No. 4 Burgettstown (14-2). The Buccaneers, with the help of two forfeits, won 13 of the 14 weight classes en route to a 66-6 victory.
Jason Roberts (120), Corey Falleroni (145), Steve Edwards (152) and Corey Arabia (220) recorded pins for Burrell. Austin McDermitt (113) had Burgettstown’s only fall.
Burrell will face No. 2 seed South Fayette for the second consecutive year in the title match at 4 p.m. today, also at Chartiers Valley.
South Fayette (20-0) earned a return trip to the final with a 37-29 win against No. 3 seed Jefferson-Morgan (14-3).
City League
Allderdice (9-5) claimed the City League championship with a 46-24 win against Perry (5-12). Dorion Devaughn-Long (113), Ryan Campbell (132), William Bechem (138) and Shemar Owens had pins for Allderdice. Jared Ramsey (152), Marcus Hogan (170) and Deontay Whatley (182) had pins for Perry.