WPIAL’s best come through
Standouts shine on individual stage, as does Burrell team
One week after claiming his fourth WPIAL individual wrestling title, Kittanning senior Jason Nolf won his fourth PIAA Class AA Southwest Regional title in Johnstown, leading WPIAL wrestlers to 11 individual championships. Burrell won the team championship with 98 points, eight better than JeffersonMorgan.
Leading, 5-0, in the second, Nolf turned Burrell’s Corey Falleroni with a deep halfnelson, scoring a fall midway through the period, his first championship-match fall at the regional.
The Bucs won two titles, including Allan Beattie’s second at 285 pounds. The junior rode Jake Beistel through the second period, then got an escape and takedown in the third to win, 3-0. Steve Edwards fought off an overtime takedown attempt, then rode out Andrew Doak of Blairsville in the ultimate tiebreaker. Doak finished second for the third consecutive year.
Avella’s Jake Temple used a side-by-side headlock twice to keep control in the ultimate tiebreaker period, beating West Branch’s Reynold Maines, 3-2, to win his second championship.
South Fayette’s two titles might have been the most impressive of any tandem. Mike Carr downed Burrell’s John Andrejcik, 5-0, and Jared Walker picked up a reversal in the third period to beat Levi Niebauer of Cambria Heights, 2-0. Neither allowed a bout point in the tournament — Carr winning 11-0, 3-0 and 5-0. Walker scored just six points himself, but took 1-0, 3-0 and 2-0 wins to get his first gold medal to go with second and fourth-place finishes.
Returning PIAA champion George Phillippi of Derry claimed his first regional title, an 8-2 win against Forest Hills’ Triston Law. Phillippi, a sophomore, finished third a year ago.
Jefferson-Morgan sent three wrestlers to the finals, getting a win from John Demaske at 126 pounds. The senior edged Valley’s Patrick Dewitt, 4-2, the second week in a row the two met in the finals. Demaske won the WPIAL title, 6-0, against the Valley senior a week ago.
Valley’s Terrell Field used a strong third period to beat Blairsville’s Scott Thompson, 7-3, his second win against Thompson in three regional matches. Each had earned silver and bronze medals the past two years.