WPIAL Dominance Shows in Class AAA as Three Advance to Semifinals

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North Allegheny’s Jake Hinkson turns Parkland’s Lee Todora

It was an all WPIAL quarterfinals in Class AAA with all three teams advancing into the Championship semifinals. #7 Greater Latrobe delivered #2 Boyertown Area their first defeat of the season with a 32-23 victory over the Bears. The first bout of the dual proved key when two state ranked wrestlers met as Eddie Kriczky bumped up from 138 lbs. to face Ethan Smith at 145 lbs. Smith held on for a 4-3 victory that kick started the Wildcat’s run. Jake Shaffer followed the win up with a fall at 152 lbs. and Dom Scalice added three more with a decision at 160 lbs. Bumping up from 195 lbs. Boyertown’s Jordan Wertz needed overtime to defeat Travis Schmeling at 220 lbs. Latrobe avoided a late comeback from Boyertown by not giving up bonus points and securing a victory.

In a match-up of the #5 and #6 teams in the State WPIAL third place team #6 North Allegheny won on criteria over the #5 Parkland Trojans. The Tigers won on the first criteria, least number of penalty points assessed to a team, since Parkland was deducted a team point at 145 lbs. for unsportsmanlike conduct. At 132 lbs. freshman Jake Hinkson (North Alleghney) gave up an early lead to returning PIAA State Qualifier Lee Todora (Parkland) but was able to reverse and turn the sophomore to win 6-4 and bring the dual meet to 77-24 in favor of Parkland. In the final bout at 138 lbs. another North Allegheny freshman showed a lot of guts when A.J. Boeh used a one-point victory over Parkland’s Rob Wetherhold (7-6). Boeh was turned by Wetherhold in the first period but used a series of takedowns to claw back and secure the dual victory for North Allegheny. Tied 27-27 the Tigers went ahead on the first criteria to win 28-27 and advance to the semifinals.

#6 North Allegheny will face WPIAL runner-up #7 Greater Latrobe to determine who advances to the State Finals. North Allegheny’s only defeat on the season was at the hands of #1 Franklin Regional 49-24 in the WPIAL semifinals. Latrobe’s only two defeats on the season have come from Franklin Regional, a 46-28 defeat during the season and a 42-19 defeat in the WPIAL Finals.

#1 Franklin Regional had no issues handling #10 McDowell in a 54-16 defeat over the District 10 Champions. In the highlight match of the dual #1 ranked Devin Brown (Franklin Regional) defeated #3 ranked Charlie Lenox (McDowell) by a (9-3) decision at 106 lbs. Franklin Regional will meet District 11 Champion #4 Nazareth Area in the semifinals. Nazareth pulled away from #9 Spring-Ford with a 43-15 win that was closer than the score suggested. The Blue Eagles capitalized on weight change in the lower weights as Tyrone Klump and Travis Smith picked up falls at 106 lbs. and 113 lbs. respectively. The return of IndyCar racer Sage Karam at 145 lbs. helped Nazareth jump out to an early lead and not look back.

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