Vargo, Brown bring home WPIAL wrestling gold
Bentworth’s Chris Vargo and Belle Vernon’s Elijah Brown won gold medals Saturday in the WPIAL Class AA Individual Wrestling Championship at Chartiers Valley.
Vargo carried a 7-2 decision over Indiana’s Nico Fanella in the 127-pound championship. Brown edged Fort Cherry’s Braedon Welsh, 1-0, for the 172-pound title.
Five district wrestlers lost in the championship bout.
Beth-Center’s Mason Wright lost an 8-1 decision to Central Valley’s Antonio Boni at 121 pounds. Elizabeth Forward’s Damon Michaels dropped a 5-2 decision in the 152-pound final to Burgettstown’s Rudy Brown. Frazier’s Ryan Celaschi was edged 5-3 at 160 pounds by Hopewell’s Isaiah Pisano.
Bentworth’s Vitali Daniels was pinned in the second period in the 189-pound final by Derry’s Brady Brown. Mount Pleasant’s Dylan Pitzer lost an 8-4 decision to Central Valley’s Brenan Morgan at 285 pounds.
Bentworth’s Drake McClure (114), Frazier’s Tyler Clark (133) and Jackson Angelo (189), Belle Vernon’s Kole Doppelheuer (145), Mount Pleasant’s Greg Shaulis (152), and Chase Frameli (160) all won their third-place consolation bouts.
Belle Vernon’s Giovanni Weightman (139), Beth-Center’s Jacob Layhue (189),Bentworth’s Owen Ivcic (145), and Jefferson-Morgan’s Adam McAnany (215) placed fourth.
Albert Gallatin’s James Standish (215), Elizabeth Forward’s Lucas Boyer (139), Mount Pleasant’s Stephen Predajna (160), Bentworth’s Brayden Taggart (172), and Jefferson-Morgan’s Mason Sisler won their fifth-place consolation bouts.
West Greene’s Noah Collins (114), Mount Pleasant’s Jamison Poklembo (145), Belle Vernon’s Austin Hoffman (189), and Southmoreland’s Kaden Shannon (215) finished sixth.
Mount Pleasant’s Joseph Longhi (139), Albert Gallatin’s Landen Conroy (160), and Beth-Center’s Noah Layhue (172) and Malachi Peak (215) finished seventh.
Beth-Center’s Alex Medlen (114), West Greene’s Seth Burns (133), and Southmoreland’s Landon Delara (160) qualified for the regional tournament in eighth place.