Jan 29, 2026 By Jonathan Guth 5 min read

CONNELLSVILLE — Bill Swink is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Connellsville wrestling team, and in those five years, the 1982 graduate of Connellsville Area High School has guided his team to the semifinals of the WPIAL Class 3A dual meet tournament all five times.

Fresh of earning his 500th and 501st career coaching victories last Friday in a tri-meet at University High in Morgantown, W.Va., Swink won his 502nd and 503th dual meet, as the Falcons defeated Penn-Trafford, 50-11, in the first round, and Kiski Area, 47-18, in the quarterfinals to qualify for Saturday’s semifinal dual meet against No. 1 seed Franklin Regional (15-0).

The semifinals are scheduled for Saturday at 1:30 p.m. inside the AHN Arena on the campus of Peters Township High School. The final and consolation final will be contested at 3 p.m. The top three teams will qualify for the dual meet state tournament.

“The kids responded well to what we’ve been talking about,” Connellsville coach Bill Swink said. “The goal is to win as many matches as we can and score as many points as we can. We have a great crowd, but they are a tough crowd. They want you to perform, and the kids did.”

Connellsville (16-2) has earned berths in the PIAA Class 3A dual meet tournament three of the previous four years when it reached the semifinals of the district tournament, including winning the program’s eighth WPIAL dual meet championship in 2024.

The Falcons were runners-up in 2022 and last year, but finished fourth in 2024. Since the inception of the WPIAL dual meet tournament in 1979, the program has qualified every season the event has been held. Connellsville placed third in the state dual meet tournament last year.

“It is nice to get back to the semifinals again, but we have to go out and wrestle well on Saturday,” Swink said. “We have high expectations, and that’s what comes when you do well.”

The Falcons faced the Cavaliers (15-3) in a non-section meet on Jan. 15 and came away with a 47-22 victory, as the majority of bouts on Wednesday followed the script from the original dual meet.

Connellsville’s Jeremy Gray (107), Tommy Gretz (121), Nolan Rice (127) and Jake Lilley (160) pinned their same opponents.

The Falcons’ Kai Vielma (145) and Luke Lilley (152) faced different opposition from the first encounter with Kiski Area, but the result was the same, as Vielma won by fall and Lilley recorded a technical fall.

“In a dual-meet situation, you want those sixes, and the faster you get it, the better off you are,” Swink said.

Landon Lynn (133) and Daniel Smith (139) earned decisions for the home team that were nearly identical to the first dual meet, as Lynn edged Gavin Murphy, 4-3, and Smith topped Jackson Pollick, 5-2.

Lynn, who beat Murphy, 4-2, on Jan. 15., trailed 1-0 heading into the third period, as the only scoring in the match was an escape for Murphy in the second, but escaped and recorded a takedown in the final period for a 4-1 lead. Murphy scored a reversal to cut the deficit to one, but the Connellsville senior was able to hang on for the win.

Smith, who beat Pollick by the same score in their previous match, jumped out early with a takedown and two near-fall points for a 5-0 lead in the first period.

Pollick rode out Smith for the entire second period, and in the third, scored a reversal and nearly had backpoints the last 20 seconds, but Smith was able to fight to his stomach and escape with the decision.

The Falcons had a 35-0 lead after Jake Lilley’s fall, and clinched their spot in the semifinals when freshman Karson Snyder dropped a 4-2 decision to Travis Shearer at 172 to put the Cavaliers on the scoreboard at 35-3, but with five bouts remaining, the visitors could only score a maximum of 33 team points.

Kiski Area’s Mario Hutcherson (189) and Cooper Roscosky (215) earned back-to-back falls before teammate Alex Akerley earned a 7-2 decision over Roghan Hollis at 285.

Hutcherson was sixth in the state last year and placed third at Powerade this season, while Roscosky was the state runner-up last year and sixth as a sophomore. The senior was sixth at Powerade in 2024 and seventh this season.

Swink decided to move his lineup around due to illness and injury.

“Kiski has good upper-weights, and they have some other good kids, but they don’t really match-up well with us,” Swink said. “Cooper (Lembo) got a little banged-up in the first match, and Dylan (Lytle) and Ryan (Brown) have been sick, so we saved them for Saturday. Roghan was down 4-2 with about a minute left, so he was in that match.”

Following Gray’s victory at 107, Connellsville’s Ezra Gowatski won by forfeit at 114.

In the first round, the Falcons won the first eight bouts to build up a 41-0 lead and cruised past the Warriors.

Lynn, Vielma, Jake Lilley and Hollis won by fall, and teammate Lane Richey won by fall in 32 seconds at 127. Luke Lilley recorded a technical fall, 21-5, in 2:15.

Gretz earned a 4-1 decision at 121, and Rice edged Luke DeSantis, 1-0, at 133. Rice used an escape in the second and rode out DeSantis in the third using legs and working a power-half.

Gray recorded a 4-0 decision at 107. Gray competed in Connellsville’s opening dual meet against Canon-McMillan on Dec. 4, but was injured and returned to the lineup on Jan. 15. Teammate Zachary Franks received a forfeit at 114. The senior is closing in on 100 career victories, as he sits at 95-51.

The Falcons’ depth allowed Swink to shuffle his lineup, which will be beneficial as the scores of the remaining dual meets will be much tighter.

“Lane (Richey) is a good kid,” Swink said. “At 127, 133, 139 and 145, we have some really good back-up kids, and if we can put them on an average kid, we are going to be OK.”