Local quartet wins WPIAL Class AA wrestling gold
Four local wrestlers won gold medals Saturday at the WPIAL Class AA Individual Wrestling Championship at Canon-McMillan. The 2022 champions are (kneeling, from left) Burgettstown's Parker Sentipal (106), Laurel's Colin Bartley (113), Bentworth's Chris Vargo (120), Elizabeth Forward's Dylan Bruce (126), Burgettstown's Joey Sentipal (132), Central Valley's Ambrose Boni (138), (standing, from left) Burrell's Shawn Szymanski (145), Quaker Valley's Justin Richey (152), Laurel's Grant Mackay (160), Frazier's Rune Lawrence (172), Quaker Valley's Patrick Cutchember (189), Mount Pleasant's Dayton Pitzer (215), and Burgettstown's Joseph Baronick (285). Boni was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler.
Mount Pleasant's Dayton Pitzer (fourth from left) won his third WPIAL Class AA individual wrestling gold medal Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School. Pitzer defeated Bentworth's Vitali Daniels (fifth from left) for the 215-pound title. Southmoreland's Anthony Govern (third from left) won the bronze medal.
Mount Pleasant’s Dayton Pitzer won his third district title, and Frazier’s Rune Lawrence and Bentworth’s Chris Vargo earned their second gold Saturday afternoon at the WPIAL Class AA Individual Wrestling Championship at Canon-McMillan High School.
Elizabeth Forward’s Dylan Bruce also won WPIAL wrestling gold.
All of the local schools fared well in the WPIAL championship with top-eight finishes and berths in the PIAA Southwest Regional on March 4-5 at Peters Twp.
Mount Pleasant and Beth-Center had six wrestlers each medal. Southmoreland placed five wrestlers.
Elizabeth Forward and Frazier both finished with three wrestlers in the top eight. West Greene and Bentworth both had two wrestlers on the podium.
Pitzer rolled to the WPIAL title at 215 pounds with four pins in a total time of 4:49, including a fall in 1:12 over Bentworth’s Vitali Daniels in the championship.
Lawrence needed 4:09 to win the 172-pound gold medal, winning his first three bouts in 13, five and eight seconds.
Vargo won his first four bouts by fall and won a 5-0 decision over Burrell’s Cooper Hornack in the 120-pound final.
Bruce advanced to the 126-pound final with falls in 1:12 and 3:46, a 12-4 major decision and default. He won the title with a 7-3 decision.
Several wrestlers advanced to the championship, but brought home silver medals. West Greene’s Seth Burns (113), Beth-Center’s Kyle McCollum (132), Tyler Berish (152), and Trevor Pettit (160), Elizabeth Forward’s Damon Michaels (138), and Jefferson-Morgan’s Chase Frameli (145) placed second.
Burns, McCollum, Berish, and Gnibus all lost by decision with Berish getting edged 3-2 in a tiebreaker. Frameli and Pettit lost by fall.
The Vikings’ Jamison Poklembo edged Southmoreland’s Andrew Johnson, 4-3, in the third-place bout at 138 pounds. Frazier’s Ryan Celaschi (145) and Southmoreland’s Anthony Govern (215) also won bronze medals.
Beth-Center’s Davis Stepp (126), Mount Pleasant’s Greg Shaulis (132), and Southmoreland’s Mason Neiderhiser (285) placed fourth.
The Commodores’ Tyler Clark (120) and Beth-Center’s Jacob Layhue (172) placed fifth. The Bulldogs’ Tyler Debnar (145), Alston Csutoros (189) and Josh Deems (285) and Mount Pleasant’s Conor Johnson (152) finished sixth.
Mount Pleasant’s Sean Cain pinned Elizabeth Forward’s Emanuel Gardner in 4:02 in the seventh-place bout at 120 pounds. Southmoreland’s Tristan Ice (152) and Bryson Robinson (172) both placed seventh, and West Greene’s Johnny Lampe was eighth at 189 pounds.