Colorado up next for WCCA champion Latrobe
One week after dominating the Westmoreland County Coaches Association tournament, the Latrobe wrestling team is off to Colorado for a weekend of competition against the top teams from the Rocky Mountain state.
“We’re flying to Colorado on Thursday,” Latrobe coach Mark Mears said. “We have a tri-meet scheduled on Friday against Pomona High School, Colorado’s two- time big school defending champions, and Monarch High School, another top team in that area. On Saturday, we are one of 20 teams competing in the Arvada West Invitational, one of the top tournaments in Colorado.”
Mears has ties to Colorado because of his son Tyler.
“My son wrestled at Colorado School of Mines a few years ago,” said Mears, who was serving as Latrobe’s athletic director at the time. “Coaches from that area would always brag about how good the high school wrestling is in Colorado and wanted to challenge Pennsylvania schools. I said be careful what you wish for. We may just come out here.”
Mears returned to coaching last year after an 11-year layoff.
“When I came back to coaching, they asked me if I was coming,” Mears said. “I said sign the contract. And that’s just what we did.”
A trip to Colorado, especially for a high school wrestling team, is very expensive.
“We raised $30,000 for the trip, which covers airfare, hotel rooms, meals and entry fee for the tournament,” Mears said. “We had a golf outing and received a lot of help from the community. We are very blessed to have so many people and businesses in our community help us make this trip. Hopefully we can go out and represent Pennsylvania well.”
Latrobe represented itself very well at the WCCA tournament, which concluded Saturday at Kiski Area. The Wildcats won their first team title since 2012 by accumulating 252 points in the two-day tournament. Hempfield was a distant second with 188 points. It was the 13th team title for Latrobe in the 69-year history of the event.
Latrobe had a wrestler place among the top six in 10 of the 13 weight classes.
“You have to be pleased with eight kids in the finals, four champs, and 10 kids placing,” Mears said. “We
Wrestling notebook
performed pretty much as good as we can. We have a very balanced lineup. That was evident in the results.”
The finals began at 145 pounds and Jack Pletcher was the first to win a title for Latrobe. He recorded a 4-2 upsetof Norwin’s Chase Kranitz in the 152- pound final. Pletcher scored the deciding takedown with eight seconds left in the sudden victory period. He is the second member of his family to win a county title. His brother Luke won three titles from 2013-215.
“I’ve been working with Luke a lot lately and that has really helped,” Jack Pletcher said. “In fact, he was here both days. It was great to have him here to celebrate with.”
Latrobe’s other three champs were in the lowest weight classes.
FreshmanLuke Willochell did what his brother Gabe couldn’t do by winning the 106-pound title with a pin of Franklin Regional’s Ty Kapusta at 4:33.
“My brother Gabe was a runner-up three years in a row and was injured in his senior year,” Willochell said. “I was so happy when I got the reversal and put him on his back. Gabe is at Edinboro now, but he got to watch the finals on the internet.”
Freshman Leo Joseph followed with a 45-second pin of Derry’s Giovanni Beatrice in the 113-pound final.
“Willochell and Joseph are very talented freshmen,” Mears said. “Both did a great job.”
Junior Vinny Kilkeary was Latrobe’s fourth champ. Kilkeary made his third appearance in the county finals and captured his second gold medal with a 3-1 win over Penn-Trafford senior Troy Hohman. Kilkeary’s takedown at the final buzzer kept the match from going into overtime. It was the second consecutive year Kilkeary beat Hohman in the finals.
“I tried a double in the first period and came up short,” Kilkeary said. “I figured it couldn’t hurt to try it again and I hit it this time.”
Placing second for Latrobe were Nate Roth, Sam Snyder, Corey Boerio and Wyatt Held.
Roth faced Hempfield’s Briar Priest for the second time in four days. Roth made his season debut Jan. 5, after recovering from shoulder surgery, and knocked off Priest, 8-5, in the section showdown. The rematch was much different, as Priest posted a 10-3 win in the county final at 138 pounds.
“I wasn’t as prepared for our match on Wednesday,” Priest said. “He had a game plan for me Wednesday. I had a game plan for him tonight.”
Boerio lost to Mount Pleasant’s Dayton Pitzer, a twotime PIAA Class 2A champion, in the 215-pound final. Pitzer needed only 1:20 to pin Boerio.
“Corey had a tough task,” Mears said. “Let’s face it, Pitzer is a phenom. He is amazing. Pitt got a great recruit.”
Snyder dropped a 7-0 decision to Belle Vernon’s Logan Hoffman in the 172-pound final. Held was pinned in the 285-pound final by Greensburg Salem’s Billy McChesney, who was making his third appearance in the finals.
Allegheny County
The Allegheny County tournament will celebrate its 20th anniversary this weekend at Fox Chapel High School.
“I love this tournament,” Thomas Jefferson coach Michael Ladick said. “It’s my favorite tournament. I’ve loved everything about it, even when I was coaching at South Fayette. It’s great for the kids, the coaches and wrestling fans. Everybody looks forward to this tournament, especially since we couldn’t have it last year.”
It was supposed to be the 20th anniversary last year, but COVID-19 shutdowns forced tournament officials to cancel the event.
“We have 36 teams and a total of 463 competitors,” Fox Chapel coach Michael Frank said. “We also have four entries who have won a previous county title. The toughest weight class is probably at 189.”
Mt. Lebanon senior Mac
Stout, a two-time county champion, is the top seed. Stout won at 170 in 2019 as a freshman, then claimed a second gold medal in 2020 as a 182-pound sophomore. Thomas Jefferson senior Brian Finnerty, a fourth-place finisher at 170 in 2020, is seeded No. 2. Quaker Valley senior Patrick Cutchember, a runner-up at 182 in 2020, is seeded No. 3.
“The 189-pound weight class is brutal,” Ladick said. “Stout is phenomenal. It’s good to see [Stout] was able to come back from his seasonending injury [ in 2021]. Cutchember is also a legit threat in that weight class. Brian lost to Stout in the county semifinals in 2020 and in this year’s semifinals at the Powerade tournament.”
Plum’s Vince Citrano is also a two-time county finalist. He was the runner-up at 106 as a freshman in 2019, then won the 113-pound crown in 2020 as a sophomore. Citrano returns at 132 pounds and is seeded No. 3 in another strong weight class.
Thomas Jefferson freshman Maddox Shaw earned the No. 1 seed at 132 with a silver-medal performance at the Powerade Christmas Tournament. North Allegheny junior Nathan Monteparte is seeded No. 2.
Citrano did not participate in last weekend’s Bo Wood tournament at Indiana.
“A member of Vince’s family tested positive for COVID19, so Vince was in quarantine,” Supak said.
The other two returning champs are Pine-Richland junior Anthony Ferraro and Highlands senior Jrake Burford.
Ferraro is seeded No. 3 at 126 pounds behind North Allegheny senior Dylan Coy and Plum sophomore Antonino Walker. Coy was the
runner-up at 120 in 2020.
Burford is seeded No. 3 at 145 pounds behind North Allegheny sophomore Travis Stipetich and Carlynton junior Chase Brandebura, who was a bronze medalist at 106 in 2020.
MAC tournament
Quaker Valley dominated the Ed Driscoll Midwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Saturday at Ambridge. The Quakers accumulated 223 points behind the strength of five champs, one runner-up, and a trio of bronze medalists.
Winning titles for Quaker Valley were Isaac Maccaglia, Jack Kazalas, Logan Richey, Mason Diemert and Patrick Cutchember. Placing second for the Quakers was Brandon Krul.
Maccaglia pinned South Side Beaver’s Killian Turak in the 103-pound final. Kazalas pinned Montour’s James Walzer at 113. Richey recorded an 8-1 win over Laurel’s Colin Bartley in the 120pound final.
Diemert claimed the 172pound title with an 8-4 win over Montour’s Aaron DeLuca. Cutchember pinned Central Valley’s Brenan Morgan in the 189-pound final. Krul lost, 6-0, to South Side Beaver’s Timmy Cafrelli in the 126-pound final.
Cafrelli was one of four individuals who won a second MAC title. The others were West Allegheny’s duo of Ty Watters and Nico Taddy, and Moon’s Khyvon Grace.
Watters pinned Carlynton’s Chase Brandebura in the 145-pound final. Taddy recorded a 14-1 major decision victory over Hopewell’s Isaiah Pisano at 152. Grace posted a 6-0 win over Carlynton’s Bryce Rodriguez in the 132-pound final.