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Nine Beaver Valley wrestlers claim section titles Saturday

Ethan Morrison, Special to the Times
·6 min read
Don Lindsey (blue) looks to change positions on Jacob Chacon (Black) during the WPIAL Class 2A Northern Section Tournament at Keystone Oaks High School.
Don Lindsey (blue) looks to change positions on Jacob Chacon (Black) during the WPIAL Class 2A Northern Section Tournament at Keystone Oaks High School.

It was a busy day on Saturday as nine Beaver County area wrestlers captured WPIAL Class 2A section titles with the WPIAL Championships on the horizon next week at Chartiers Valley High School on Feb. 23 and 24.

Nine wrestlers that took part in the Class 2A Northern Section Tournament secured section titles, while one took WPIAL gold at the first sanctioned WPIAL Girls' Wrestling Championship at North Allegheny High School.

The nine of the competitors that took home section titles came from the northern section tournament at Keystone Oaks High School, which saw four titles come from Quaker Valley; Bruce Anderchak, (107-pound weight class) Jack Kazalas, (133) Matthew Danna and (139) Markus Richey (152).

Central Valley saw three of its wrestlers capture section titles as Antonio Boni (121) and Brenan Morgan (285) defended their section titles while Don Lindsey captured his first section title in his senior season.

Isiah Pisano (160) captured the lone section title for Hopewell while South Side's Slayton Williams (189) ran the table as the top seed in his weight class to take home the title heading into the WPIAL Championships next week.

South Side's Slayton Williams eyes up his opponent Saturday afternoon during his section championship match.
South Side's Slayton Williams eyes up his opponent Saturday afternoon during his section championship match.

After falling in the 107-pound weight class section championship last season, Anderchak was out for revenge as he pinned Central Valley freshman Angelo Boni 29 seconds into the first round.

Central Valley's Antonio Boni pinned Montour’s Anthony Esposito 1:27 into the first round.

Don Lindsey captured his first section title with Central Valley in his senior year as he scored a tech fall over Montour’s Jacob Chacon at 3:21.

Jack Kazalas of Quaker Valley defeated Montour’s Anthony Orlandini by a decision of 8-3 to capture his third section title of his career.

Matthew Danna captured his first section title with Quaker Valley in his sophomore season defeating Ilim Abzarov of Montour by a 9-0 major decision.

Pisano picked up back-to-back section titles after a dominant victory over Freedom’s Gavyn McCray by a 9-2 decision, and Williams picked up his second consecutive section title on Saturday after pinning Beaver Area’s Aaron Miller at 3:48.

In the last match of the day on Saturday, Brenan Morgan captured his second section title after pinning Carlynton’s Henry Barbisch at 2:57.

Among the nine wrestlers that claimed section championships, two also surpassed a career milestone while another broke a school record Saturday at Keystone Oaks High School with a victory in the championship round.

It has been quite an impressive career for Central Valley senior Brenan Morgan as he has suffered just 12 losses over the four seasons that he has competed at the high school level. Saturday was a milestone day for the University of Virginia commit as he captured his 100th career victory in the semifinal round as he pinned Lincoln Park’s Dom Brooks 40 seconds into the first round.

Brenan Morgan (left) celebrates his 100th career win after his semifinal match in the WPIAL Class 2A Northern Section Tournament at Keystone Oaks High School Saturday.
Brenan Morgan (left) celebrates his 100th career win after his semifinal match in the WPIAL Class 2A Northern Section Tournament at Keystone Oaks High School Saturday.

After the success that Morgan saw last year in the 215-pound weight class, the Warrior senior decided to wrestle up one weight class and move up to the 285-pound weight class this season. Even with the move up to the higher weight class, Central Valley head coach Kevin Mroz sees Morgan attack each match the same way.

“It is different for him [Brenan] because he is wrestling up a weight class,” Mroz said following Morgan’s section championship match. “But he still has the same mindset and approaches matches the same way. He is very aggressive and wants to take it to his opponents so that hasn’t changed at all as a competitor.”

Quaker Valley’s Kazalas picked up his third section title in his victory on Saturday. But this section title he might look at differently as he surpassed Patrick Cutchember for most wins in Quaker Valley history after picking up his 142nd win in the section championship match at Keystone Oaks High School.

“Jack has been in this program the longest because he was on the younger end of the group of kids that came into this program when it started because he’s really been with us for six years,” Quaker Valley head coach Austin Heinl said following the section championships. “His brother [John Rocco] was one of the pioneers of this program so with [Jack] coming through, he sees where the bar is at. He is s always trying to outdo everyone that has come before him and I am excited to see how he does at the end of the year.”

Quaker Valley's Jack Kazalas works on the ground during the WPIAL Class 2A Northern Section Tournament at Keystone Oaks High School.
Quaker Valley's Jack Kazalas works on the ground during the WPIAL Class 2A Northern Section Tournament at Keystone Oaks High School.

With the WPIAL Class 2A Championships kicking off on Friday, let's take a look at the list of wrestlers who will look to compete for WPIAL gold.

BEAVER AREA (3) — Dylan Ferricks, 114; Aaron Miller, 189; Nick Thompson, 152.

BEAVER COUNTY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL (2) — Eli Bosch, 152; Carmine Battaglia, 160.

BLACKHAWK (3) — Brecken Vandecoevering 114;Gavin Ronacher, 145; James Trehar, 189.

CENTRAL VALLEY (6) — Angelo Boni, 107; Antonio Boni, 121; Don Lindsey, 127; Garen McDonald, 133; Max Hill, 215; Brenan Morgan, 285.

ELLWOOD CITY (6) — Logan Shriver, 114; Derek Allen, 121; Gavin McClure, 127; Gabe Lilly, 145; Evan Twedell, 189; Nathan Chandler, 215.

FREEDOM AREA (8)— Kayden Braun, 107; Camden Bruce, 114; Riley Henley, 121; Kaiden Millward, 133; Brayden Reynolds, 139; Ryan Kredel, 152; Gavyn McCray, 160, Charlie Brenckle, 172.

HOPEWELL (9) — Enzo Wright, 107; Jacob Medich, 114; Derrick Reilly, 121; Vincent Boris, 133; Justin Obeldobel, 139; Jacob Bauknight, 145; Isiah Pisano, 160; Austin Gouza, 172; Hank Berner, 285.

LINCOLN PARK (1) — Dom Brooks, 285.

QUAKER VALLEY (10) — Bruce Anderchak, 107; Isaac Mccaglia, 114; Eoin Parnell, 121; Jack Kazalas, 133; Matthew Danna, 139; Jack Diemert, 145; Marcus Richey, 152; Trey Dunlap, 172; Aris Haniotes, 189; Chase Kretzler, 215.

SOUTH SIDE — (5) Ryder Goe, 139; Ronald Cusato, 145; Moses Pinkevich, 160; Slayton Williams, 189; Lucian Williams, 215.

Over at North Allegheny, Moon Area’s Haley Smarsh kept her unbeaten streak alive in the 130-pound weight class as she defeated Woodland Hills’ Asia Fowler by fall at 2:31, capturing WPIAL Gold.

She will now move on to the PIAA Girls Wrestling West Regional Tournament which will begin at 10 a.m. on March 2 at Canon McMillian High School.

As for the boys, with the Class 2A sectionals wrapped up, Beaver County area wrestlers will now set their sights on Chartiers Valley High School this Friday for the opening rounds of the WPIAL Class 2A Individual Championships at 5 p.m.

The WPIAL Class 3A Section Tournaments begin next weekend on Saturday with Norwin High School serving as the Eastern section host, Kiski Area High School serving as the Northern section host and South Fayette High School serving as the Southern section host.

Both Moon and West Allegheny the lone Beaver Valley teams in the WPIAL Class 3A will compete next weekend.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Nine Beaver Valley wrestlers claim section titles Saturday