A new site forced the PIAA to change formats for its team wrestling championships.
This year, for the first time, Altoona High School will be the venue for the finals, which will be held Friday and Saturday, with preliminary-round matches held around the state on Tuesday.
Changes were made when the Giant Center in Hershey decided not to bid on this year’s championships since they are not well-attended. The team championships had been held at either the Giant Center or Hersheypark Arena since the tournament’s inception in 1999, with the only exception being in 2021 championships when they were moved to Cumberland Valley High School due to COVID-19.
When no other venue as large as the Giant Center showed an interest in hosting the event, Altoona High School stepped up to hold the final two days of competition.
A format like this, with regional preliminaries and quarterfinals through finals at the main venue, has been used by the PIAA in team tennis for decades because of the sparse number of courts at Hershey Racquet Club.
The previous format had 16 of the 20 teams in each class advancing to Hershey for three days of double-elimination competition, with eight mats being used for all rounds except for the finals and consolation finals.
Altoona’s gym can hold only four mats, so the PIAA decided to hold preliminary and first-round matches at various regional sites on Tuesday. With that in mind, only eight teams in each class will advance to Friday’s quarterfinals at Altoona. The Class 2A semifinals will be held at 5 p.m. with Class 3A to follow at 7 p.m. The change also eliminates two consolation rounds since the tournament is single elimination until the quarterfinals.
Saturday’s schedule begins with two consolation matches in each class at 9 a.m., followed by the semifinals in each class at 11:30 a.m. The consolation semifinals in each class will be held at 12:30 p.m.
The title match and consolation final in Class 2A will be held at 3 p.m. followed by the Class 3A title match and consolation final at 5 p.m.
The PIAA individual championships will still be held at the Giant Center from March 6-8.
Class 3A
Seven WPIAL teams and City League champion Obama Academy (9-4) have qualified.
Joining Obama in the 20-team Class 3A bracket are: WPIAL champion Franklin Regional (17-0), runner-up Connellsville (11-2), and third-place finisher Norwin (15-2).
Bethlehem Catholic (13-0), the District 11 champion, is a three-time defending champion in Class 3A. The Golden Hawks are ranked No. 1 in the state by papowerwrestling.com. Nazareth (16-1), the District 11 runner-up, is ranked No. 2.
“The Class 3A title match has featured District 11 schools the past three years, and this year should be the same,” said Jeff Upson, a Greensburg resident who runs papowerwrestling.com, a website devoted to Pennsylvania wrestling.
Bethlehem Catholic beat Nazareth in the 2022 and 2023 finals, then beat Easton, another District 11 school, in last year’s title match.
“Bethlehem Catholic is undefeated and Nazareth’s only loss was to Bethlehem Catholic in the district title match,” Upson said. “I actually have five District 11 schools as the top five teams in my state rankings. That’s how strong District 11 is this year, but they only get two berths to the state tournament.”
Connellsville was ranked as high as No. 3 until its loss on Saturday to Franklin Regional in the WPIAL title match. The Falcons dropped to No. 7 in the rankings, while the Panthers moved up to No. 6.
“I actually think Connellsville has a better draw in the first round than Franklin Regional,” Upson said.
Franklin Regional will face the winner of the preliminary round match between Norwin and Obama Academy, which should be Norwin since the City League has never won a match at the PIAA tournament.
“It’s unfair to have two teams from the same district meeting in the first round,” said Franklin Regional coach Matt Lebe, referring to the probable matchup with Norwin. “We just faced them in our final section match [on Jan. 22]. That means one of us will not make it to the quarterfinals.”
Franklin Regional is making its fifth appearance in the PIAA tournament. The Panthers won titles in 2014 and 2015 with Olympian Spencer Lee leading the way. Norwin is making its first PIAA appearance. Franklin Regional posted a 28-19 victory against Norwin in their section finale.
Connellsville is making its 10th appearance in the state tournament and won a title in 2005. The Falcons are on the road in their first-round match against District 10 champion DuBois (13-3).
Connellsville coach Bill Swink predicted this would happen when the PIAA announced its changes to the format and venue in December.
“With eight regional sites, it’s possible that two teams from the WPIAL could meet in the first round,” Swink said in December, before the pre-determined bracket was announced. “Would I have done it that way? Probably not, but if we have the chance to compete for a state championship, we will wrestle where they tell us.”
Swink was also disappointed with the venue change.
“We do a postseason interview every year with all our kids, and every kid says that the best experience they have is wrestling at team states in Hershey,” Swink said.
Class 2A
The 19-team Class 2A bracket has four WPIAL entries: champion Burrell (14-1), runner-up Derry Area (15-3), third-place finisher McGuffey (13-5) and fourth-place finisher Quaker Valley (9-6).
Faith Christian (10-1), the District 1 champion, is the defending champ and a slight favorite to repeat. The Lions are ranked No. 1 in the country by Flowrestling.org. Bishop McCort, the District 6 champion, was last year’s runner-up and a strong favorite to make a return trip to the finals. The Crushers are ranked No. 2 in the country.
“Faith Christian and Bishop McCort are ranked Number 1 and Number 2 in the country,” Upson said. “[District 3 champion] Bishop McDevitt also has a very good team. I think all three of them are good enough to beat the eventual Class 3A champion.”
Burrell is making its 22nd consecutive appearance at the state tournament and won a title in 2008. The Buccaneers could face Quaker Valley in the first round, as the Quakers face District 6 runner-up Penns Valley (13-3) in their preliminary match. Quaker Valley is making its fifth PIAA appearance in six years.
“It’s always nice to wrestle in front of a home crowd,” said Bucs coach Steve Ansani, referring to Burrell serving as a regional host. “The format and venue have changed. We’re just grateful to be in the tournament, no matter where we are in the bracket.”
Burrell has the unfortunate task of being in the same quarter of the bracket with Faith Christian, which sets up a probable matchup in Friday’s quarterfinals.
“Derry actually has a better draw than Burrell,” Upson said. “I think Derry could make to the semifinals.”
Derry is on the road for its first-round match against District 5 champion Chestnut Ridge (12-2). The Trojans are making their fourth PIAA appearance and first since 2018.
“This is my first time coaching at the state tournament, so it’s all new to me,” Derry coach Troy Dolan said. “The bracket is very, very tough with Faith Christian and Bishop McCort as the favorites. Our focus is on what’s in front of us. We’re going to take it one match at a time.”
McGuffey is making its fourth PIAA appearance and first since 2018. The Highlanders face District 10 runner-up Corry (18-2) in a preliminary round match at Bishop McCort. The winner faces Bishop McCort in the first round.
“I would be a huge surprise if Faith Christian and Bishop McCort don’t meet in the finals,” Upson said. “It should be a great match. I give a slight edge to Faith Christian.”
Upson has Burrell ranked No. 9 in the state and Derry No. 13.
First Published: February 3, 2025, 4:50 p.m.
