By: Ray Fisher 
Sunday, March 19, 2023 | 11:01 AM

It doesn’t often happen that a high school wrestling team has two 100-win grapplers in one season.

Quaker Valley is not your average wrestling program.

Two QV grapplers racked up their 100th career wins this season, giving the Quakers six wrestlers to reach the century mark in the seven seasons the program has existed.

Logan Richey, a 145-pound senior, reached 100 career wins Feb. 1 at the WPIAL Class 2A team tournament by pinning Jefferson-Morgan’s Grant Hathaway at the 3:35 mark.

“Logan achieving 100 wins is just a result of his work ethic and drive starting back when he was a freshman,” QV coach Austin Heinl said. “The Richey family has been a solid rock for the Quaker Valley program. We have been able to lean on their support and also on the talent of Justin, Logan and Marcus.”

Richey posted records of 21-11 at 106 as a freshman, 19-10 at 113 as a sophomore, 38-14 at 120 as a junior and 34-15 in 2022-23 — following his second appearance in the PIAA Class 2A tournament — to give him a 112-50 career mark.

Almost half (53) of Richey’s victories were falls (45) or technical falls (8). He placed second at 145 at this year’s Allegheny County tournament and saw time this season ranked first in his weight division in the Trib HSSN WPIAL individual wrestling rankings.

“Logan achieving 100 wins is just a result of his work ethic and drive starting back when he was a freshman,” QV coach Austin Heinl said. “The Richey family has been a solid rock for the Quaker Valley program. We are able to lean on their support and also on the talent of Justin, Logan and Marcus.”

Richey posted individual records of 21-11 at 106 as a freshman, 19-10 at 113 as a sophomore, 38-14 at 120 as a junior and 34-15 in 2022-23 — following his second appearance in the PIAA Class 2A tournament — to give him a 112-50 career mark.

Almost half (53) of Richey’s victories were falls (45) or technical falls (8). He placed second at 145 at this year’s Allegheny County tournament and saw time this season ranked first in 2A in his weight division in the Trib HSSN/WPIAL individual wrestling rankings.

Richey won two section titles in his career, finished fourth in the district twice and placed fifth and fourth in the region the past two seasons when he won 72 total matches.

On his first day of competition at this year’s PIAA 2A finals, Richey captured a 4-3 decision against Catasauqua senior Gavin Fehr and lost by a 17-3 score to Grove City sophomore Cody Hamilton.

“After coming into the season fresh off surgery and moving up five weight class, Logan performed very well this season,” Heinl said. “Not many kids have the same amount of success going through those hurdles.”

Jack Kazalas, a 121-pound junior at QV, was 28-8 and 40-8 (20 pins) at 106 and 113 in his first two years with the Quakers. He wrapped up 2022-23 with a 37-4 record (.90%) and is 105-20 in just three seasons.

Kazalas landed his 100th career victory Feb. 25 by defeating McGuffey freshman Lucas Barr, 8-6, in the WPIAL 2A championship match.

“It feels pretty surreal to hit 100 as a junior, but that’s not the main goal for the season,” Kazalas said. “My main goal (was) to be a state champion.”

Kazalas, who was ranked No. 1 in his weight class this year, has qualified for the PIAA tournament three times, won two section championships, placed first, second and fourth in the district and placed third in the region three times.

He has attained 44 falls and 7 technical falls.

Both Kazalas and Richey were PIAA medalists last season with eighth-place finishes in Hershey.

Kazalas was pinned on the first day of this year’s state finals by Montoursville senior and Penn State recruit Brandon Wentzel in 5:48 then defeated Notre Dame-Green Pond sophomore Cooper Feltman, 6-0.

Kazalas also went 1-1 on Day 2.

“I know Jack isn’t happy with how his season ended,” Heinl said, “but I am still proud of the things he accomplished. Jack and Logan add on to the wrestling tradition that they helped to start back when it began.”

Two other Quaker Valley grapplers, then-seniors Patrick Cutchember and Justin Richey, attained their 100th career wins last season, giving the team four in two years to reach the coveted milestone.

Cutchember is the Quakers’ all-time leader in wins on the mats with a 141-31 record.

He took first in the district and region last season, racking up a 44-6 record, and owns the team record for career pins (87) and pins in a season (26). He won two section and two district titles, finished as a district runner-up twice, and was a section runner-up once.

Cutchember was a four-year letterman in wrestling, football and lacrosse and currently is a freshman wrestler at Clarion.

“Patrick has to be proud of his career,” Heinl said. “He set a lot of records in our brief (team) history.”

Justin Richey, Logan’s brother, was 107-41 with 55 falls in four years. The Gettysburg recruit earned one district title, two section crowns and had one runner-up finish in the section and at districts.

Second place in career wins belongs to John Rocco Kazalas (2019) at 134-33. Connor Redinger (2021) at 112-20 and Logan Richey are tied for the third spot.

John Rocco Kazalas, Jack’s brother, competed at Moon as a freshman but still hit the century mark at Quaker Valley by going 105-20 in three years. Redinger also won 107 times in his first three seasons with the Quakers.

The older Kazalas competed at QV from 2016-19 and, as a senior, won the first WPIAL individual title in program history. For his career, he reeled in two section titles, placed third regionally three times and twice was a PIAA medalist.

Quaker Valley was last year’s WPIAL Class 2A team champion and has won five consecutive section crowns.

“Winning section titles is now the standard for our program,” Heinl said. “It’s a streak that kids coming up the ranks look to continue. It’s looked at as the first step to achieving another WPIAL championship.

“And even though we fell short of some of our goals this season, there are still a lot of positive things to be proud and happy about, like taking individuals to Hershey, being state qualifiers as a team and having county championship success.

“Our goals are still the same: County championships, WPIAL team champions, WPIAL individual champions, state qualifiers, state medalists and the program’s first state champion.

By: Paul Schofield 
Sunday, February 5, 2023 | 7:29 PM

Three WPIAL wrestling teams can earn a trip to Hershey if they can win preliminary-round road matches Monday.

Hempfield in Class 3A, and Quaker Valley and Frazier in Class 2A can qualify for the PIAA team tournament first-round matches that begin Thursday.

Hempfield, which defeated Connellsville in a third-place match Saturday, has the shortest trip. The Spartans must defeat City League champion Allderdice at Carrick. The match begins at 6 p.m.

This is the third time the Spartans have qualified for the PIAA tournament.

When Hempfield won its only WPIAL title in 2007, the Spartans made it to Hershey and lost in the semifinals to Nazareth. They opened the playoffs by defeating Council Rock South. They fell to Cumberland Valley, 28-26, in the consolation semifinals.

Hempfield finished third in 2009 and lost to Clearfield, 34-33, in a preliminary-round match at Clarion.

If Hempfield wins, it will face District 1 champion Pennridge at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Giant Center.

Quaker Valley qualified for the PIAA tournament for the third time. The Quakers lost a preliminary-round match in 2020 and made it to Hershey in 2022 before dropping their first two matches.

Quaker Valley must defeat District 6 runner-up Huntingdon at 7 p.m. if it hopes to get to the Giant Center. If the Quakers win, they will face District 11 champion Notre Dame-Green Pond at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Frazier, which is having a historic season, will travel to District 10 runner-up to face Fort LeBoeuf at 7 p.m. The winner faces District 4 champion Warrior Run at 2 p.m. Thursday.

The Class 2A matches Monday begin at 7.

Class 3A champion Canon-McMillan and runner-up Waynesburg, and Class 2A champion Burgettstown and runner-up Burrell already have earned their spot in Hershey.

Canon-McMillan begins its trek by battling the winner of Monday’s match between District 3 third-place finisher Chambersburg and District 1 fourth-place team Quakertown at 6 p.m., and Waynesburg faces District 4 champion Shikellamy at 8 p.m.

Burgettstown, which is making its third trip to Hershey, will face District 2 champion Honesdale at 2 p.m., and Burrell gets District 9 champion Brookville at 4 p.m. Brookville defeated Burrell, 31-25, at the Ultimate Duals on Jan. 21.

Joshua Carney

Beaver County Times

2/4/23

CHARTIERS TWP. — One year after shocking the WPIAL with a win over the Burrell Bucs in the WPIAL Class 2A wrestling championships, the Quaker Valley Quakers' program went from the hunters to the hunted.

Matching up in the same location against the same Burrell program Saturday in the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals, the Quakers couldn't hold off the Bucchampionships' revenge tour, falling to Burrell 41-24 in the semifinals, coming up just short of a second straight team title.

Facing off against the Bucs on Saturday following wins over Jefferson Morgan (42-36) and McGuffey (44-21) to reach the semifinals at Chartiers-Houston High School, Quaker Valley got off to a rough start against the Bucs.

Things kicked off in the WPIAL Class 2A semifinal match between Burrell and Quaker Valley in the 172-pound weight class where Burrell's Isaac Lacinski pinned Quaker Valley's Aidan Fair in 59 seconds for a quick 6-0 lead. Burrell continued to rack up the pins as Cam Martin pinned Quaker Valley's Kris Brown in 5:49 of the 189-pound match, and Luke Boylan pinned Chase Kretzler in 4:52 of the 215-pound weight class for an 18-0 team lead.

"We were just trying to mitigate bonus points, that was kind of our gameplan going in," Quaker Valley head coach Austin Heinl told the Times following the third-place finish. "...If we could kind of keep the damage to a minimum — we have a pretty young team, a less experienced team; we lost a lot from last year — get those guys some experience. But we got caught on our back late in the match, but in a big match, especially against Burrell, you can't give up that many points."

From there, the Bucs continued to pick up team points moving into the 285-pound weight class. There, Burrell's Ian Quinn picked up a 3-2 decision win over Quaker Valley's Ben Carlson, giving the Bucs a 21-0 lead. Cam Barker then quickly dispatched Quaker Valley's Bruce Anderchak by major decision (9-1), moving the lead to 25-0.

Julian Bertucci then pinned Quaker Valley's Isaac Maccaglia in 1:34 of the 114-pound match to give Burrell an insurmountable 31-0 lead.

Quaker Valley tried to turn the tide though as standout Jack Kazalas pinned Burrell's Jacob Stewart in 2:41 of the 121-pound weight class, and Brandon Krul followed with a pin in 1:18 over Calio Zanella in the 127-pound weight class to make it a 31-12 match.

"We were in too big of a hole," Heinl said. "We weren't able to get off to a hot start. It was hard to crawl back."

Burrell got back on track though as Cooper Hornack pinned Quaker Valley's Wyatt Hamm in 50 seconds in the 133-pound weight class and Niko Ferra picked up a major decision win (12-1) over Quaker Valley's Michael Carmody in the 139-pound weight class for a 41-12 lead.

Quaker Valley picked up three wins to close the match as Jack Diemert (152 pounds) and Logan Richey (160 pounds) — who recently won his 100th career match — picked up forfeit wins, while Marcus Richey pinned Burrell's Shawn Oden in 4:54 of the 145-pound match to close out the semifinal bout in favor of Burrell, 41-24.

Burrell went on to lose to Burgettstown in the finals by a score of 31-24, while Quaker Valley faced off against Frazier with a spot in the PIAA Class 2A team state championships on the line.

Despite a tough loss to Burrell, Quaker Valley bounced back under Heinl's guidance, defeating Frazier 46-27 to clinch a spot in the state tournament later this month.

"We were able to get off to a hot start, get momentum going in our way," Heinl said. "We were scoring bonus points in the early matches, and we were able to build a lead. It was a good way to end the day."

Against Frazier, Quaker Valley started fast as Anderchak bounced back from a tough semifinal showing to pin Tanner Hayes in 17 seconds of the 107-pound match.

From there, Maccaglia, Kazalas, Krul and Carmody ripped off wins by fall, and Nick Allan picked up a major decision win over Frazier's Andrew Andish (10-2) in the 139-pound weight class.

Frazier got on the board after that thanks to wins by Jonah Erdely and Ryan Celaschi over Marcus and Logan Richey in the 145- and 152-pound matches, while Jackson Angelo and standout Rune Lawrence continued the Frazier run with wins by fall in just over 50 seconds in the 160- and 189-pound matches.

Kretzer sealed the win for the Quakers though by pinning Frazier's Josh Girvin in 3:35 of the 215-pound match, sending the Quakers to Hershey for the state tournament later this month.

Up next for Quaker Valley are the state pigtail round starting Monday, before the program begins to gear up for the 2A individual WPIAL championships.

"You gotta keep the team motivated. We still have some goals to obtain as a team," Heinl said. "We came up short on our WPIAL championship goals, but we're still looking for our first Quaker Valley team win in the state tournament. We're trying to get these guys fired up and ready to go for Monday and get our first team win for Quaker Valley."

By: Michael Love 
Saturday, February 4, 2023 | 6:06 PM

Burrell had gotten the better of Burgettstown four times in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs over the past decade.

That included wins in the 2020 and 2021 championship matches.

But Saturday at Chartiers-Houston, Burgettstown turned the tables and captured its first WPIAL Class 2A team-tournament title 31-24.

“That was a title that was well earned,” Blue Devils coach Joey Vigliotti said. “They knew that they had worked hard, and (the title) was there for the taking. There was nothing too big for that team. No stage was too big. A number of them had been in that position before. That team, most of them grew up together in the sport. They just did a great job. I am so proud of them.”

The closely contested match between the Bucs and Blue Devils wasn’t decided until the second-to-last bout. Junior Rudy Brown, No. 3 in this week’s WPIAL Class 2A rankings at 152, moved up to 160 and scored a 5-4 decision over Burrell junior Nico Zanella to clinch the win.

“This feels great,” Brown said. “I was able to do what I needed to do in that third period to get the win. I expected it to be a really close match. I bumped up a weight class, and (Zanella) is a really good wrestler. I knew I could win. I just had to get it done. 

“This win means everything for this team after coming up short the past several years. It really boosts our confidence and lets us know that we can beat anyone if we really work hard for it.” 

Burgettstown was denied a trip to the WPIAL finals last year after falling to Quaker Valley, 36-35. 

Burrell was deducted a team point after 160 for unsportsmanlike conduct, making the score an insurmountable 31-18 in Burgettstown’s advantage.

The Blue Devils forfeited the 172-pound bout to Burrell sophomore Isaac Lacinski to set the final.

Burgettstown, the No. 1 seed, improved to 15-0 on the season. The Blue Devils rolled past No. 5 Frazier, 49-24, in the semifinals.

Burrell, which defeated Quaker Valley, 42-24, in the other semifinal to avenge last year’s two-point loss to the Quakers in the title match, is 11-4.

The Bucs finished as runners-up for the second year in a row after capturing 15 straight Class 2A titles.

“That was a great match between two quality teams,” Burrell coach Josh Shields said. “It starts with two matches that go to overtime, and the team score is relatively low. There were a lot of good, close matches with kids going back and forth. Unfortunately for us, they won the majority of them.”

The teams split the first 10 bouts until Blue Devils junior Eric Kovach scored a 2-minute, 27-second pin over Burrell sophomore Steve Hasson at 152.

That put Burgettstown on the brink of victory.

The match started at 189 with a pair of seniors — Burgettstown’s Jacob Noyes and Burrell’s Cam Martin — going the distance and beyond.

Martin led 2-1 in the third overtime period before Noyes recorded a last-second reversal for the 3-2 win. The Burrell coaches, wrestlers and spectators questioned the validity of the reversal as they felt it came after the buzzer sounded.

“If Cam rides him to the end, he wins,” Shields said. “I thought it was a questionable call. It’s a loud environment. The refs had a hard time hearing the buzzer. I didn’t think it was a reversal.

“But it was the first match of 13, and we had 12 others after that to right that wrong, and we just came up a little bit short.”

Burgettstown also scored points with wins from junior Joseph Baronick at heavyweight (pin, 1:18), junior Parker Sentipal at 114 (9-0 major decision), junior Dylan Slovick at 127 (5-0 decision) and senior Joseph Sentipal at 139 (pin, 0:51).

Burrell senior Luke Boylan countered the Noyes overtime victory at 215 with an OT triumph of his own at heavyweight. He rallied from a 3-0 deficit to Blue Devils senior Tyler Cody and scored a 6-4 win.

The Bucs also got wins from freshman Cam Baker at 107 (pin, 20 seconds), freshman Jake Stewart at 121 (11-2 major decision), junior Cooper Hornack at 133 (5-0 decision), and senior Niko Ferra at 145 (5-0 decision).

“Our coaches and their coaches go back decades,” Vigliotti said. “I remember when we were on the mats hanging out together. There is a lot of mutual respect between the teams. Burrell does a heck of a job. That (15-year) WPIAL title streak was amazing. I’ve said for years that Burrell is Burrell. Now I can say Burgettstown is Burgettstown.”

For all four semifinalists — No. 2 Quaker Valley (16-4) defeated No. 5 Frazier, 46-27, in the third-place match — the focus turns to the PIAA playoffs.

Burgettstown will open the tournament in Hershey on Thursday with a first-round match against the champion from District 2.

“We’ll enjoy this for the night, and then I will tell the kids to get in some active recovery (Sunday), and it’s back to work Monday,” Vigliotti said. 

Burrell hopes to bounce back with a first-round match Thursday against the District 9 champion.

“Now we have to regroup,” Shields said. “We don’t want one bad day to drag into the rest of the season. It’s unfortunate we came up short, but hopefully we can make some noise at states. We want the kids to use this as motivation moving forward.”

Quaker Valley returns to the PIAA playoffs and will be in preliminary-round action Monday against the District 6 runner-up.

Frazier (11-8), after its first appearance in the WPIAL team playoffs, will enter the state tournament Monday with a preliminary match against the District 10 runner-up.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Michael by email at mlove@triblive.com or via Twitter .

By: Paul Schofield 
Friday, February 3, 2023 | 4:29 PM

WPIAL team wrestling championship

Class 2A 

Semifinals

Noon Saturday at at Chartiers-Houston

No. 1 Burgettstown (13-0) vs. No. 5 Frazier (11-6)

Path to semifinals: Burgettstown defeated Southmoreland, 70-3, in the first round and Mt. Pleasant, 42-25, in the quarterfinals. Frazier defeated Hopewell, 54-18, in the first round and Highlands, 45-20, in the quarterfinals.

Playoff record: Burgettstown (29 years, 20-20); Frazier (1 year, 2-0)

WPIAL team tournament titles: Burgettstown (29 years, 0); Frazier (1 year, 0)

WPIAL semifinal appearances: Burgettstown (2A, 10); Frazier (2A, 1)

Record in finals: Burgettstown (0-3); Frazier (0-0)

Last meeting: First meeting

2022 championship: Quaker Valley 30, Burrell 28

The skinny: Burgettstown is 0-3 in the finals and 3-6 in the semifinals. … The Blue Devils lost to Quaker Valley, 35-34, in the 2022 semifinals. … Frazier makes history every time it steps on the mat in the playoffs during its first appearance.

Wrestlers to watch: Burgettstown: Parker Sentipal (114), Dylan Slovick (127) and Joe Baronick (285). Frazier: Jonah Erdely (145), Ryan Celaschi (160) and Rune Lawrence (189).

No. 3 Burrell (10-3) vs. No. 2 Quaker Valley (14-4)

Path to semifinals: Burrell defeated Knoch, 71-3, in the first round and Laurel, 39-19, in the quarterfinals. Quaker Valley defeated Jefferson-Morgan, 42-36, in the first round and McGuffey, 44-21, in the quarterfinals.

Playoff record: Burrell (31 years, 67-13); Quaker Valley (6 years, 10-5)

WPIAL team tournament titles: Burrell (17, 2A: 1997, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021); Quaker Valley (1, 2A: 2022).

WPIAL semifinal appearances: Burrell (2A, 27); Quaker Valley (2A, 2)

Record in finals: Burrell (17-4); Quaker Valley (1-0)

Last meeting: Quaker Valley 30, Burrell 28 (Feb. 3, 2022)

2022 championship: Quaker Valley 30, Burrell 28

The skinny: Burrell has been in the 2A finals every year since 2003. Its semifinal record is 21-5. … The Bucs first title came in 1997. … Quaker Valley is 1-3 in the semifinals.

Wrestlers to watch: Burrell: Cam Baker (107), Cooper Hornack (127) and Isaac Lacinski (172). Quaker Valley: Jack Kazalas (127), Michael Carmody (139) and Logan Richey (145). 

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Paul by email at pschofield@triblive.com or via Twitter .

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, January 29, 2023 | 11:01 AM

Two highly skilled Quaker Valley athletes shared the winner’s spotlight at the Allegheny County wrestling championships Jan. 20-21 at Fox Chapel.

Brandon Krul took first place in the 127-pound weight division, as the QV senior competed with a flurry, pinning all five of his opponents and earning the award for the most pins in the least amount of time (3:58).

“Brandon was the top seed, but we knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” QV coach Austin Heinl said. “That didn’t stop him from using his dangerousness to pin everyone through the finals.

“Brandon is very strong, so he uses that to his advantage. Brandon uses his strength to be very explosive in positions, and that makes him a dangerous wrestler where he can pin you at any time. He is a very upbeat and outgoing young man. He always has a big smile after he gets a pin.”

Krul said the experience was surreal for him.

“It felt amazing and emotional,” he said. “After coming up short of my goal last year, being able to stand on the top of the podium was surreal and something I never felt before. To be able to share that with my coaches and family who have been there believing in me for all these years was so rewarding. I know this is just the beginning of the uphill track to Hershey.

“I was mentally and physically prepared, and I felt very confident and comfortable with my attacks. My technique was on point and I was able to execute the pins. Some people train to win, but we train to dominate.”

QV junior Jack Kazalas posted a 5-0 record at 121 pounds to repeat as an individual titlist. Kazalas took first place at 113 last season.

“Jack dominated through a very tough weight class,” Heinl said. “He had rematches from the tournament last year that were close against South Fayette’s (Jonathan) Baiano and Chartiers Valley’s (Brady) Joling. He beat them both last year by two points. He widened the gap this year and it shows that Jack has jumped to another level from the work he’s put in.

“Jack is very offensive on his feet. He can score with an endless arsenal of attacks. He’s very savvy and has good mat awareness. He knows what he needs to do to win even when he’s losing. He’s a very serious wrestler that is focused during days of competition. You won’t see him smile until some time passes after competition.”

Kazalas said there is still room for improvement.

“I was pretty happy winning my second county title but I definitely knew I could have wrestled better and scored more points,” he said. “I feel like my strength is when I’m in neutral and I’m constantly looking to score and also when I’m on top. My goals for this year are to capture my first WPIAL title, Southwest regional title and, most importantly, a state title.”

Krul, who wrestled at Mars for two years before transferring to QV, improved to 24-2 with his performance at Fox Chapel while Kazalas padded his record to 20-1.

“Brandon has shown a lot of improvement from last season,” Heinl said. “He’s bounced back from his performance at Powerade by winning MAC and county titles. He’s been focusing on the areas that need improvement by watching film and working with our coaches.

“I believe Brandon can beat anyone in the state. With his explosive style, he can pin anyone he wrestles. I know our goal is to advance to the state tournament and place high on the podium.”

Heinl believes Kazalas also has the potential to win a state championship.

“Jack has looked dominant all season,” Heinl said. “If he continues to do the right things, he will continue his dominance into the postseason. Jack’s goal is to be a state champion. We believe he is fully capable to do it. He has all of the qualities of a champion. All that’s left is to toe the line with the best.”

Krul has established lofty goals for the 2022-23 season.

“My goals are to achieve 100 (career) wins, win the section and WPIAL championships, and advance to the state championships,” he said. “I’m hungry to get on the podium at Hershey.“

“I feel like I have great mat awareness; I like to dictate the pace and I’m best on my feet. My coaches tell me, ‘You wrestle your match, you control your opponent.’ I have a tenacious and explosive style and when I see an opportunity in a match, I go after it. When I step onto the mat, it’s do or die. God is always in my corner through every outcome in my matches.”

Quaker Valley placed fourth in the final team standings with 165 points, finishing as the top Class 2A school at the tournament.

Class 3A Plum won the championship with 230.5 points, followed by Pine-Richland with 207 and North Allegheny with 202.5.

Five other QV grapplers ended up in the top eight at the county championships led by senior Logan Richey’s runner-up finish at 145. Richey’s record stood at 21-7 following the tournament, and his career record was 99-42.

Richey racked up 21-11, 19-10 and 38-14 marks in his first three seasons.

QV freshman Bruce Anderchak and senior Michael Carmody corralled fifth place at 107 and 133, respectively. Isaac Maccaglia, a 114-pound junior, and Jack Diemert, a 152-pound sophomore, also placed eighth for the Quakers.

“Michael Carmody had a great performance,” Heinl said. “Being unseeded, he beat three seeded wrestlers. He is one of the hardest workers in the (wrestling) room and a great leader. I’m very pleased with how much he’s improved and performed this season.

“Also, we had three first-time placers in Bruce Anderchak, Isaac Maccaglia and Jack Diemert. Isaac and Jack punched through to the podium this year which is an improvement from last season. Both were one match short from placing last year.”

Other competitors for the Quakers included Grant Castaldo (107), Wyatt Hamm (133), Marcus Richey (152), Eoin Parnell (160), Aidan Fair (172), Chase Kretzler (215) and Sebastian Juarez-Safran (285).

A total of 38 teams participated in the 2023 county tournament.

“I’m happy with how the team performed,” Heinl said, “and we are excited to move forward to the team postseason and defend our WPIAL championship.”

Joshua Carney

Beaver County Times

January 25, 2023

O'HARA TWP — Even after losing a number of key leaders and top wrestlers after a thrilling 2021-22 season on the mat, the Quaker Valley Quakers' program continues to show in 2022-23 that they will remain a powerhouse in the WPIAL moving forward.

A fourth-place finish in the tough Allegheny County championships Friday and Saturday at Fox Chapel High School was once again a shining example of the strength of the Quakers' program under first-year head coach Austin Heinl, who took over the top job after his father, Mike, retired following last season's historic success.

As a team, the Quakers scored 165.0 points in the 38-team tournament at Fox Chapel, finishing behind Plum (230.5 points), Pine-Richland (207.0), and North Allegheny (202.5), edging out Chartiers Valley (162.5) in the process.

In the 38-team tournament, the Quakers also saw two wrestlers claim individual championships, one finish second overall in his weight class, and two others place fifth, making for a rather successful showing once again for the Quakers as they barrel towards the WPIAL team and individual championship tournaments in the weeks ahead.

Individually, Jack Kazalas claimed the first championship for the Quakers in the Allegheny County championships, rolling through the 121-pound weight class Friday and Saturday. Kazalas, coming off of an individual championship in the Ed Driscoll MAC tournament at Freedom in mid-January, started off the championships by pinning South Park's Travis Kirk in 53 seconds, advancing to the second round of the championship bracket.

There, Kazalas then pinned Shaler's Nevio DeLeonibus in 1:08, clinching a spot in the quarterfinals.

Continuing to work through the championship bracket, Kazalas continued to dominate, defeating North Allegheny's Griffen Reid by technical fall (19-4) in just 3:43, advancing to the semifinals, where he then quickly dispatched South Fayette's Jonathan Baiano by decision (11-4), giving him a spot in the championship bout against Chartiers Valley's Brady Joling.

Taking on Joling in the 121-pound final, Kazalas controlled the match from start to finish, defeating the Chartiers Valley grappler by decision, 9-2, giving the Quakers one individual championship.

As Kazalas worked his way through the 121-pound bracket to claim gold, so too did Brandon Krul in the 127-pound bracket.

Krul, who also won an individual championship at the Ed Driscoll MAC tournament, pinned Thomas Jefferson's Liam Overdorff in just 57 seconds to open up the tournament, before then pinning McKeesport's Hunter Oliver in 50 seconds.

From there, Krul then pinned South Payette's Matthew Guszczynski in 1:15 in the quarterfinals, and then pinned Plum's Carson Yocca in 22 seconds in the semifinals, clinching a spot in the 127-pound championship bout against Pine-Richland's Dominic Ferraro.

Much like he did throughout the championship bracket, Krul made quick work of the Pine-Richland product, pinning Ferraro in 34 seconds to claim gold.

While Kazalas and Krul celebrated their individual championships, Logan Richey came up just short in his bid for an individual title in the 145-pound weight class.

Richey, the younger brother of former Quaker Valley standout Justin Richey, who now wrestles at Gettysburg College, rolled through the 145-pound weight class early on, defeating West Mifflin's Cooper Dietz by decision (9-5), and then pinning Riverview's Aidan Draxinger in 2:33 in the second round.

In the quarterfinals, Richey recorded another pin, this time over North Hills' Derrick Falk in 3:06, before then picking up a decision win over Plum's Charlie Campbell in the semifinals, 9-2. In the 145-pound championship bout though, Richey fell to North Allegheny's Jayson Flener by decision, 4-1, giving him the second-place finish.

Teammates Bruce Anderchak (107 pounds) and Michael Carmody (133 pounds) finished fifth overall in their respective weight classes for the Quakers. Anderchak defeated Fox Chapel's Landon Funk by decision (6-3) in the fifth-place match, while Carmody defeated South Payette's Jacob Potts by decision (6-2) in the 133-pound fifth-place match.

Outside of Quaker Valley in Beaver Valley wrestling action at the Allegheny County championships, the Moon Tigers placed 21st overall with 67.5 team points.

Cael Yanek placed second overall for the Tigers in the 114-pound weight class.

Yanek, after a first-round bye, defeated North Allegheny's Casey Walker by decision (5-0) in the second round and then defeated Fox Chapel's Michael Worsen by decision (11-10) in a thrilling semifinal match, setting up a championship showdown with Plum's Rylen Campbell.

Campbell came out on top in a hard-fought 2-1 tiebreaker 2 decision.

The Week Ahead

In area action this week, Quaker Valley returns to the mat Wednesday night for a dual with Carlynton on the road at 7 p.m., while Ellwood City hosts Highlands in a dual starting at 7 p.m. The Freedom Area Bulldogs will also be in action on Wednesday night as they host North Catholic at 7 p.m.

On Friday, Hopewell, South Side and Moon will compete in the two-day Fred Bell Tournament at Grove City High School featuring 37 schools in total.

Saturday, Ellwood City will compete against Chartiers Valley and Jefferson Morgan in the Buckeye Local Panther Classic, starting at 9:30 a.m., while Ambridge will host the Bridging the Gap Duals against Blackhawk, Gateway and Penn Hills with a time to be announced.

Freedom Area will round out the weekend in local wrestling action at the Sharon Duals Saturday.

By: Tribune-Review 
Wednesday, January 4, 2023 | 11:39 PM

Bruce Anderchak (106) picked up a pin, Brandon Krul (126) and Marcus Richey (152) won by major decision and Michael Carmody (132) and Jack Diemert (160) by decision for the Quakers (9-4, 3-0).

Jacob Stetz (113), Peter Chacon (145) and Riley Hensley (172) had pins and Alex Dusch (185), Anthony Esposito (120) and Ilim Abzarov (138) also won for Montour (3-1, 2-1).

Joshua Carney

Beaver County Times

January 11, 2023

FREEDOM — If Saturday's showing in the popular Ed Driscoll MAC Tournament is any indication for the West Allegheny wrestling team, it's going to be a year full of team and individual success.

Competing against 15 other area teams in the Ed Driscoll MAC Tournament at Freedom Area High School, West Allegheny ran away with the team title, scoring 230.5 team points — thanks to five individual champions — to edge out defending champ Quaker Valley, who scored 213.0 points on the afternoon.

West Allegheny, under first-year head coach Troy Reaghard, saw Caiden Harbert (114 pounds), Nick Jones (139 pounds), Nico Taddy (145 pounds), Ty Watters (152 pounds), and Shawn Taylor (160 pounds) win individual championships on the afternoon, while Cooper Smith (121 pounds) finished second, and Cade Stern (107 pounds) and Nico Coliazzi (172 pounds) finished in third place at Freedom.

Watters and Taylor built off of strong showings at the national Powerade Tourney at Canon-McMillan High School on Dec. 30. Watters won the prestigious individual title at 152 pounds, while Taylor finished third overall at 160 pounds.

Waters started off his championship run with a pin of Ellwood City's Austin Hall in 32 seconds in the first round, before then dispatching Montour's Danny Brandl by fall in 41 seconds in the second round. In the semifinals, Watters then pinned Quaker Valley's Jack Diemert in 2:48 before defeating Hopewell's Isaiah Pisano by technical fall (20-5).

Taylor had a pretty quick run through the tournament as well, pinning Mars' Cooper Courson in 2:46 of the first round, pinning Montour's Jerrod Bethea in 1:15 in the quarterfinals, then defeating Freedom Area's Ryan Kredel by technical fall (19-3) in the semifinals before then pinning Carlynton's Chase Brandebura in 1:23 to win the title.

In the 114-pound championship match, Harbert pinned Quaker Valley's Isaac Maccaglia in 1:13, while Nick Jones picked up a 6-2 decision over Montour's Peter Chacon in the 139-pound championship match. Taddy rounded out the five individual championships for West Allegheny with a win by fall over Quaker Valley's Logan Richey in 1:04 of the 145-pound championship final.

Outside of West Allegheny's strong day, Quaker Valley showed it will remain a force on the mat.

Coming off of a historic season for the program, winning its first WPIAL team championship, snapping Burrell's 15-year run, the Quakers saw two wrestlers win individual championships, five finish second, and one other place third.

"Starting off the year, we had a pretty tough December with Kiski Duals, Powerade Tournament, and some guys out with injuries, but the MAC tournament was the first even where we were one hundred percent healthy," Quaker Valley head coach Austin Heinl told the Times Wednesday. "I think that we had a really, really strong performance, not only from our top guys, but some of our younger guys as well."

At 121 pounds, Jack Kazalas won the individual championship, defeating West Allegheny's Smith by decision, 9-5. Prior to the championship match, Kazalas pinned Moon's Brayden Touch in 1:33 before then pinning Carlynton's Dominic Ciabattonio in 30 seconds to reach the title bout.

Along with Kazalas, Brandon Krul won the championship at 127 pounds, defeating Montour's Jacob Chacon by fall in 32 seconds. Krul reached the title bout thanks to pins over Beaver's Seth Kullen in 58 seconds, Hopewell's Brettan Cooper in 1:24 and Laurel's Braxton Carr in 1:26.

"I think Brandon's success this year has started in the practice room. His focus in practice on being a little more disciplined, cleaning up his technique, and stepping up...as a leader — Brandon has been one the last couple months — is leading to him having more consistent, dominant success," Heinl said. "He understands that all the little details starting in the practice room is going to make up for where he came up short last year."

Sebastian Juarez-Safran was the story of the afternoon for the Quakers though. In the 285-pound weight class, Jaurez-Safran defeated a handful of seeded opponents to reach the title bout, which was his first MAC tournament finals appearance, earning his first varsity medal.

Juarez-Safran picked up a 7-4 decision over Mars' Adam Budzilek and then defeated Central Valley's Skylar Bundy (4-3) in the semifinals to reach the title bout, where he lost to Laurel's Coltin Hill by fall in 25 seconds.

"He showed up ready to compete; it was probably the best he's looked," Heinl said of Juarez-Safran. "He wrestled each match with a gameplan, was executing his techniques, scoring points and showing a lot of wrestling IQ managing the match, not getting into trouble. It showed just how much he's matured since last season.

Heinl gave a lot of credit to Quaker Valley assistant coach Cole Nye, who wrestled at Pitt and Michigan State and was a two-time state champion during his high school career at Bishop McDevitt High School. Currently, Nye serves as the heavyweight coach for the Quakers.

"Him working a lot with Sebastian has gotten his confidence up, and 'Seabass' did a really nice job holding his own," Heinl said.

Outside of West Allegheny and Quaker Valley, Central Valley's Antonio Boni won the 107-pound weight class with a fall over Quaker Valley's Bruce Andrechak in 1:08, and teammate Don Lindsey defeated Quaker Valley's Michael Carmody by decision (16-14) in the 133-pound weight class.

South Side's Slayton Williams won the 189-pound weight class with a 7-1 decision win over Freedom Area's ZeShawn Williams, while Central Valley's Brenan Morgan won the 215-pound weight class with a fall of Laurel's Chase Tinstman in 1:21.

Hopewell's Dawan Lockett (160 pounds) and Hank Berner (285 pounds) finished third in their respective weight classes.

Up next for area wrestlers is a pair of multi-team matchups at Beaver Area and South Side Wednesday night.

Hopewell, Beaver and Central Valley will meet in a tri-meet Wednesday at 6 p.m., while Ambridge, Blackhawk, Freedom Area and South Side will meet in a quad in Hookstown, starting at 5 p.m.

Elsewhere Wednesday night, Ellwood City hosts North Catholic in a dual at 7 p.m., while Quaker Valley travels to South Park for a 7 p.m. dual. Moon heads to Waynesburg Central for a 7 p.m. dual, and West Allegheny hosts Chartiers Valley on Senior Night at 7 p.m.

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, January 3, 2023 | 4:49 PM

Class 2A

107: 1. Cam Baker, Burrell (10-4); 2. Anthony Mucci, Derry (13-1); 3. Anthonio Boni, Central Valley (8-3); 4. Bruce Andershank, Quaker Valley (11-4); 5. Javeon Chambers, Highlands (7-1).

114: 1. Nico Fanella, Indiana (8-1); 2. Jorden Williams, Chartiers-Houston (10-2); 3. Dylan Kim, Derry (10-4); 4. Emmett Wolfe, McGuffey (14-5); 5. Isaac Maccaglia, Quaker Valley (9-6).

121: 1. Parker Sentipal, Burgettstown (11-2); 2. Jack Kazalas, Quaker Valley (11-1); 3. Colin Bartley, Laurel (5-0); 4. Joe Longhi, Mt. Pleasant (14-3); 5. Julian Bertucci, Burrell (9-4).

127: 1. Chris Vargo, Bentworth (12-0); 2. Brandon Krul, Quaker Valley (13-2); 3. Tyler Clark, Frazier (7-2); 4. Lucas Barr, McGuffey (17-2); 5. Dylan Slovick, Burgettstown (8-4).

133: 1. Cooper Hornack, Burrell (6-4); 2. Gaven Suica, Burgettstown (10-3); 3. Anthony Orlandini, Montour (7-2); 4. Michael Carmody, Quaker Valley (9-3); 5. Garrett Newman, McGuffey (11-3).

139: 1. Joey Sentipal, Burgettstown (10-3); 2. Peter Chacon, Montour (7-1); 3. Niko Ferra, Burrell (9-4); 4. Damon Michaels, Elizabeth Forward (12-3); 5. Greg Shaulis, Mt. Pleasant (14-6).

145: 1. Logan Richey, Quaker Valley (13-4); 2. Jamison Poklembo, Mt. Pleasant (15-3); 3. Tyler Debner, Beth-Center (15-3); 4. Gabe Lilly, Beaver Falls (10-3); 5. Jonah Erdley, Frazier (8-3).

152: 1. Tyler Berish, Beth-Center (16-1); 2. Isaiah Pisano, Hopewell (2-0); 3. Rudy Brown, Burgettstown (6-3); 4. Ryan Celaschi, Frazier (6-3); 5. Kyren Veasley, Valley (10-2).

160: 1. Chase Frameli, Jefferson-Morgan (7-1); 2. Chase Brandebura, Carlynton (9-2); 3. Brayden White, Highlands (7-3); 4. Jackson Angelo, Frazier (9-2); 5. Tristan Ice, Southmoreland (13-3).

172: 1. Grant MacKay, Laurel (13-0); 2. Braedon Welsh, Fort Cherry (17-0); 3. Isaac Lacinski, Burrell (10-5); 4. Landon Conroy, Albert Gallatin (7-4); 5. Jessi Orbin, Chartiers-Houston (15-2).

189: 1. Rune Lawrence, Frazier (10-3); 2. Vitali Daniels, Bentworth (13-3); 3. Jacob Layhue, Beth-Center (16-3); 4. Anthony Salvini, Fort Cherry (15-7); 5. Tyler Bender, Highlands (7-1).

215: 1. Brenan Morgan, Central Valley (10-4); 2. Dylan Pitzer, Mt. Pleasant (12-2); 3. Chase Tinstman, Laurel (12-1); 4. Luke Boylan, Burrell (8-4); 5. Christian McChesney, Greensburg Salem (12-1).

285: 1. Joey Baronick, Burgettstown (8-3); 2. Christian Flaherty, Keystone Oaks (12-0); 3. Mason Neiderhiser, Southmoreland (9-4); 4. Colin Whyte, West Greene (7-2); 5. Landon Heath, Jefferson-Morgan (7-3).

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Paul by email at pschofield@triblive.com or via Twitter .

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, December 11, 2022 | 11:01 AM

It most definitely was a season to remember.

Quaker Valley wrapped up the best wrestling season in school history March 12 with four individual medalists at the PIAA Class 2A championships at Giant Center in Hershey.

“We qualified five kids to compete in arguably the toughest wrestling tournament in the country,” QV coach Mike Heinl said afterward. “We won four state medals. I believe we had more medalists than any other team from the Southwest region. I was very happy with our performance. It is fair to say that this was our most productive season yet.”

QV’s state medalists were then-seniors Patrick Cutchember (189) and Justin Richey (152), junior Logan Richey (120) and sophomore Jack Kazalas (113).

Cutchember finished first in the district and region, racking up a 44-6 record, and was 141-31 in his career. He owns the team record for career pins (87) and also holds the records for pins in a season (26) and career victories.

Cutchember won two section titles, two district titles, finished as a district runner-up twice and was a section runner-up once in his career.

“Patrick has to be proud of his career,” Heinl said. “He set a lot of records in our brief (team) history.”

A Clarion wrestling recruit, Cutchember was a four-year letterman in wrestling, football and lacrosse.

Justin Richey had a 38-11 record last season after going 29-15, 20-6 and 20-9 the three previous years. For his career, the Gettysburg recruit ended up 107-41 with 55 falls. He also won one district title and two section crowns and had one runner-up finish in the section and at districts.

“Justin had an incredible season,” Heinl said. “He achieved 100 wins, was a WPIAL champion and state qualifier and was a state medalist. He also pinned the Burrell wrestler to allow us to win our first WPIAL team title.”

Logan Richey, a senior in 2022-23, ended up 38-14 last year. He owns a 78-35 career mark with one section title.

“Logan is mentally and physically one of our strongest wrestlers,” Heinl said. “He put in the work during the offseason and it paid off.”

Kazalas enjoyed a banner sophomore season, posting a 40-8 record with 20 pins. He was 28-8 as a freshman and brings a 68-16 career record into 2022-23. Now a junior, Kazalas owns one section title, one runner-up showing in the district and twice has placed third regionally.

Kazalas qualified for the PIAA tournament last season for the second year in a row after placing fourth in the WPIAL at 113. He ended up eighth in the PIAA tournament.

“I know Jack wanted to finish higher on the podium,” Heinl said, “but he has two more years to become a state champion.”

Kazalas is the younger brother of John Rocco Kazalas, who from 2016-19 competed at QV and earned two section titles, three third-place regional finishes and twice was a PIAA medalist. He won the first WPIAL title in program history as a senior.

Quaker Valley also was represented by then-senior Mason Diemert at 172 at last year’s state tournament. Will Campbell (160) also won 12 times in 2021-22 and currently is attending West Point.

QV captured the WPIAL Class 2A team championship a year ago, won the section title and finished 17-5 overall.

Along with Logan Richey and Kazalas, several other top grapplers are back this season, including seniors Brandon Krul (35-11, 19 falls) at 126 and Michael Carmody (21-13, 10 falls) at 132, juniors Isaac Maccaglia (26-11, 16 falls) at 106 and Nick Allan, who earned 12 wins at 138, and sophomore Jack Diemert (18-18, 11 falls) at 145.

“Michael Carmody is a stud,” Heinl said. “The kid outworks everyone. He doesn’t like to lose and will do anything you ask him to do.”

Also returning is another Richey brother, Marcus, a sophomore who posted a winning record last winter at 126.

With 13 returning starters, Heinl said the 2022-23 season “looks very promising” for his team.

QV’s returning starters are Maccaglia (113), sophomore Grant Castaldo (113), Kazalas (127), Krul (133), sophomore Wyatt Hamm (133), Carmody (139), Logan Richey (145), Allan (145) Marcus Richey (152), Diemert (160), juniors Aidan Fair (172) and Chase Kretzler (215) and sophomore Sebastian Juarez-Safran (285). Charles Coates is a junior reserve.

“Our expectations every season are to get better and improve on last year’s results,” Heinl said. “We want to win the section and WPIAL and compete at the state tournament as a team and individually.

“We’ve followed up last season by still working hard in the practice room and keeping a chip on our shoulders. We have a lot of guys looking to step up and contribute to this team.”

QV’s sixth-year coach said some of the wrestlers in the freshman class will add depth to the team this year.

“We have some incoming junior high wrestlers ready to make an immediate impact,” Heinl said. “The rest of our team committed to wrestling in the offseason, which will determine how successful we will be in the season.”

Freshman team members include Bruce Anderchak (106), Xander Vescio (120), Eoin Parnell (145), Logan Benedict (160) and Kris Brown (189).

“All the QV coaches are committed to working year-round with our wrestlers,” Heinl said. “The majority of the team wants to wrestle in the spring and summer. If you want to be successful in this sport, you have to put in the extra work. You can’t just sit around and talk about it.”

The Quakers let their performance on the mats do their talking.

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, January 8, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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A select group of Quaker Valley athletes did some big-time wrestling over the holiday break.

Freshman Bruce Anderchak (107), junior Isaac Maccaglia (114) and seniors Brandon Krul (127) and Logan Richey (145) participated in the varsity division of the nationally acclaimed Powerade Tournament on Dec. 29-30 at Canon-McMillan.

Following the 56th annual tournament and heading into the new year, Krul and Richey led the Quakers in the win column with 13-2 and 13-4 records.

Anderchak was 11-4 overall while Maccaglia stood at 9-6.

Richey finished 3-2 in five rounds of competition, pinning Saegertown’s Greg Kiser in 5:37 and Trinity’s Brock Carrigan in 43 seconds and blanking Thomas Jefferson’s Gabe Galioto, 3-0.

“The 2022-2023 season is going great,” Richey said. “I’ve had to jump over a lot of hurdles and work to catch up to everyone since I was out for six months due to knee surgery. Getting back into the swing of things has been great and I’m having a lot of fun this year.

“Powerade didn’t go as I imagined, but it was a good learning experience to see where I’m at with the rest of the country and to better prepare me for the postseason. This year, I want to be in the top three in the state.”

Krul, Anderchak and Maccaglia all posted 1-2 records in the two-day tournament.

Krul defeated Delbarton’s John Hager, 6-2, in the second round, Anderchak won a 10-6 decision over Trinity’s Mickey Horne in the first round, and Maccaglia pinned Hickory’s Tyler Boyle in 42 seconds also in the first round.

“We have a lot of guys that need to step up this year,” Richey said. “We have the potential to be the best (Class 2A) team in the WPIAL, and we are getting better and better every day.”

Other leading grapplers for QV who did not compete at Powerade include junior Jack Kazalas, 11-1 at 121 pounds, and senior Michael Carmody, 9-3 at 133.

“I missed weight for the Powerade tournament,” Kazalas said. ”My personal goals for this season are to capture my first WPIAL and Southwestern regional titles and to just climb the podium at Hershey and place higher.

“I want to hit my 100th career win this year, as well.”

Krul led the squad in falls with eight, followed by Carmody, Kazalas, Maccaglia, Richey and Jack Diemert, a 160-pound sophomore, all with five falls. Diemert won seven of his first nine matches this season.

“Not many big surprises so far,” QV coach Austin Heinl said prior to the Powerade event. “Logan Richey is wrestling pretty well after bumping up five or six weight classes from 120 last season.

“Our freshmen and newer wrestlers are showing some progress. Freshmen Bruce Anderchak, Xander Vescio and Kris Brown and seniors Hunter Doherty and Ben Carlson have stepped up and scored wins for the team in the early part of the season and I see them getting better as the year goes on.”

The Quakers have restocked their team with five freshmen — Anderchak, Vescio, Brown, Logan Benedict and Eoin Parnell — and five sophomores — Diemert, Grant Castaldo, Wyatt Hamm, Sebastian Juarez-Safran and Marcus Richey.

Wrestlers from a record 70 schools competed in the Powerade tournament. The top teams from the WPIAL included Trinity, Connellsville, Waynesburg, Canon-McMillan, Latrobe, Hempfield, Franklin Regional, Norwin, Quaker Valley, Frazier and Burrell.

Wrestlers from the WPIAL and state were challenged by a who’s who of top programs in the country.

Last January, QV reeled in a victory that was noticed around Western Pennsylvania as well as the state.

The Quakers, seeded No. 3 in Class 2A, edged 15-time defending champion Burrell, 30-28, to earn their first WPIAL team championship in school history.

Quaker Valley is ranked third this season behind Burgettstown and Burrell.

“My expectations for QV as a team are to repeat as a WPIAL titlist and take a shot at a PIAA state medal,” Kazalas said. “I feel like we can do both with our lineup even though we lost some key guys last year.

“We’ve got some pretty good freshmen, and everyone progressed tremendously over the summer.”

The Quakers were 2-0 in section action and 8-4 overall at the start of the new year. One of the team highlights was a second-place showing at the Moon Duals. QV posted a 4-1 record.

The Quakers went 2-3 at the Kiski Duals, defeating Yough, 60-9, and Kiski Area, 36-32, while losing to wrestling powerhouses Waynesburg, 45-25, North Allegheny, 52-14, and Fort LeBoeuf, 45-22.

The majority of the QV team competed in the junior varsity division at the Powerade tournament.

Quaker Valley held its senior night ceremony in early December. The Quakers crushed Avonworth, 56-18, in their first match of the season.

Five seniors were honored that night: Carlson, Carmody, Doherty, Krul and Richey. Four of the five were victorious; Doherty (172) did not compete.

Carlson pinned Harrison Holloway in 1:15 at 189; Carmody defeated Luke Maddalena, 22-6, at 139; Krul won by forfeit at 133; and Richey rolled by Luke Hollywood, 16-1, at 152.