Quaker Valley wrestling to face familiar foe in bid for second title in three years

Ethan Morrison, Special to the Times

USA TODAY NETWORK

After making it through the first two rounds of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs Wednesday night, Quaker Valley emerged as the only team in the Beaver Valley that will have a shot to compete for a WPIAL title Saturday morning at AHN Arena on the campus of Peters Township High School as it will square off against Burrell at 10 a.m. in the semifinal round.  

This season, the Quakers showed why they are one of the top team’s in the WPIAL’s Class 2A classification after the team finished with a 12-1 overall record while going a perfect 6-0 in section three action as Quaker Valley returned of slew of wrestlers that were decorated competitors from last season.

The Quakers welcomed back Jack Diemert, Jack Kazalas, Isaac Maccaglia, Chase Kretzler, and sophomore Bruce Anderchak, who all played an important role in the team’s run to the WPIAL semifinals last season and once again provided Quaker Valley with the depth it needed to make another deep run into the postseason this year. 

Anderchak led the way for the Quakers this season as he compiled a 28-1 record throughout the season, picking up 12 wins by way of fall and four wins by major decision. His lone loss on the season came by way of a decision. 

Kazalas put together a strong senior season thus far for Quaker Valley as he garnered the most wins out of any wrestler on the roster with a 30-2 record, with 18 victories coming by way of fall. 

Fellow senior Isaac Maccaglia also put together strong numbers throughout the season as he posted a 22-9 record, winning five matches by decision and 12 by way of falls throughout the 2023-24 campaign. 

Junior Jack Diemert put together an impressive season as he enters Saturday’s WPIAL team semifinal with 13 wins by way of falls and six by decision while posting a 23-7 record.

Alongside the strong returning group of upperclassmen, after posting a 14-12 record during his sophomore campaign last season, Marcus Richey broke out in his junior season as he has posted a 27-6 record winning 19 matches by way of falls while winning five matches by way of decision. 

As Quaker Valley entered the playoffs this season, it had the opportunity to be the host site of part of the bottom portion of the WPIAL Class 2A bracket and defeated Hopewell in convincing fashion 60-15 in the opening round to begin the evening. 

After McGuffey had similar success against its opponent in the Freedom Area Bulldogs, defeating them 50-18, the Quakers and Highlanders squared off in the quarterfinals. 

But as Quaker Valley began its quarterfinal round, things looked bleak early on in as the Quakers found themselves in a deep hole down 18-0 before Kazalas, Matthew Danna, Diemert and Richey rattled off four straight victories to pull ahead. 

Kreisler and Maccaglia pinned both of their opponents in the final matches of the dual to help seal the deal for the Quakers to punch their ticket to the semifinals.

For Quaker Valley’s opponent on Saturday, the Quakers will square off against Burrell for the third straight year after getting the best of the Buccaneers in the 2022 season as they were crowned WPIAL Class 2A Champions. Last season it was a different story for Quaker Valley as they fell in the semifinal round to Burrell and finished in third place in the team playoffs. 

This season, the Buccaneers had similar success to the Quakers as they posted a 12-2 overall record and a 6-0 record in section defeating a majority of their opponents in dominating fashion over the course of the season. 

Burrell is led by two sophomores, Cameron Baker and Julian Bertucci, who led the team respectively in wins this season. 

Baker was impressive in his second season as he posted a 24-3 record and won half of his matches by pins. 

Bertucci led the team in matches won this past season as he finished with a record of 27-9 with 19 victories by pins. 

The Buccaneers have a very young group who have enjoyed success throughout this season as they have three freshmen amassing over 15 wins this season and four sophomores that have compiled over 20 wins during the season. 

The lone senior of the group, Cooper Hornack has also put together a great final season thus far for Burrell as he posted a 21-3 record defeating 11 of his opponents by pins and seven by decision. 

In the opening round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs for the Buccaneers, Burrell routed Hampton 60-6 before defeating Brentworth 47-25 later that evening to punch their ticket to the WPIAL semifinals. 

Saturday will etch yet another chapter into a competitive postseason rivalry between Quaker Valley and Burrell as the Quakers look to avenge their loss in last season's semifinal round and look to get a crack once again at the WPIAL crown.  

Quaker Valley wrestling finishes third in WPIAL Class 2A team championships

Mike Bires, Special to the Times

USA TODAY NETWORK

PETERS TWP. – The disappointing news Saturday for the Quaker Valley High School wrestling team was that its hopes of winning a WPIAL title were snuffed out.

In the semifinals of the Class 2A team championships, the No. 3 seeded Quakers were eliminated, 44-17, by No. 2 seed Burrell, arguably the greatest 2A program in WPIAL history. 

But that disappointment didn’t last long.

In the consolation round, QV rebounded nicely by beating No. 5 seed Mount Pleasant, 42-28.

“First match, pretty disappointing,” said Jack Kazalas, Quaker Valley’s standout 133-pounder. “We got blown out. We wrestled pretty flat.

“But we bounced back and wrestled better (against Mount Pleasant). We weren't scared and came out there and wrestled well.”

Saturday’s results at Peters Township’s AHN Arena means that Quaker Valley, which didn’t field a varsity team until 2016, remains one of the WPIAL’s best 2A wrestling programs in recent years.

After winning their sixth straight section title, they finished third among the WPIAL’s 43 Class 2A programs.

And for the fourth time in the last five years, they've qualified for the PIAA Team Championships. They wrestle Monday in a preliminary round match against the District 6 runner-up. 

“It’s been a pretty good season so far,” Kazalas said of QV’s body of work as a team. “It’s kind of disappointing to lose in the semis. Our goal was to be in the finals again. But now it's time to focus on Monday. I believe we will be focused. We want to go to Hershey.”

Winners of Monday’s four preliminary-round matches throughout the state advance to the PIAA finals which will be held on Thursday, Friday and next Saturday at the Giant Center.

“I’m just extremely thankful and blessed that our team was able to compete and put ourselves in an opportunity to be here today,” QV coach Austin Heinl said moments after the win over Mount Pleasant. “To be in the top four (in Class 2A) in one of the best wrestling areas in the country is pretty good.”

In its semifinal match, QV faced a familiar foe. The Quakers and Bucs have met in each of the past six seasons in the WPIAL team tournament.

When the Quakers won their first and only WPIAL title in 2022, they upset Burrell and ended the Bucs’ streak of 15 straight WPIAL titles.

Last year in the semifinals, Burrell beat QV. 

The Quakers are now 1-5 vs. Burrell in the WPIAL team tourney.

Saturday, QV won six of the 13 matches against Burrell. But most of QV’s wins were by decision. Meanwhile, the Bucs were able to win by 27 points because it racked up four wins via pin and one my default. That’s 30 points of their 44-point total.   

After beating Quaker Valley, Burrell then defeated top-seeded Burgettstown, 41-20, in the final. The Bucs have now won 19 WPIAL titles. Only Canon-McMillan (22) and Waynesburg Central (21) have won more.

 “They’re a very tough team,” Heinl said of Burrell. “They have a lot of wrestling history. We're still trying to develop our own history.”

In QV’s win over Mount Pleasant, nearly half of the matches weren’t even wrestled. There were six forfeits. In the seven matches that were wrestled, the Vikings won four of them. But the Quakers got 24 points on four MP forfeits and 12 more points on pins by Kazalas and 215-pounder Aris Haniotes.

Nine Beaver Valley wrestlers claim section titles Saturday

Ethan Morrison, Special to the Times

USA TODAY NETWORK

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. 

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. 

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.”

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. 

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. 

Ethan Morrison, Special to the Times

USA TODAY NETWORK

With the winter sports season kicking off last week, many of the Beaver Valley schools will begin to hit the mat this weekend to begin the 2023-24 wrestling season. 

Last season, the Beaver Valley saw a number of wrestlers take home hardware during the 2022-23 season and those same individuals look to replicate that success this season. 

With that being said, let's take a look at the wrestling scene around the Times’ coverage area this year as a number of schools are geared up to compete for a WPIAL Championship this season. 

WPIAL 2A Section 3

Quaker Valley:  The Quakers fell short of a WPIAL team championship last season as they finished third place last season. 

Quaker Valley looks to use its shortcomings of being unable to claim the WPIAL Championship as fuel for this season as the Quakers return a number of key pieces to the roster this season. 

After finishing with a 28-14 record last season, Jack Diemert looks to pick up where he left off last season as he finished third in sectionals and sixth in districts for Quaker Valley. The junior is one of the more successful underclassmen on this Quaker roster and will look to once again complement a loaded senior class. 

Jack Kazalas is one of the more decorated returners on this Quaker Valley roster as he finished in first place in both sectionals and districts this past season compiling a 38-5 record. 

Kazalas went on to compete in regionals and finished in third place and holds a 106-21 career record heading into his final season.

The aforementioned Kazalas is joined by Isaac Maccaglia, Chase Kretzler and John McHenry as upperclassmen who have postseason wrestling experience over the course of their careers. 

Rounding out the roster for Quaker Valley this season is sophomore Bruce Anderchak who made noise in his first season with the Quakers as a freshman.

Anderchak wrestled to a 31-13 record last season while also finishing second at sectionals and fourth at districts. He will look to make his next step forward this season after an impressive showing during his freshman campaign. 

Quaker Valley will once again look to claim another WPIAL Championship this season with an experienced group after falling just short last season. 

By: Ray Fisher 
Sunday, December 17, 2023 | 11:01 AM

Quaker Valley wrestlers Aris Haniotes and Trey Dunlap had a night they soon won’t forget.

Both freshman athletes joined the QV wrestling program as varsity starters Dec. 6 at Avonworth in the Quakers’ first match of the season.

QV won by a convincing 64-12 final score.

Haniotes competed against Tyler Hanny in the 215-pound weight class; Dunlap took on Jackson Krul at 172 pounds.

Haniotes registered a fall in 4:53 while Dunlap recorded a fall in 5:37.

“Trey is a workhorse and one of the strongest freshmen I know,” QV coach Austin Heinl said. “He spent a lot of time hitting the weights over the summer. Aris is also a big and strong freshman with a lot of wrestling ability. He just needs to keep getting acclimated to wrestling older and more mature wrestlers. I expect them both to continue to get better and compete in the postseason.

“Usually, when a freshman is wrestling at an upper weight, you expect there to be some growing pains. It’s still early in the year, but it was great to see them have success in their first varsity outing. Both had tough matches so winning shows that the hard work in practice has been paying off.”

Haniotes said he was “super excited” about the results of his match.

“I expected it to have a different feel to it being two-minute periods,” Haniotes said. “Also, I expected certain things that have worked in my past may not work now. All in all, it was exciting to get the first one out of the way.

“I was super excited to get my first varsity win, especially being 14. The upper weights can be brutal. I didn’t expect to get a pin. The only expectation I had for myself was to work on the things Austin and the rest of the coaches have been training me on.”

Haniotes credited a teammate with helping him during the Quakers’ practice sessions.

“Chase Kretzler is a senior and has been around and really is a great role model,” Haniotes said. “I’m lucky to have a partner in the room who’s a great mentor.

“At the end of the day, it’s bigger than wrestling. That’s why I love Quaker Valley. The education and the wrestling culture is top notch.”

Dunlap, like Haniotes, proved to be a formidable force in his first varsity match.

“It was an incredible experience,” Dunlap said. “I felt a mix of nerves and excitement, but I trusted in my training and, with God’s grace, secured a victory.”

The Quakers were victors in 11 of 13 bouts, racking up seven pins and one major decision when junior Jack Diemert rolled past Avonworth’s Dimitri Velisaris, 9-1, at 152 pounds.

“Our team is a perfect mix of veterans and younger guys like myself,” Haniotes said. “I feel we can go really far this year if we stick together and continue to motivate one another. We have great teachers in our corner; the rest is up to us to deliver.”

Dunlap believes the camaraderie among the team members will help make it a banner season for the Quakers.

“We have high expectations for a successful season,” he said. “And here’s a shoutout to my coaches, teammates and the divine guidance that has been part of this journey.”

Sophomore Matt Danna (145) also secured a pin in his first match with QV as he stuck Avonworth’s Jimmy Quinn in just 1:08. Danna attended West Allegheny as a freshman.

“Matt is a grinder,” Heinl said. “He fights harder than most out on the wrestling mat, and he has talent to put it to use.”

Falls also were achieved by QV seniors Jack Kazalas and Chase Kretzler at 139 and 215 and juniors Wyatt Hamm and Marcus Richey at 133 and 160.

Sophomore Bruce Anderchak (107), junior Grant Castaldo (121) and senior Isaac Maccaglia (114) all won by forfeit.

“We knew Avonworth was going to have some tough wrestlers. You don’t want to go into a match flat against a team like that,” Heinl said. “All of our wrestlers were excited for the opportunity.

“The (final) score just reflects the team’s preparation leading up to the match.”

Sophomore Eoin Parnell and senior John McHenry, a first-year grappler, both won exhibition bouts for QV.

The Quakers tied for second with Palmyra at the Moon Duals held Dec. 9 at Moon.

QV defeated Fort Cherry, 57-18, Neighborhood Academy, 72-6, Laurel, 40-24, and Moon, 52-18, before losing a 39-27 decision to West Allegheny in the finals.

Anderchak, Danna, Kazalas and Richey remained undefeated at 6-0 off their performances at Moon. Danna and Richey both had five falls early in the season.

Castaldo, Diemert, Haniotes and Maccaglia were 5-1 through six bouts.

By: Ray Fisher 
Sunday, December 17, 2023 | 11:01 AM

Mat families

Two of the many families that have been instrumental in the success of the QV wrestling program in its brief history are the Richey and Kazalas households.

Logan Richey (112-51), Justin Richey (107-41) and Marcus Richey (20-16) have racked up 239 wins between them since 2018-19.

Jack Kazalas (106-21) and John Rocco Kazalas (105-20) have combined to win 211 times.

“It takes a village to have gotten the program to where it is today,” QV coach Austin Heinl said. “It has been a privilege to be around great people and great student-athletes. They are some of the most respectful, smart and hard-working kids I’ve been around.

“I definitely feel the love they have for the sport and the program.”

Two more families that have helped establish QV wrestling as one of the WPIAL’s top programs are the Cutchembers and Diemerts.

Donovan and Patrick Cutchember were WPIAL champions during their QV wrestling careers. Mason and Jack Diemert were regional qualifiers for the Quakers.

Six wrestlers have eclipsed 100 career wins at QV, led by Clarion’s Patrick Cutchember at 141-31.

Cutchember was a four-year letterman in wrestling, football and lacrosse and is the Quakers’ all-time leader in wins and falls (87).

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

Others who have broken the century mark at QV are John Rocco Kazalas (134-33), Connor Redinger (112-20), Logan Richey (112-50), Gettysburg recruit Justin Richey (107-41) and Jack Kazalas (105-20), who achieved the feat in three seasons.

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

Wrestlers ranked

Quaker Valley’s wrestling team was third in the WPIAL Class 2A Top 10 in the Trib HSSN 2023-24 preseason rankings.

The first five teams on the list were Burgettstown, Burrell, QV, Frazier and McGuffey, followed by Highlands, Mt. Pleasant, Freedom, Jefferson-Morgan and Derry.

By: Ray Fisher 
Sunday, December 3, 2023 | 11:01 AM

The strong just keep getting stronger.

Quaker Valley’s wrestling team compiled a 15-6 record in 2022-23 that included a section title with a 6-0 mark.

And the Quakers have eight wrestlers — including WPIAL Class 2A champion Jack Kazalas — back from last year’s winning group.

“We expect to be competitive in the team and individual postseasons,” QV coach Austin Heinl said. “We expect to compete at a high level this season and achieve new milestones for our program.”

While the 121-pound Kazalas, a senior who was a PIAA medalist in his sophomore season, heads the list of experienced grapplers, there are many more names of talented athletes to discuss.

Other returning starters consist of sophomore Bruce Anderchak (107), senior Isaac Maccaglia (114), sophomore Eoin Parnell (139), juniors Jack Diemert (152) and Marcus Richey (160), sophomore Kris Brown (189) and senior Chase Kretzler (215).

“On top of the eight starters returning, we have a couple guys, juniors Grant Castaldo and Wyatt Hamm, who have been on the team the last two years that are going to crack the lineup on a consistent basis,” Heinl said. ”Grant and Wyatt have come a long way development-wise so I’m excited to see how they do this year.”

Castaldo and Hamm were varsity lettermen in 2022-23.

QV’s team captains consist of Kazalas, Anderchak, a regional qualifier last season, and Richey. Kazalas and Anderchak are both Division I prospects.

Kazalas is a two-time section titlist and owns a 106-21 career record with 51 falls including seven technical falls. He was 38-5 last year after finishing 40-8 and 28-8 in his first two seasons with the Quakers and is chasing all-time wins leader Patrick Cutchember (141).

“Jack is also on pace to be our program’s first four-time state qualifier,” Heinl said. “He is looking bigger and stronger since last season at 121 pounds.”

Kazalas has finished second, fourth and first in the WPIAL and third three times at the regional tournament.

Last year, he defeated McGuffey freshman Lucas Barr, 8-6, in the WPIAL championship match. Kazalas started his bracket run with a fall in 1:17, then topped his next two competitors via 15-9 and 10-0 scores.

“A team expectation is to be in the Final Four again,” Kazalas said, “and ultimately to win it all. I think our team has greatly improved with everyone getting better.

“A goal for me is to get better every week and improve in the areas that I need to improve. Ultimately, being on that podium in Hershey (is the goal) though. I’ve been working on getting better in my hand fighting, working out on bottom, and also getting stronger.”

Anderchak made an immediate impact in the wrestling program as a freshman. He was one of three team members able to eclipse 30 wins last season, racking up a 31-13 record. Anderchak was a section runner-up and placed fourth in the WPIAL at 107.

Maccaglia, who won 19 decisions (19-17) last year, carved out 26 wins as a sophomore and has pinned 35 opponents in his career.

Diemert was 28-14 a year ago and a sixth-place WPIAL finisher at 152. Richey ended up eighth at 160 at WPIALs.

Newcomers in the QV lineup looking to make an impact include freshmen Trey Dunlop, Harper Sipes, Aris Haniotes and Sawyer Stelzig, senior John McKenry and sophomores Matthew Danna, Logan Benedict and Benny Janeway.

The Quakers are scheduled to compete in the Moon Duals (Dec. 9), Panther Holiday Classic (Dec. 15-16) at Mount Aloysius College and MyHouse Trojan Wars (Dec. 29-30) at Chambersburg.