FloWrestling is the new home of the PIAA Wrestling Championships. The PIAA AAA Dual Championships get underway Thursday, February 7th at 6pm from the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. This year’s AAA field looks like it will lead to an East vs West showdown Saturday afternoon.

WATCH THE PIAA DUAL STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

The balance of dual power has shifted several times in Pennsylvania’s AAA division during the twenty years of the PIAA Team Championships. After the inaugural title was picked up by district 6’s Bald Eagle Area in 1999, District 11 flexed its muscle for the next five seasons with Easton running off four of those titles. The title then bounced around for a few seasons before the Central Dauphin dynasty took home the PIAA Team Championship from 2008 through 2011. This was unprecedented for south central Pennsylvania and District 3. The only state titles won by the district, up to that point, were Brandywine Heights’ individual tournament title in 2001 and Juniata’s 2003 dual title in the AA division. This is dating back to 1976 when they began crowning a team champion at the individual tournament. Canon-McMillan and Franklin Regional brought the championship to the WPIAL between 2012 and 2015. Currently, the dual power resides in the Lehigh Valley. Bethlehem Catholic has sandwiched titles around Nazareth’s championship in 2017. 

The original PIAA Dual format formed an east and west bracket that ensured a cross-state final. Modification to the original format has done away with that pre-arranged showdown between east and west in the finals, but it hasn’t eased the debate in the stands or the competition on the mat between the WPIAL and the Lehigh Valley. Five times the dual title has found its way back to the WPIAL. That’s second to the nine championships for the Lehigh Valley’s District 11. Last season Kiski and Bethlehem Catholic went head-to-head in the championship with Bethlehem Catholic taking home the victory 38-22. En route to the final Kiski knocked off individual tournament champion and District 11 dual runner-up Nazareth. If the bracket goes to ranking chalk this year, Kiski will have to take down multiple district 11 powers to haul to dual title back to western PA. 

The only difference this year from last, will be plugging in another District 11 powerhouse to the lower bracket matchup in the Konkrete Kids of Northampton. #3 Northampton knocked off Bethlehem Liberty in a true second place dual to become the second qualifying team out of District 11. Northampton dropped their semifinal to Bethlehem Catholic 41-13 before battling back to qualify for the dual tournament for the first time in ten years. It was a tough break for Liberty that put the only blemish on Bethlehem Catholic’s dual resume this season 32-30 in early January. 

#1 Bethlehem Catholic has been a fixture in the dual finals and the expectation is for them to continue their run this year. They have appeared in the last three AAA finals. Prior to that they had won four consecutive titles in AA from 2011 to 2014. After electing to move to AAA in 2015 they finished third after dropping a close semifinal to eventual champion Franklin Regional. With the way the brackets have set up, it would be shocking to not see them come out of the top bracket.

#2 Kiski seems to be favored to come out of the bottom bracket, but there is no shortage of contenders. The #11 Canon-McMillan vs #8 Cedar Cliff winner could challenge the previously mentioned Konkrete Kids in the very bottom quarterfinal. #6 Erie Cathedral Prep has some great top-end talent and can pose match-up problems for many teams in the field. Keep an eye on this bottom bracket as it has the most potential in AA or AAA for a team to throw a wrench into the plans of the favorites.

This is the PIAA Team Championships, but there is the possibility of getting several top ten individual matchups just a month prior to the individual championships. During the 8pm Thursday session Kiski vs Owen J. Roberts has two of those potential bouts. At 152 #3 Cam Connor could meet #1 Dan Mancini. In the very next bout #4 Jack Blumer could match up with #9 Connor Quinn.

All state rankings are from PA Power Wrestling. All results and archived matches can be found on FloArena. The full schedule and all coverage can be located in the events page on FloWrestling.

Top Bracket Teams:

#7 Council Rock South                                                     Hazleton Area

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                                   State Ranked Wrestlers:

#4 Kyle Waterman 106                                                        #18 John Corra 106

#6 Maximo Mendez 113                                                     #3 Shane Noonan 220

#6 Shane Hanson-Ashworth 126                                        Record: 10-0

#12 Eric Woloshyn 145                                                       District 2 Champion

#18 Cole Flanagan 152                                                       Head Coach: Keith Maurer

#19 Matt Colajezzi 160

#18 Nik Korbich 170           

Record: 12-0                        

District 1 Champion                    

Head Coach: Brad Silimperi                

Father Judge                                                                    #12 Dallastown Area

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                                 State Ranked Wrestlers:

#14 Sean Logue 106                                                         #6 Jamal Brandon 220

#8 Eamonn Logue 120                                                      #6 Raymond Christas 285

#12 Liam Logue 126                                                          Record: 19-1

#11 Ceasar Fountain 145                                                  District 3 Runner-up

#18 Matthew Kidwell 160                                                  Head Coach: Dave Gable

Record: 14-4                                                                     

District 12 Champion                                                       

Head Coach: Jim Savage                                                 

#19 Mifflin County                                                            #9 Seneca Valley

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                                 State Ranked Wrestlers:

#8 Nic Allison 106                                                              #1 Dylan Chappell 106

#12 Christian Fisher 120                                                    #1 Alejandro Herrera 113

#3 Trey Kibe 160                                                                #19 Chanz Shearer 126

Record: 11-2                                                                     #12 Jason Geyer 132

District 6 Champion                                                         #16 Drew Vlasnik 138

Head Coach: Kirby Martin                                                 #15 Antonio Amelio 145

                                                                                           #12 Nick Montalbano 152

                                                                                          Nationally Ranked Wrestlers:

                                                                                          Alejandro Herrera, Soph, 113, 2nd

                                                                                           Record: 13-3

                                                                                           District 7 Runner-up

                                                                                           Head Coach: Kevin Wildrick

#1 Bethlehem Catholic                                                    Boyertown

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                                 State Ranked Wrestlers:

#7 Dante Frinzi 106                                                           #17 Julien Maldonado 106

#5 Matt Mayer 113                                                            Record: 13-8

#3 Kenny Hermann 132                                                    District 1 4th

#6 Matt Lackman 138                                                       Head Coach: Dave Jones

#1 Ryan Anderson 145

#2 Cole Handlovic 152

#1 Luca Frinzi 160

#19 Jaden Youwakim 170

#8 Joe Kurtz 195

#11 Jase Crouse 285

Nationally Ranked Wrestlers:            

Kenny Hermann, Junior, 132, 12th

Matt Lackman, Junior, 138, 19th

Ryan Anderson, Senior, 145, 1st

Cole Handlovic, Junior, 152, 12th

Record: 12-1                        

District 11 Champion                    

2018 Dual Finish: 1st                    

2018 Individual Team Finish: 3rd            

Head Coach: Jeff Karam                

Bottom Bracket Teams:

#2 Kiski Area                                                                    #17 Owen J. Roberts

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                                 State Ranked Wrestlers:

#4 Darren Miller 132                                                          #4 Antonio Petrucelli 138

#3 Cam Connor 152                                                          #1 Dan Mancini 152

#4 Jack Blumer 160                                                          #9 Connor Quinn 160

#4 Nick Delp 170                                                               Nationally Ranked Wrestlers:

#12 Brayden Roscosky 195                                              Dan Mancini, Senior, 152, 17th

#15 Troy Kuhn 220                                                            Record: 14-2

Record: 15-0                                                                    District 1 3rd

District 7 Champion                                                        Head Coach: Steve DeRafelo

2018 Dual Finish: 2nd                

2018 Individual Team Finish: 4th            

Head Coach:     Chris Heater               

#6 Erie Cathedral Prep                                                    #16 Spring-Ford

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                                 State Ranked Wrestlers:

#15 Jacob Van Dee 106                                                     #16 Shane Reynolds 113

#7 Paniro Johnson 145                                                      #11 Jack McGill 138

#1 Carter Starocci 182                                                       #10 Joey Milano 182

#2 Dorian Crosby 220                                                        Record: 17-4

#1 Kuwaun DeBoe 285                                                      District 1 Runner-up

Nationally Ranked Wrestlers:                                          Head Coach: Tim Seislove 

Carter Starocci, Senior, 182, 3rd

Kuwan DeBoe, Senior, 285, 11th

Record: 18-3                        

District 10 Champion                   

2018 Dual Finish: 3rd                    

2018 Individual Team Finish: 2nd            

Head Coach: Mike Hahesy                

Selinsgrove                                                                       #3 Northampton

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                                 State Ranked Wrestlers:

#14 Coy Bastian 170                                                         #2 Julian Chlebove 132

#4 Nate Schon 220                                                            #6 Jagger Condomitti 145

Record: 12-2                                                                     #9 Michael Kistler 152

District 4 Champion                                                         Nationally Ranked Wrestlers:

Head Coach: Seth Martin                                                 Julian Chlebove, Senior, 132, 8th

                                                                                           Devon Britton, Senior, 138, 14th

                                                                                           Record: 17-3

                                                                                           District 11 Runner-up

                                                                                           Head Coach: Seth Lisa

#8 Cedar Cliff                                                                    #11 Canon-McMillan

State Ranked Wrestlers:                                                  State Ranked Wrestlers:

#6 Aiden Lewis 106                                                            #8 Jimmy Baxter 113

#1 JJ Wilson 126                                                                #16 Jacob Gardner 120

#9 Michael Cassidy 132                                                     #7 Ken Hayman 126

#5 Donovon Ball 195                                                          #2 Gerrit Nijenhuis 182

Record: 16-0                                                                      Nationally Ranked Wrestlers:

District 3 Champion                                                          Gerrit Nijenhuis, Senior, 182, 6th

Head Coach: Rob Rapsey                                                 Record: 10-3

                                                                                            District 7 3rd

                                                                                            2018 Dual Finish: 4th

                                                                                           2018 Individual Team Finish: 5th

                                                                                            Head Coach: Jeff Havelka