High school wrestling season is underway and three West Hills high schools are competing this year – Carlynton, Montour and Moon Area.
The following is a look at each school’s team – their top returning wrestlers, top newcomers and a look at standouts who might have moved on from last year.
The West Hills Gazette will provide coverage on these teams as the season unfolds, with emphasis on the postseason events that are a ways down the road.
CARLYNTON
Ed White is in his 16th year as a high school wrestling coach – 10 years at the old Langley High School and six years at Carlynton.
The Cougars are a lean group with only four competitors on the roster in Dom Ciabattoni, Thomas Gargis, Julio Berndez and Dom Cisnero Torres.
Ciabattoni, a senior, will wrestle at 121 or 127 pounds. Gargis, also a senior and a returning letter winner, will compete at 145 or 152. Berndez, a junior who moved to the area from Florida, is slotted in at 189 or 215, and Cisnero Torres, a sophomore, is expected to compete at 189.
Cisnero Torres qualified for last year’s WPIAL tournament.
The Cougars suffered heavy losses in graduation. Moving on were Cam Seitz, Aaryn Edwards, Jermell Lindsey, Braiden Sudor and Henry Barbisch.
Lindsey qualified for last year’s Southwest Regional while Sudor and Barbisch both reached the PIAA tournament after finishing sixth and seventh, respectively, in the regional tournament.
MONTOUR
Zac Tournay, in his 10th season as the Spartans head coach, has high hopes for his team, as it lost just one regular wrestler from last year’s squad.
“I expect our team to be very competitive and improve on last year’s dual meet record of 9-9,” he said. “We also hope to compete for a WPIAL team playoff spot.”
The Spartans return a host of competitors, but the big four are seniors Kristen Walzer, Rook Smith and Jacob Chacon, and junior Jacob Halbedl.
Walzer will wrestle against boys at the 107-pound weight class during the regular season, then will compete in the girls 100-pound class for postseason tournaments.
Walzer is a defending WPIAL champion who went on to win the regional title and placed sixth at last year’s PIAA tournament.
Smith, who will compete at 152, placed third in the section tournament, fourth in the WPIAL tournament, fourth in the regional tournament and eighth in the state tournament.
Chacon, who will wrestle at 145, placed fourth in the section tournament last year to qualify for the WPIAL tournament.
Halbedl, slotted to wrestle at 285, also qualified for last year’s WPIAL tournament after placing sixth at the section tournament.
Other returning starters are sophomores Damon Nelson (121) and Reese Lugaila (127), and seniors Zach Mitchell (133), Tom Cunningham (160) and Lucus Jenkins (215).
Others expected to compete include freshmen Archie Collins (172), Parker Sedlock (114) and Jackson Kraemer (172), and seniors Marco Castelveter (145) and Sam Zoller (160).
Collins, who saw plenty of action for Montour’s varsity football team in the fall, placed third at last year’s junior high district tournament.
The Spartans’ most recent outing resulted in a 40-30 victory over Beaver Area Wednesday night.
Nelson (121), Castelveter (145), Chacon (152), Smith (160) and Halbedl (285) all won by pin.
Lugaila (127) won by major decision.
MOON AREA
Mike Muraco, starting his 10th season as Moon’s coach and his 14th season overall as a coach, likes what he sees of his group early in the season.
“We had our most team wins (15) in over a decade,” he said, referring to last year’s team. “We had our most qualifiers for the WPIAL tournament in over a decade (10) and first playoff win since the 1980s.
“The goal is to match and beat those numbers this year.”
The Tigers return a number of wrestlers who reached postseason tournament action a year ago in sophomore Karsten Kirchner (121), juniors Bryce Thomas (107), Liam Costa (172) and Khalil Razipour (215) and seniors Cael Yanek (139) and Michael Olszewski (189).
Kirchner and Razipour both reached the WPIAL tournament, Olszewski and Thomas went a step further to the regional level and Yanek and Costa both advanced to the PIAA tournament.
Haley Smarsh, competing at 130, won the WPIAL title last year and also advanced to the PIAA tournament, where she placed sixth.
Other returnees expected to compete this year are seniors Lando Lower (127), Brayden Tooch (133) and Zack Regotti (152).
Freshman Hayden Seymour is expected to contribute at 114.
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