Feb 4, 2020 3 min read

They will gather today to give the Burgettstown High School wrestling team a warm sendoff to Hershey.

The students, parents and fans who will be there know this has been a special year for this team and program.

The question now is, can it get better?

Joey Vigliotti, Burgettstown’s head coach, believes this is the start of something special. This team has already made program history by becoming the first squad to qualify for the PIAA Team Tournament, which begins Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

The Blue Devils wrestle District 5 champion Chestnut Ridge in the 2 p.m. opener.

Even more important, his wrestlers get the invaluable opportunity to compete in Hershey one month before the individual tournament begins. For a team that has only three seniors – Shane Ilginfritz at 106 pounds, Jacob Loudin at 160 and Riley Kemper at heavyweight – in the starting lineup, that experience alone is well worth the trip.

“Our goal was to make it to Hershey and win a couple dual meets up there,” said Vigliotti. “It’s new to us and we’re going to go up there and compete the best we can. We won the section title last year and got a taste of it. This year, we talked about a section title and Hershey.”

Burgettstown accomplished both of those goals by defeating McGuffey in the semifinals of the WPIAL Class AA Team Tournament. The euphoria from that victory worked against them in the finals against powerhouse Burrell.

“Burrell is a tough team,” said Vigliotti. “We could’ve showed up better than we did. But when you meet your goal, you meet your goal. When you get high from that, it’s tough to come back down and wrestle a team like Burrell. I see this as a steppingstone.”

Burrell won it’s 14th consecutive WPIAL team title with the 63-9 victory over Burgettstown. The loss stung the Blue Devils but they weren’t the first team to be routed in the finals by Burrell.

“It’s huge,” said Vigliotti of competing in the tournament. “There are some tough teams in the WPIAL. Our kids, even the ones not starting, will get a look at some of the teams and how good they are from across the state.”

Chestnut Ridge is one of them.

The Lions have won eight straight district titles. They shut out North Star, 73-0, before routing Berlin Brothersvalley, 59-16, in the district finals.

Chestnut Ridge is the fourth-ranked Class AA team in Pennsylvania.

“I’ve done my scouting and they’re a tough one,” said Vigliotti. “But our kids are going to show up and do what we can do. We’re going to fight.”

In Class AAA, Canon-McMillan wrestles District 3 champion Gettysburg and Waynesburg takes on Central Dauphin, the third-place finisher in District 3.