McGuffey gets No. 3 seed in Class 2A team tournament
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
When the WPIAL released the team wrestling brackets Thursday afternoon, McGuffey coach Jared Roberts was pleased with what he saw for a couple reasons.
The first item of good news was that the Highlanders were hosting first-round and quarterfinal matches.
Another thing that made him happy was the respect he felt his team was shown in terms of seeding.
McGuffey received the No. 3 seed in Class 2A and will host the winner of a preliminary round match between Avonworth and Central Valley on Wednesday.
“One of our goals was to get a top-four seed and host in the playoffs,” Roberts said. “We didn’t get a top-four seed last year and we really wanted to, so it’s been on our radar all year. We’re excited to perform in front of the home crowd.”
All preliminary round matches in the WPIAL team tournament are on Monday and the first round and quarterfinals are Wednesday.
The quarterfinal winners advance to the semifinals Saturday at Peters Township’s AHN Arena.
Roberts was unsure where the Highlanders, who won the Section 1 title, would fall in the bracket.
“We haven’t wrestled the other top four teams, and sometimes when you don’t have that matchup head-to-head it kind of makes it hard for seeding purposes,” Roberts said. “But we upped our schedule a little bit. We wrestled some Triple-A schools and some tough Double-A schools. The competition we’ve faced has been pretty tough.”
Beth-Center is in McGuffey’s pod and faces Laurel in the first round. The Bulldogs earned a win over Bentworth Tuesday to secure their place in the playoffs.
Jefferson-Morgan also benefited from the Beth-Center win.
The Rockets finished in a three-way tie with Bentworth and Beth-Center at 2-1 in Section 3, but won the tiebreaker with most bouts won.
Jefferson-Morgan faces Southmoreland at Burrell with the winner likely facing the top-seeded and defending champion Bucs in the quarterfinals.
Bentworth received a wild card as a third-place finisher in Section 3 and will host Avella in a play-in match.
Avella is fielding a team for the first time in seven years and clinched a tournament berth with a win over South Side Beaver Wednesday. Avella wrestlers had been co-oping with Fort Cherry prior to the program’s revival this year.
The winner of the Avella/Bentworth match will meet No. 2 Derry in the first round.
Burgettstown, which was the Section 2 champion, will meet Highlands in the first round at Derry.
Chartiers-Houston, the runner-up to McGuffey in Section 1, has a preliminary round match with Elizabeth Forward at Bentworth. The winner travels to wrestle Quaker Valley, the No. 4 seed in the tournament.
Class 3A
Trinity’s path to return to the WPIAL finals after a heartbreaking 33-32 loss to Connellsville last year starts as the sixth seed.
The Hillers are matched up with West Allegheny in the first round and the winner will advance to face third-seeded Thomas Jefferson or the winner of a preliminary match between Penn-Trafford and North Hills.
Trinity defeated Canon-McMillan Wednesday for the Section 2 championship.
The Big Macs take on Norwin in the first round at Thomas Jefferson.
Canon-McMillan has the most team titles in WPIAL history with 22.
Belle Vernon is in a preliminary match against Butler at North Hills with the winner moving on to meet Thomas Jefferson.
Peters Township and Ringgold also are in preliminary matches.
The Indians face Moon at Shaler. The winner advances to wrestle Franklin Regional.
Ringgold will travel to Shaler for its preliminary match. The winner moves on to face top-seed and defending champion Connellsville.