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Wednesday December 18, 2024 | 00:06
Louis B. Ruediger | TribLive
Thomas Jefferson’s Bode Marlow controls Central York’s Carter Davis at 160 pounds at the PIAA Class 3A championships at Hershey’s Giant Center on March 8.
While most WPIAL wrestling teams will have one or two sectional matches in the books before the break, some schools in four-team sectionals will wait until January to begin their sectional schedule.
That includes defending Class 3A champion Connellsville, which is in Section 8-3A this year with Albert Gallatin, Laurel Highlands and Hempfield.
However, defending Class 2A champion Burrell will open its Section 9-2A schedule Wednesday when it hosts Neighborhood Academy.
The Bucs will be prohibitive favorites against the Bulldogs, who are in their first year hosting a varsity wrestling team in the WPIAL.
Here are some key district games to watch:
• Thomas Jefferson (1-0) visits Belle Vernon for first place in Section 7-3A.
• Elizabeth Forward (1-0) hosts Southmoreland (1-0) for first place in Section 7-2A.
• Valley (1-0) travels to Highlands (1-0) with first place up for grabs in Section 9-2A.
Recent rivals face off
The last two seasons have seen Aliquippa and Northgate battle it out in Section 1-2A, a rivalry that has spilled over into the playoffs.
During the 2023 season, the Quips defeated the Flames twice in the regular season by 11 and 18 points.
The two ended up with gold on the line in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game.
Northgate took an early lead, but Aliquippa outscored the Flames in the second half by 15 points to win the district crown, 52-40.
Cameron Lindsey led the Quips with 19 points while Josh Williams had 11 for the Flames.
Last season, Aliquippa swept Northgate again in both sectional meets with wins by five and 19 points.
The Quips won the WPIAL and PIAA championships.
Now the two meet Wednesday in a non-sectional scrimmage at 7:30 p.m. after Aliquippa moved from 2A to 3A this season.
Host Quips won its season and Section 1-3A opener last week, destroying Beaver Falls by 79 points.
The Flames have yet to play a Section 2-2A game, but they are 1-3 overall with an overtime win over Penn Hills and losses to Central Catholic, North Allegheny and Beaver.
Fate Wade
Two of the best women’s basketball teams and neighboring communities are set to face off midweek, with one team coming away with a big win and the other in bounce-back mode.
Section 4-5A’s Thomas Jefferson (2-1, 7-1) will make the short trip to Clairton (2-0, 4-1) to take on the top team in Section 2-A at 6:30 p.m.
The host Bears have won back-to-back sectional wins over Serra Catholic and Geibel Catholic since suffering their only loss to Allderdice last week.
The Jaguars had won their first six games of the season before losing a section matchup to Peters Township. They are coming off a big sectional win Tuesday against Trinity.
This game also features two of the best hoops players in the district, junior Maggie Spell of Thomas Jefferson averaging 19.2 points per game and senior Iyanna Wade of Clairton averaging over 40 points per game.