It might not have carried the significance of a state championship match, but Saturday’s WPIAL Class 3A 114-pound final between Butler’s Santino Sloboda and Norwin’s Landon Sidun sure felt like one.
The reigning Powerade champion and a third-place finisher at the prestigious Beast of the East tournament, Sidun is a heralded freshman who entered Saturday’s championship bout at Canon-McMillan High School as the No. 1-ranked 114-pounder in the country by FloWrestling. Sloboda, meanwhile, is an undefeated sophomore who was nowhere to be found in the national rankings despite his outstanding career record of 76-3.
It’s safe to say that won’t be the case much longer.
After scoring the first takedown of the match to take an early two-point lead, Sloboda (36-0) found himself clinging to a narrow 3-2 advantage before Sidun (38-2) took him down with about 30 seconds left in the third period. Now trailing, 4-3, Sloboda rose back to his feet in an attempt to escape, and when Sidun tried to take him to his back, Sloboda countered the maneuver to earn a two-point reversal moments before the final buzzer, awarding him a thrilling 5-4 win for his first WPIAL title.
“That’s one of the matches you’ve been thinking about all year,” Sloboda said. “When I went out there, I felt as loose as I’ve been, ever. … I don’t think a lot of people thought I was going to win that.”
The win helped Sloboda forget the pain of last year’s WPIAL tournament, when he got pinned by Canon-McMillan’s Tanner Mizenko in the 107-pound finals. He then went on to place fourth at his first PIAA tournament but still flew largely under the radar as a sophomore while Sidun received most of the headlines for his remarkable debut season.
Although winning a WPIAL title is an amazing accomplishment, both Sloboda and Sidun know next week’s tournament is the one that matters most. And while Sloboda got the better of their first meeting, many are already clamoring for a rematch for all the marbles in Hershey next week.
“Honestly, we have all the respect in the world for Landon and what he brought to the table,” said Butler coach Scott Stoner. “[Sloboda] just did a tremendous job. He never quit wrestling at the end when it looked like time was running out on him. Great match.”
Sloboda stole the show with his last-second theatrics, but there were several other noteworthy performances on Saturday — including an impressive first-period fall by Thomas Jefferson junior Maddox Shaw in the 139-pound finals.
A two-time PIAA medalist and the only local wrestler to win a Super 32 title at the nation’s most prestigious preseason all-star tournament in October, Shaw surrendered an early takedown in his championship match against Pine-Richland’s Dominic Ferraro (37-5). All that seemed to do was light a fire under Shaw (39-3), who quickly reversed into top position before locking up a cradle and sticking Ferraro to the mat in only 49 seconds for his 11th consecutive pin.
With the win, Shaw became the first Jaguars wrestler to secure two WPIAL titles — upstaging his older brother, Max, a former WPIAL champion who is now wrestling at North Carolina.
“I’ve learned to stay calm when I give up a takedown,” Shaw said. “I haven’t been focusing on the tournaments too much. … Obviously, this is a confidence builder, but I really just worry about myself now and how my performances are. The rest will take care of itself.
“I think it’s less pressure that way. I’m just going to go do my thing.”
Joining Shaw atop the podium for Thomas Jefferson were juniors Bode Marlow and Shepard Turk, giving the Jaguars multiple WPIAL champions for the first time in school history.
Marlow (35-6) seemed to be cruising to a major decision in the 160-pound finals, building an eight-point lead before Connellsville’s Lonzy Vielma (35-7) locked him in a cradle in the final 10 seconds. The Pitt recruit survived to the final buzzer, though, holding on for an 11-7 win for his first WPIAL title.
“It felt good to come out on top,” Marlow said. “I never want to let that [cradle] happen again. … I’m just happy I had a big enough lead.”
Turk (33-7) then closed the show by shutting out Waynesburg’s Roan Tustin (23-4) with a 3-0 decision in the final match of the evening at 285 pounds, giving Thomas Jefferson coach Michael Ladick his first trio of WPIAL champions.
“It’s just continual preparation,” Ladick said. “This is what they’ve trained for, moments like this.”
Latrobe junior Luke Willochell (38-1) captured his third WPIAL crown in three tries, pulling out a 1-0 decision against Franklin Regional senior Tyler Kapusta (42-6) at 121 pounds. A Wyoming recruit, Willochell also had to dig deep to beat Kapusta in overtime at last week’s section finals, 11-6 — and he knows there’s a chance he might see the Bucknell recruit again in Hershey.
“My matches are always like that with him,” Willochell said. “We know each other pretty well. We’re friends. We almost went golfing a couple times. But it’s good to get another WPIAL title.”
Two other returning WPIAL champions added to their trophy case, as Hempfield senior Eli Carr (32-2) defeated West Allegheny senior Nick Jones (34-7), 6-0, at 152 pounds, and Pine-Richland junior Vaughn Spencer pinned Latrobe freshman Hunter Snyder (36-5) in 2:33 at 172. Spencer (39-2) joined his older brother, Cole, as a two-time WPIAL champion, making them two of only three two-time champs in school history. The Rams have never had a three-time champ, but the Lehigh recruit has his sights set on a three-peat next year.
First up, though, Spencer hopes to earn his first PIAA medal next week after a knee injury derailed his previous trip to the state tournament.
“I’m always confident in myself when I go out there and compete,” Spencer said. “I want to go win [states]. That’s my goal. It’s been my goal all year. This is a nice little confidence boost going into it, but I want to win this thing.”
Six other wrestlers took home their first WPIAL titles on Saturday — Peters Township freshman Nicholas McGarrity (now 40-1 at 107 pounds), Canon-McMillan senior Andrew Binni (32-6 at 127), Bethel Park senior Mason Kernan (35-3 at 133), Connellsville junior Evan Petrovich (37-6 at 145), Kiski Area sophomore Cooper Roscosky (38-2 at 189) and Ringgold junior Jake Conroy (42-2 at 215).
PIAA girls West Regional
Also at Canon-McMillan, the WPIAL dominated the first-ever girls West Regional tournament in the final tune-up before the first PIAA girls wrestling championships in Hershey next week.
Of the 13 weight classes being contested, 11 saw WPIAL wrestlers reach the top of the podium, including nine who also won titles last month at the inaugural WPIAL girls wrestling tournament. Canon-McMillan led the way with three champions — Valarie Solorio (100 pounds), Audrey Calgaro (170 pounds) and Natalie Rush (190 pounds).
Solorio, an Iowa recruit, is ranked No. 3 in the country at 100 pounds by FloWrestling, and she remains undefeated despite competing with a partially torn ACL.
“I’ve been preparing my whole entire life for this,” Solorio said. “As long as I can trust myself and trust my wrestling, there’s nothing in my way.”
Plum and Norwin each crowned two champions apiece, with Saphia Davis (124 pounds) and Alaina Claassen (235 pounds) earning gold medals for the Mustangs and Josephine Dollman (142 pounds) and Karsyn Champion (148 pounds) bringing home titles for the Knights.
“It was really exciting to see all the good girls come out,” Davis said. “I was just excited to watch all the girls wrestle. They all wrestled really tough. It’s just exciting to see how big this has gotten.”
The other local title winners were Butler’s Ana Malovich (118 pounds), Moon’s Haley Smarsh (130 pounds), Kiski Area’s Ava Golding (136 pounds) and North Allegheny’s Leyna Rumpler (155 pounds).
Also making a splash was Brashear junior Tamara Humphries, who ensured the City League would be represented at the first PIAA girls tournament with a third-place finish at 112 pounds. Humphries lost her semifinal match to the eventual champion, Conneaut’s Daylee Watson, 8-7, on a controversial penalty point.
Needless to say, Humphries would love to get another crack at Watson next week.
“Losses like that don’t really affect me. It just motivates me to keep going,” Humphries said. “I know if I see her again, I’m going to beat her.”
PIAA Class 2A Southwest Regional
In arguably the biggest upset of the season in all of high school wrestling, Bentworth senior Chris Vargo shocked Bishop McCort sophomore Jax Forrest — the No. 2 pound-for-pound wrestler in the country according to MatScouts — winning via 13-7 decision in the 127-pound finals at the PIAA Class 2A Southwest Regional tournament at Altoona High School.
Fresh off winning his third WPIAL title last week, Vargo (38-2) is now a four-time Southwest Regional champion — and the three-time PIAA medalist is now looking like a serious threat to win his first state title. Vargo, an Edinboro recruit, has placed third, fifth and second in his three previous trips to the state tournament.
Also capturing his fourth Southwest Regional title was Frazier senior Rune Lawrence, who pinned his way through the 215-pound bracket in a combined total of 2:33. A West Virginia recruit, Lawrence (29-1) needed only 41 seconds to pin Mount Union’s Josh Ryan in the finals, his 11th consecutive pin and the 99th fall of his career. Lawrence will attempt to become the 14th four-time PIAA champion next week.
Two other WPIAL wrestlers took home gold medals in Altoona, as Central Valley senior Brenan Morgan (39-0) claimed his second Southwest Regional title with an 18-3 technical fall over Mount Pleasant sophomore Dylan Pitzer (40-2) at 285 pounds, while Belle Vernon sophomore Elijah Brown (43-3) beat Fort Cherry junior Braedon Welsh (35-7) by one point for the second week in a row, eking out a 3-2 decision in the 172-pound finals.
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
