SV duo snares WPIAL crowns
CANONSBURG — For Dylan Chappell, it was pure domination.
For Alejandro Herrera-Rondon, it was pure determination.
Both Seneca Valley juniors are headed to this week's PIAA Wrestling Tournament as WPIAL champions — again.
They will be joined in Hershey by teammates Antonio Amelio (145) and Chanz Shearer (138), and Knoch's Guy DeLeonardis.
DeLeonardis, a senior, placed fourth at 160 pounds and became the first state qualifier in the 14-year history of Knoch's program.
Chappell (45-4) won the 120-pound WPIAL title by pinning Connellsville freshman Jace Ross just 32 seconds into the second period. Ross is 23-10 this season.
Chappell is 124-22 in his career and was a WPIAL champion and state runner-up last season.
“I definitely had the edge in experience there,” he said of his match with Ross. “I used that.”
Chappell had a pair of first-period pins and a 4-0 decision over North Allegheny's Dylan Coy to reach the finals.
“I hit three cradles and that's my best move,” Chappell said of the pins. “This tournament does give me some nice momentum going into the state tournament.
“The kid who beat me (in the state finals last year) is wrestling at 113 pounds. I feel like I can win the state title, but I still have to win a few matches to get there.”
Herrera-Rondon (39-3) avenged a regular season loss by scoring a 4-2 decision over previously unbeaten Gabe Willochell (31-1) of Greater Latrobe in the 132-pound WPIAL title bout.
Willochell nipped Herrera-Rondon 1-0 in an ultimate tiebreaker at the Powerade Tournament earlier this season.
“I did nothing in that match,” Herrera-Rondon said. “There were moves available to me when I was on the bottom and I did nothing.
“That wasn't going to happen this time.”Herrera-Rondon broke a scoreless tie by scoring on a reversal in the second period. Willochell evened the score with a takedown with 1:32 left in the match.The deciding points came on a Herrera-Rondon reversal with 33 seconds remaining.“This avenges one loss for me this season,” he said. “Hopefully, I'll get the chance to avenge a couple more out in Hershey.“It doesn't matter, though. No matter who they put in front of me, I plan on taking care of business.”Herrera-Rondon, a defending WPIAL champion and two-time state champion, is 134-12 in his high school career. Willochell, a two-time state placer, is 128-27.“Dylan and Alejandro have practically dedicated their lives to wrestling,” SV coach Kevin Wildrick said. “It shows in how polished they are on the mat.“Our other guys had to battle back through consolations to get to states. There is added pressure in doing that, especially against the caliber of opponents that are down here.”Defending 145-pound WPIAL champion Amelio (34-15) lost a 3-2 decision to Connellsville's Jared Keslar in the quarterfinals, then won four straight matches to place third at 145. The top four placers in each weight class advance to the state tourney.Amelio decisioned Keslar 4-3 in the consolation final.Shearer (35-9) came back through consolations to place fourth.DeLeonardis (23-3) reached the semifinals at 160 before losing a 3-0 decision to Waynesburg's Lucas Augustine. He clinched his spot in the state tourney by decisioning Fox Chapel's Alex Wecht, 11-2, in the consolation semifinals.“Nobody deserves this more than he does,” Knoch coach Grayson Hixon said of DeLeonardis. “Guy is the hardest worker in the room for us.“He set the goal of getting to the state tournament, of being our first. He got there and I'm ecstatic for him.”
