Preseason Preview (Part 1)

Class AAA

Canon-McMillan

Key losses - Colton Shorts (126, 39-9, 8th in PIAA); Dario Dobbin (145, 39-11, 7th PIAA), Zach Thomas (182, 22-12); Ian Binotto (195, 24-7); Cody Klempay (Hvy, 40-4, 6th PIAA)
Key returns- Dalton Macri (11, 113, 42-5, 4th PIAA); Connor Schram (12, 120, 25-1, 2nd PIAA); Solomon Chishko (11, 138, 44-2, 3rd PIAA); Cody Wiercioch (12, 170, 46-0, 1st PIAA); Alex Campbell (12, 220, 43-5, 5th PIAA)
Comment - Chishko out until early January with fractured elbow; Big Macs not as strong as last year's team but still best in WPIAL and one of the best in PIAA.

McGuffey

Key losses - Colt Klein (113, 18-12)
Key returns - Tyler Harris (11, 126, 19-11); Christian Whipkey (12, 132, 17-7); Brent Blaharczyk (12, 160, 27-10); Erik Capra (12, 195, 30-7)
Comment - Mark Caffrey returns to coach the Highlanders. Lots of work to be done.

Peters Township

Key losses - Derrick Evanovich (126, 35-7, PIAA Q); Luke Palamides (132, 24-8); Tyler Wilkes (145, 22-13); Zan Kail (160, 19-9);  Andrew Irwin (182, 24-11);
Key returns - Phil Mary (10, 106, 25-12); Tyler Buckiso (11, 120, 28-8); Italo Merante (11, 138, 18-8); Jake Caputo (12, 152, 21-16); Mack Mitchell (12, 160, 19-9);
Comment - Graduation hit hard. Upper weights look bare but a good core of lighter weights.

Ringgold

Key losses - Josh Gudenburr (132, 30-14); Alex Powell (145, 38-6); Jake Wisener (160, 42-6, 5th PIAA); Dean Lusk (Hvy, 21-5)
Key returns - Jake Gerard (10, 106, 31-12); Kenny Tarpley (11, 120, 34-10); Devin Fallenstein (11, 152, 34-10);
Comment - Rams lost a combined 152 bout wins to graduation. Ouch. Time for Tarpley to break out.

 

Trinity

Key losses - Blake Iddings (106, 27-12)
Key returns - Jeff Miller (12, 138, 23-15); Evan Sherrieb (12, 145, 16-12); Robert West (10, 170, 23-6); Don McWreath (12, 195, 26-12); Evan Seaman (12, 220, 22-10); Connor Fritz (12, Hvy, 17-11)
Comment - A new coach in Mark Powell will provide energy and fresh start. There is talent here. How much? Depends on what Powell can get out of them.

Waynesburg

Key losses - Tommy Henderson (138, 23-17); Eric Jones (145, 25-7);
Key returns - A.C. Headlee (10, 106, 42-3); Shane Piper (10, 132, 22-17); Bo Hampson (11, 152, 24-15)
Comment - Headlee one of the real bright spots not only on this team but in WPIAL. It's going to be tough going for Raiders in team portion of season.


Editor's note: The weights and records were taken from the end of last year. Because rosters have not been set at most schools, I did not include incoming freshmen. Class AA preview will be broken into two parts. The first one will be published Monday.