Four Tigers make podium at WPIAL Championships; Heckert named WPIAL Coach of the Year
The North Allegheny girls wrestling team was in the comfort of their own home at UPMC Court for the WPIAL Girls Wrestling Individual Championships on Saturday. The Tigers had four girls finish in the top six with Lorelei Bungard and Maya Scott both coming in sixth place while Carly O’Connell finished in fifth. Sophia Folks had the best day for NA getting to the finals before falling in overtime.
Folks had a great start to the day picking up wins by fall in the first round, quarterfinals and semifinals. For the second straight year, North Allegheny had a girl in the WPIAL Championship at 155 pounds. It was a battle that needed more than six minutes, but Folks ultimately fell to Karsyn Champion of Norwin 11-8 in overtime to secure WPIAL silver.
O’Connell had a similar start to her day picking up quick pins in the first round and quarterfinals. She fell in the semifinals and consolation semifinals before winning the fifth-place match over Taylor Chambers of Southmoreland.
Bungard won by tech fall in her first-round matchup before losing by decision in the quarterfinals. Bungard fought through the consolation bracket going 2-1 with two pins, before falling by an 11-9 decision to Lauren Bachman of Fox Chapel, to finish in sixth place.
Scott won her first-round bout in 1:19 before dropping a 6-2 decision in the quarterfinals. Scott would also go 2-1 in the consolation bracket before getting tripped up by Kaylee Flowers from New Castle in the fifth-place match.
Heidi Radford had a 2-2 day for the Tigers. Alex Gosnell, Aleigha Revelent and Anna Kovacic went 1-2 on the day. Shanmukha Gannavaram, Ava Anthony and Anna Svoboda also participated.
For complete results, click here.
Postseason awards were also handed out at the WPIAL Individual Championships and North Allegheny head coach Dan Heckert was named the WPIAL Girls Wrestling Coach of the Year for the second season in a row. He is pictured with Connellsville’s Jeremiah Bossart who was named the Assistant Coach of the Year.
With the top five automatically qualifying for the PIAA West Regional tournament, Folks and O’Connell advance. Bungard and Scott await word from the WPIAL to see if they advance via the wild card. The PIAA West Regional will be held on Saturday, March 1 at UPMC Court.
