Penn Hills wrestling coach Jeremy Packer has gradually worked on building the depth of the program over the last few seasons. The Indians returned to team competition this season after opting out of the WPIAL schedule the past few seasons.

Penn Hills saw its next marker for improvement with how it performed at the Allegheny County Wrestling Championships. The Indians would like to find a way to get more kids in the position to win big matches.

Daemon Phipps was the only wrestler to place, finishing in seventh place at 114 pounds. Phipps has a team-high 14 wins.

“We had four wrestlers make the second day,” Packer said. “We had some bright spots in some places and disappointments in others.”

Darnel Jackson (152 pounds) was the only other Penn Hills wrestler to reach the quarterfinals in the championship bracket. Jackson finished one match short of being all-county.

Jackson, who reached the finals of the Penn Hills Holiday Tournament before losing via injury default in a match he was ahead in, is 11-7 this season and will likely exceed his win total of 14 from last season.

Packer said that Penn Hills missed some opportunities to pick up wins. Levi Smith (139 pounds) got caught turning the wrong way before being pinned with a 9-3 lead in the consolation round. Bradley Repovich (145) lost a match 2-0 in ultimate tiebreaker in the consolation bracket. Freshman Denairo Price (285) also reached the second day by winning two matches in the consolation bracket.

“We lost a lot of close matches,” Packer said. “There were a few things we could have done to finish those matches.”

The Penn Hills girls wrestling team has made progress during its first season. Packer said every member of the team has won at least a match.

All of the girls on the team are underclassmen.

Emily Durrant leads the team with four wins, while Rena Clark has won twice.

“They’ve exceeded expectations,” Packer said. “I had never coached girls wrestling before so I find myself with no expectations going in, and I’ve enjoyed coaching it.”