After the Derry wrestling team opened its season with a fifth-place finish at the Top Hat Tournament, coach Troy Dolan Jr. said things would be different at the Moon Duals.
He was right. His Trojans were a perfect 6-0 to take home top honors.
Derry defeated Class 2A No. 4 Quaker Valley, 57-18; No. 5 Laurel, 54-12; Parkersburg, W.Va., 55-9; Mt. Lebanon, 48-6; Class 3A No. 10 West Allegheny, 39-24; and District 3 Palmyra, 47-15, in the championship match.
Brady Brown was one of the wrestlers who returned to the lineup after missing the season-opening tournament.
A couple Class 3A teams on the rise are Kiski Area (11-0) and Latrobe (4-1).
The Cavaliers won their own tournament Saturday by defeating Hempfield, 51-15; District 10 Fort LeBoeuf, 55-9; District 9 DuBois, 49-24; Class 3A No. 3 Canon-McMillan, 35-25; and No. 7 North Allegheny, 45-22.
The results forced changes in the Class 3A rankings.
Franklin Regional and Norwin remain No. 1 and 2. Trinity is now No. 3. Kiski Area moved from No. 8 to No. 4. North Allegheny, which defeated Canon-McMillan, is No. 5. Canon-McMillan drops to No. 6, and Connellsville falls to No. 7 even though it defeated West Allegheny.
Latrobe, which went 4-1 at the Hampton Duals, went from unranked to No. 8.
Class 3A looks well balanced.
Perfect Panthers
No. 1 Franklin Regional stayed perfect at 10-0 by rallying to defeat Moon and then won the Jason Eades Memorial Duals.
The Panthers defeated Moon, 33-25.
They won six in the dual tournament at Point Pleasant, W.Va., defeating Union Local, Ohio, in the finals, 60-17.
Norwin wins at Penn Manor
Norwin had two champions and six other place winners to capture the team title at the Penn Manor Holiday Tournament in Millersville.
Luca Butera (107 pounds) and Landon Sidun (121) claimed titles.
Butera defeated Bethlehem Liberty’s Max Milia, 10-5. Sidun won by technical fall, 18-1, over State College’s Luke Young.
Placing third were Nathan Klingensmith (145), Noah Curran (152) and Jack White (160). Placing fifth was Coleton Klipa (133) while finishing seventh were Brooks Blasko (133) and Jonah Fierle (285).
Parsley reaches milestone
Greensburg Salem coach Randy Parsley reached the 250-win milestone with a second-place finish at the Mac McGuire Duals at Upper Clair.
The Golden Lions (6-2) went 5-1.
They defeated Avella, 37-26; Neighborhood Academy, 60-0; North Catholic, 48-10; Ambridge, 45-14; and Brashear, 50-24. They fell to Upper St. Clair, 45-23.
Up next
The big matches Wednesday see Jefferson-Morgan (7-0) at Bentworth (2-0), Norwin (6-1) at Plum (3-3), and Belle Vernon (3-3) at Thomas Jefferson (8-2).
The big tournaments Friday and Saturday include King of the Mountain at Central Mountain where six WPIAL teams will compete, and the Panther Holiday Classic at Mount Aloysius College where 10 WPIAL teams will compete.
Norwin is headed to Delaware to compete in the Beast of the East on Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday in the Morgantown, W.Va., the NursePro Plus tournament at University High School will take place. Franklin Regional, Trinity and Penn-Trafford are three of the six WPIAL teams competing.
Also, Connellsville and Cleveland St. Edwards will battle at noon Saturday at Pitt prior to the Panthers’ match against Edinboro.