The favorites (national ranking before their name)
106: #1 Keanu Dillard, Bethlehem Catholic (Fr. 12-0)
Dillard missed the first three months of the season with a pair of injuries, first a broken orbital bone, then a sprained wrist that kept him out of all of Becahi’s major tournaments (Ironman, Beast of the East, Escape the Rock). But Dillard is 12-0 since returning and has barely been touched. The three-time Junior High State champ is also ranked #1 nationally. He’s silky smooth on his feet – the chain wrestling is high level, and like all Red Hawk kids, he’s brutal on top. It would be a very large surprise if he is not the state champion here.
113: #3 Nathan Desmond, Bethlehem Catholic (So. 30-1) – State Champ
Again, a big favorite here for the Golden Hawks. Desmond rolled to a state title last year at 106, and should similarly be a huge favorite here. His only losses in high school are to national #2 Beric Jordan (Stillwater, OK) at Ironman last season and this season (one in overtime, one by one point) and bumping up last season to 113 to wrestle Tahir Parkins (see the next weight class). Since winning the Beast of the East final, he’s only had two matches not end in pins – both wins over national #5 Luke Littleton-Mascaro of Malvern Prep. He’s maybe the best wrestler from top in the state, and is brutally physical.
121: Cael Nasdeo, Williamsport (Sr. 29-5; Penn State) – State 6th, State 2nd
This is the most wide open weight class in the tournament. Nasdeo is ranked #1, but has five losses on the season and while most of them are out of state, he was pinned by state #7 Carson Wagner (who owns multiple career wins over Nasdeo). Nasdeo put together a nice state tournament as a sophomore, where a win over Wagner put him in the state final. But with six other returning state medalists, plus Tahir Parkins, in the weight class, Nasdeo will need to put together the weekend of his life.
127: #5 Vinny Kilkeary, Greater Latrobe (Sr. 18-0; Ohio State) – 2x State Champ, State 3rd
Kilkeary is one of the most fun wrestlers in the state – a go-for-broke style full of upper body throws and big moves. He went on a stunning run to a state title as an undersized freshman in one of the best weight classes the state has ever seen (2020 at 106 had five different wrestlers who have won state titles so far, and 11 of the 20 are Division I wrestlers) and after dropping his semifinal as a sophomore, stormed back as a junior to win a second state title. He’s a heavy favorite this year, with 17 of his 18 matches this season ending by fall.
133: #12 Maddox Shaw, Thomas Jefferson (So. 34-2) – State 3rd
The first big domino of postseason weight adjustments was Shaw coming down from 139 to take over the top spot here. Shaw is a supremely talented underclassman who is nip-and-tuck with the elite up at 139 (which include two state champs and three nationally ranked wrestlers) and assuming he manages the cut, should be a solid favorite here. Very athletic and a star pupil from the Quest school of wrestling, which has produced some of western Pennsylvania’s best guys lately.
139: #7 Kollin Rath, Bethlehem Catholic (So. 27-1) – State 3rd
Rath was the talk of the PIAA Duals when he posted back-to-back wins over state champions, bumping up to 145 to beat Mac Church (see next entry) and then posting a suffocating ride to shut-out Dalton Perry. Rath also beat Pierson Manville back at Escape the Rock in January, giving him three wins over returning state champions this season. His only loss is in the Ironman final, 6-5 to national #1 Kannon Webster (Washington, IL). Rath may be the most talented kid in the Bethlehem Catholic room, and wrestlers with a punishing pace. He has to go through maybe the toughest field, but he’s already shown he can beat his challengers.
145: #3 Mac Church, Waynesburg (Sr. 25-2; Virginia Tech) – 2x State Champ, State 3rd
Church has been a star on the state radar since winning two Junior High state championships. He narrowly missed out on a state final as a freshman in the absurd 2020 class at 106, and has pretty much cruised to two state titles since. His only loss to a PIAA wrestlers since January of his sophomore season was the last second loss to Rath, who he will not see come postseason time. His misdirection stuff from his feet is awesome, and he’s one of the toughest kids to ride in the state. Again, he’s got some awesome competition here, but he’s a proven champion.
152: #4 Ty Watters, West Allegheny (Sr.28-0; West Virginia) – State Champ
Watters, another graduate of the 2020 class at 106, missed his sophomore season with a knee injury, then tore through the postseason last year on his way to becoming West Allegheny’s first state champion. He’s been a buzzsaw this year, 28-0, Powerade Champion, win over 2A champ Connor Harar, and is generally been the man at 152 statewide.
160: #13 Shawn Taylor, West Allegheny (Jr 28-1; West Virginia) – State 4th
Taylor has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Watters’ excellence, and you can see the jump he’s made as a training partner. His lone loss came to national #1 Joe Sealy (Wyoming Seminary/Penn State) and has wins over the other two nationally ranked guys in this bracket (returning champ Dylan Evans and Dom Frontino). Again, this is a super deep weight, but Taylor has the early wins over the other top guys going into the postseason.
172: #1 Rocco Welsh, Waynesburg (Sr. 32-0; Ohio State) – State Champ, 2x State Runner-Up
Welsh is MatScouts’ pound-for-pound #2 ranked wrestler in the country, and is the cleary #1 at 172. He’s looking to become Waynesburg’s first four-time state finalist, and after losing as a freshman and sophomore, tech falled his way through the first last year and should similarly roll here. The Ohio State recruit should start for the Buckeyes right away in 2023-24 and is maybe the best high school wrestler in the country this year, not just Pennsylvania. His 71 match win streak is the longest in the state.
189: Hadyn Packer, Jersey Shore (Sr. 30-1; Rutgers) – State 3rd
Packer is a load, one of the most physical guys in the class, and while I would have loved to see Sasso stay at 215 and get this incredible contrast in styles, it’s right that they’re both competing as favorites for state titles. Packer has not wrestled the schedule of some of his competitors (finding great matches up in District 4 is hard if you’re team isn’t strong enough to do a ton of traveling) but he also won’t face the depth in his weight class of some others.
215: #8 Sonny Sasso, Nazareth (Sr. 16-0; Virginia Tech) – State Champ, State 7th
Sasso made a massive jump between his sophomore and junior seasons, going from a nice wrestler who earned a state medal to one of the best upper weights in America. His win over Mac Stout last year was the marquee match of the state tournament. He’s had a weird senior season, breaking his hand playing quarterback for the Blue Eagles and just coming back from surgery in early February. He’s had his hand heavily guarded and basically is just wrestling with grip on one hand. That said, he’s incredibly fluid, super hard to score on, and is both a better athlete and better wrestler than anybody else in the class. He's on a 63 match win streak dating back to his sophomore season.
285: #6 Sean Kinney, Nazareth (Jr. 25-0) – State Champ, State Runner-Up
Kinney is on track to become the first ever four-time state finalist at heavyweight in Pennsylvania. He lost in overtime as a freshman to current Iowa State wrestler Nate Schon, then blew through the field last year before riding out current Penn wrestler Matt Cruise for a 1-0 win and his first state title. Kinney is a huge kid with great balance and very good instincts on top. Lots of kids with Kinney’s athletic pedigree (he’s also an all state offensive tackle) are usually athletes first, wrestlers second, but Kinney has been finely trained in the sport – to the point that even though I know he wasn’t a lightweight as a kid, it looks like it. He also missed time with a football injury, so he missed Beast of the East. But only one of his 25 matches have gone the distance – a 13-0 major over New Jersey state title contender John Wargo (Phillipsburg).
Team: #10 Bethlehem Catholic
The Golden Hawks rolled to the 3A State Duals title and may be better suited to individual tournaments. Dillard, Desmond, and Rath are all solid to heavy favorites for a state championship, which right away makes them heavy favorites. But they also have potential finalists in Cael McIntyre (133), Andre Harmon (160), and Charlie Scanlan (145) and are projected to have eight state medalists (top 8). This is probably Jeff Karam's best Becahi team since 2016 (that also had three champs and medaled six on their way to a 126.5 point state tournament, good for sixth most ever in 3A). They will have a shot at Franklin Regional's record of 152.5, and certainly will be gunning for the D11 3A record (Northampton's 137.5 in 2000) and their own school record (138.5 in the 2012 2A tournament). Particularly after last year's disappointment - Nazareth knocked Bethlehem Catholic out in four different blood round matches on their way to 136 points and a team title - the Hawks are ready to dominate.
106: #1 Keanu Dillard, Bethlehem Catholic (Fr. 12-0)
Dillard missed the first three months of the season with a pair of injuries, first a broken orbital bone, then a sprained wrist that kept him out of all of Becahi’s major tournaments (Ironman, Beast of the East, Escape the Rock). But Dillard is 12-0 since returning and has barely been touched. The three-time Junior High State champ is also ranked #1 nationally. He’s silky smooth on his feet – the chain wrestling is high level, and like all Red Hawk kids, he’s brutal on top. It would be a very large surprise if he is not the state champion here.
113: #3 Nathan Desmond, Bethlehem Catholic (So. 30-1) – State Champ
Again, a big favorite here for the Golden Hawks. Desmond rolled to a state title last year at 106, and should similarly be a huge favorite here. His only losses in high school are to national #2 Beric Jordan (Stillwater, OK) at Ironman last season and this season (one in overtime, one by one point) and bumping up last season to 113 to wrestle Tahir Parkins (see the next weight class). Since winning the Beast of the East final, he’s only had two matches not end in pins – both wins over national #5 Luke Littleton-Mascaro of Malvern Prep. He’s maybe the best wrestler from top in the state, and is brutally physical.
121: Cael Nasdeo, Williamsport (Sr. 29-5; Penn State) – State 6th, State 2nd
This is the most wide open weight class in the tournament. Nasdeo is ranked #1, but has five losses on the season and while most of them are out of state, he was pinned by state #7 Carson Wagner (who owns multiple career wins over Nasdeo). Nasdeo put together a nice state tournament as a sophomore, where a win over Wagner put him in the state final. But with six other returning state medalists, plus Tahir Parkins, in the weight class, Nasdeo will need to put together the weekend of his life.
127: #5 Vinny Kilkeary, Greater Latrobe (Sr. 18-0; Ohio State) – 2x State Champ, State 3rd
Kilkeary is one of the most fun wrestlers in the state – a go-for-broke style full of upper body throws and big moves. He went on a stunning run to a state title as an undersized freshman in one of the best weight classes the state has ever seen (2020 at 106 had five different wrestlers who have won state titles so far, and 11 of the 20 are Division I wrestlers) and after dropping his semifinal as a sophomore, stormed back as a junior to win a second state title. He’s a heavy favorite this year, with 17 of his 18 matches this season ending by fall.
133: #12 Maddox Shaw, Thomas Jefferson (So. 34-2) – State 3rd
The first big domino of postseason weight adjustments was Shaw coming down from 139 to take over the top spot here. Shaw is a supremely talented underclassman who is nip-and-tuck with the elite up at 139 (which include two state champs and three nationally ranked wrestlers) and assuming he manages the cut, should be a solid favorite here. Very athletic and a star pupil from the Quest school of wrestling, which has produced some of western Pennsylvania’s best guys lately.
139: #7 Kollin Rath, Bethlehem Catholic (So. 27-1) – State 3rd
Rath was the talk of the PIAA Duals when he posted back-to-back wins over state champions, bumping up to 145 to beat Mac Church (see next entry) and then posting a suffocating ride to shut-out Dalton Perry. Rath also beat Pierson Manville back at Escape the Rock in January, giving him three wins over returning state champions this season. His only loss is in the Ironman final, 6-5 to national #1 Kannon Webster (Washington, IL). Rath may be the most talented kid in the Bethlehem Catholic room, and wrestlers with a punishing pace. He has to go through maybe the toughest field, but he’s already shown he can beat his challengers.
145: #3 Mac Church, Waynesburg (Sr. 25-2; Virginia Tech) – 2x State Champ, State 3rd
Church has been a star on the state radar since winning two Junior High state championships. He narrowly missed out on a state final as a freshman in the absurd 2020 class at 106, and has pretty much cruised to two state titles since. His only loss to a PIAA wrestlers since January of his sophomore season was the last second loss to Rath, who he will not see come postseason time. His misdirection stuff from his feet is awesome, and he’s one of the toughest kids to ride in the state. Again, he’s got some awesome competition here, but he’s a proven champion.
152: #4 Ty Watters, West Allegheny (Sr.28-0; West Virginia) – State Champ
Watters, another graduate of the 2020 class at 106, missed his sophomore season with a knee injury, then tore through the postseason last year on his way to becoming West Allegheny’s first state champion. He’s been a buzzsaw this year, 28-0, Powerade Champion, win over 2A champ Connor Harar, and is generally been the man at 152 statewide.
160: #13 Shawn Taylor, West Allegheny (Jr 28-1; West Virginia) – State 4th
Taylor has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Watters’ excellence, and you can see the jump he’s made as a training partner. His lone loss came to national #1 Joe Sealy (Wyoming Seminary/Penn State) and has wins over the other two nationally ranked guys in this bracket (returning champ Dylan Evans and Dom Frontino). Again, this is a super deep weight, but Taylor has the early wins over the other top guys going into the postseason.
172: #1 Rocco Welsh, Waynesburg (Sr. 32-0; Ohio State) – State Champ, 2x State Runner-Up
Welsh is MatScouts’ pound-for-pound #2 ranked wrestler in the country, and is the cleary #1 at 172. He’s looking to become Waynesburg’s first four-time state finalist, and after losing as a freshman and sophomore, tech falled his way through the first last year and should similarly roll here. The Ohio State recruit should start for the Buckeyes right away in 2023-24 and is maybe the best high school wrestler in the country this year, not just Pennsylvania. His 71 match win streak is the longest in the state.
189: Hadyn Packer, Jersey Shore (Sr. 30-1; Rutgers) – State 3rd
Packer is a load, one of the most physical guys in the class, and while I would have loved to see Sasso stay at 215 and get this incredible contrast in styles, it’s right that they’re both competing as favorites for state titles. Packer has not wrestled the schedule of some of his competitors (finding great matches up in District 4 is hard if you’re team isn’t strong enough to do a ton of traveling) but he also won’t face the depth in his weight class of some others.
215: #8 Sonny Sasso, Nazareth (Sr. 16-0; Virginia Tech) – State Champ, State 7th
Sasso made a massive jump between his sophomore and junior seasons, going from a nice wrestler who earned a state medal to one of the best upper weights in America. His win over Mac Stout last year was the marquee match of the state tournament. He’s had a weird senior season, breaking his hand playing quarterback for the Blue Eagles and just coming back from surgery in early February. He’s had his hand heavily guarded and basically is just wrestling with grip on one hand. That said, he’s incredibly fluid, super hard to score on, and is both a better athlete and better wrestler than anybody else in the class. He's on a 63 match win streak dating back to his sophomore season.
285: #6 Sean Kinney, Nazareth (Jr. 25-0) – State Champ, State Runner-Up
Kinney is on track to become the first ever four-time state finalist at heavyweight in Pennsylvania. He lost in overtime as a freshman to current Iowa State wrestler Nate Schon, then blew through the field last year before riding out current Penn wrestler Matt Cruise for a 1-0 win and his first state title. Kinney is a huge kid with great balance and very good instincts on top. Lots of kids with Kinney’s athletic pedigree (he’s also an all state offensive tackle) are usually athletes first, wrestlers second, but Kinney has been finely trained in the sport – to the point that even though I know he wasn’t a lightweight as a kid, it looks like it. He also missed time with a football injury, so he missed Beast of the East. But only one of his 25 matches have gone the distance – a 13-0 major over New Jersey state title contender John Wargo (Phillipsburg).
Team: #10 Bethlehem Catholic
The Golden Hawks rolled to the 3A State Duals title and may be better suited to individual tournaments. Dillard, Desmond, and Rath are all solid to heavy favorites for a state championship, which right away makes them heavy favorites. But they also have potential finalists in Cael McIntyre (133), Andre Harmon (160), and Charlie Scanlan (145) and are projected to have eight state medalists (top 8). This is probably Jeff Karam's best Becahi team since 2016 (that also had three champs and medaled six on their way to a 126.5 point state tournament, good for sixth most ever in 3A). They will have a shot at Franklin Regional's record of 152.5, and certainly will be gunning for the D11 3A record (Northampton's 137.5 in 2000) and their own school record (138.5 in the 2012 2A tournament). Particularly after last year's disappointment - Nazareth knocked Bethlehem Catholic out in four different blood round matches on their way to 136 points and a team title - the Hawks are ready to dominate.
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