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Five things to watch for the week of Jan. 28 - Feb. 2 * The WPIAL Team Wrestling Tournaments will be held this week. The top five teams in each section qualified, so the Class 3A bracket will feature 20 teams, while the Class 2A bracket has 15 teams. Four preliminary round matches will be held Monday. First round and quarterfinal matches will be held Wednesday at eight sites, with the top four seeds in each class serving as hosts. The semifinals, finals, and consolation finals will be held Saturday (Feb. 2) at Norwin (Class 3A) and Chartiers-Houston (Class 2A). Kiski Area is a two-time defending champion in Class 3A. Burrell has won 12 consecutive Class 2A titles. * A heavyweight matchup between WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball powers will take place Monday when Peters Township (16-0) hosts Bethel Park (15-1) in a big Section 2 game. Peters Township (10-0 in section play) is ranked No. 2 and Bethel Park (9-1 in the section) No. 3. Peters Township is one of three remaining undefeated teams in the WPIAL, the others being North Allegheny and Chartiers Valley. Bethel Park will be looking for revenge. Its only loss of the season came against Peters Township, 68-60, in overtime Jan. 3. * Another big girls game comes Tuesday when Class 6A No. 1 North Allegheny (17-0, 10-0) travels to No. 4 Norwin (16-1, 9-1) in a key Section 1 matchup. North Allegheny, the two-time defending WPIAL champion, defeated Norwin, 55-44, Jan. 4. Norwin needs a win to keep its section title hopes alive. It’s one of two big games for North Allegheny this week. The other comes Saturday when it plays host to District 1 power Spring-Ford (17-2). Also Saturday, Class 2A No. 1 Bishop Canevin (15-2) will host Class 1A No. 1 West Greene (16-1). * There is only one unbeaten team remaining in WPIAL boys basketball, but it will face two big tests this weekend. Moon (17-0), ranked No. 2 in Class 5A, hosts Chartiers Valley (13-3) Friday in an important Section 2 clash before hosting Class 3A No. 2 Lincoln Park (14-2) Saturday in a non-section contest. Moon will likely be in position to clinch the section title outright against Chartiers Valley. Moon is 10-0 in the section and Chartiers Valley is in second place at 8-2. Lincoln Park owns wins against Class 5A No. 4 Woodland Hills and Class 3A No. 1 Aliquippa. * The Pine-Richland and Butler boys basketball teams have squared off in a slew of big games in recent seasons. Another will come Tuesday when Butler (13-3, 6-1) hosts Pine-Richland (15-2, 7-0) in a Class 6A Section 1 matchup. Pine-Richland is ranked No. 4 in Class 6A and Butler is No. 5. Pine-Richland handed Butler its only section loss, 79-74, Jan. 8. Butler lost despite getting a career-high 51 points from star junior guard Ethan Morton. Pine-Richland comes in one of the hottest teams in the WPIAL. The Rams have won 14 games in a row. |