Phil Sorrentino became South Allegheny's first WPIAL and PIAA wrestling champion last year; Wesley Weston and Buddy Blotzer have set their sights on matching Sorrentino's feat.

Weston and Blotzer, a pair of juniors, took the first step toward reaching that goal by winning Section 2-AA titles on Saturday at Mount Pleasant High School.

Weston claimed his second section title with a 6-3 decision against Beth-Center's Chris Stay in the 152-pound final.

Blotzer won the 130-pound title with a 7-4 win against Mount Pleasant's Colin Sheridan.

"Wesley came to Hershey and watched Phil win his state title last year," South Allegheny coach Keith Gephart said.

"He turned to me and said 'I can do that.' From that point, his goal is to one-up Phil. It's been a real motivational tool for Wesley."

Blotzer spent his sophomore year at Kiski School and is now attending Serra Catholic High School. South Allegheny has a co-operative agreement with Serra for wrestling.

"Buddy wrestled for South Allegheny in junior high, then transferred to Kiski School," Gephart said. "We're thrilled to have him back.

"Both Buddy and Wesley have the talent required to follow in Phil's footsteps, but both have a tough road ahead of them."

Blotzer and Weston will join Gladiators teammate Jeremy Murn, a fourth-place finisher at 171, at the WPIAL Class AA tournament, which begins tomorrow night at Charleroi Area High School.

Weston is seeded No. 3 at 152. Shady Side Academy's Matthew Cunningham, last year's WPIAL 145-pound champion, is the top seed. Blotzer is seeded No. 2 at 130. The top seed is Avella's Mitch Spencer, a WPIAL runner-up at 119 last year.

They're still unbeaten

West Mifflin's James Fleming, Keystone Oaks' Anthony Zanetta and South Park's David Ivashchenko are three of the eight remaining unbeaten wrestlers in the WPIAL.

Fleming, last year's WPIAL Class AAA champion at 140 pounds, improved his record to 25-0 by winning his third Section 4-AAA title. Fleming claimed the 145-pound section title with three consecutive pins, with Bethel Park's Mike Ganley as his victim in the title match.

"James is so dominant on top. He turns everybody," West Mifflin coach Tony Salopek said.

"He's definitely peaking at the right time."

Zanetta, last year's Class AA Southwest Region champion and WPIAL runner-up at 112 pounds, claimed his third consecutive Section 2-AA title and improved his record to 31-0. Zanetta returns at 112 as the WPIAL's top seed after pinning Beth-Center's Erik Bolin in the section title match.

Ivashchenko, a two-time Class AA Southwest Region qualifier, has a 27-0 record after claiming a his second title at the Section 1-AA tournament. Ivashchenko made his third title appearance and won for the second time with a 4-2 win against West Greene's Garett Johnston in the 135-pound final.

Fleming is the top seed at 145 and his Titans teammate, Sam Sherlock, is No. 1 at 125 pounds

Sherlock made his second appearance in the Section 4-AAA finals and claimed his first title with a 3-2 win against Bethel Park's Anthony Bonaccorsi in the title match.

"Sam's only loss [this season] was to a returning PIAA champion," said Salopek, referring to Shady Side Academy's Dane Johnson.

"Sam placed third in the WPIAL last year at 125. Waltko was a runner-up at 119. They met twice last season and split."

Bethel Park was the most successful team in Section 4-AAA.

"We entered 11 kids and 10 qualified for the WPIAL tournament [by placing among the top four in their weight classes]," said Bethel Park coach Bob Stewart.

"Seven made it to the finals and two won titles. It's a performance we're very proud of."

Adam Lazenga and Nick Bonaccorsi won section titles for the Black Hawks.

Lazenga posted the biggest win of the finals with his 7-4 upset of Central Catholic's Danny Vaughan in the 215-pound final. Vaughan was a WPIAL runner-up and PIAA fourth-place finisher last year at the same weight.

"That win was a huge confidence-builder for Adam," Stewart said. "His only loss was to [Chartiers Valley's] Dan Utchel."

Utchel, the defending WPIAL champion, is seeded No. 1, while Lazenga is No. 2. Utchel captured his second Section 5-AAA title with a 3-2 win over Canon-McMillan's Mike Hull.

Chartiers Valley and Mt. Lebanon each had seven qualifiers at the section tournament.

Utchel was joined on the winners platform by teammate Matt Wilps, who won the 189-pound title with a second-period pin of Hopewell's Jake Bauder.

Mt. Lebanon's only champion was Andrew Buda, who claimed the 140-pound crown with a 4-3 win over Moon Area's Ryan Taylor.