Sam Sherlock, Nico Megaludis and Frank Martellotti have three high school wrestling achievements in common: one PIAA wrestling championship apiece, two WPIAL titles apiece and commitments to attend Penn State.

Sherlock is a senior at West Mifflin High School who won a PIAA Class AAA title at 125 pounds last season.

"Coach [Cael] Sanderson needs a 133-pounder and he wants me to start as a true freshman," said Sherlock, after announcing his college decision last summer. "It was a tough decision, but it's hard to say no to the greatest wrestler in NCAA history. His accomplishments as both a wrestler and coach are just crazy."

Megaludis is a junior at Franklin Regional who won a PIAA Class AAA title at 112 pounds last season.

"I made two visits to Penn State and quickly found it's the place I want to be," he said. "I could have waited until next year, but Penn State is the best choice for me and my family. I just couldn't turn down the opportunity to wrestle for Cael Sanderson."

Martellotti is a senior at Shady Side Academy who won a PIAA Class AA title at 103 pounds in 2007, then placed third the past two years.

"I visited State College just over a month ago and immediately felt it was the right place for me," he said. "I've always wanted to wrestle at Penn State. I will get that chance next year."

Sherlock and Megaludis have accepted scholarship offers. Martellotti turned down other scholarship offers to walk on at Penn State.

"I could have [gone] to other Division I schools and received a scholarship, but the challenge of wrestling for Penn State really intrigued me," Martellotti said. "Cael told me that if I worked hard and earned a spot in the starting lineup that he would hook me up with scholarship money."

Sherlock, Megaludis and Martellotti are three of five returning PIAA champions from the WPIAL.

The other two are Derry Area's James Gulibon and Connellsville's Nathan Gaffney. Gulibon won the PIAA Class AAA 103-pound title as a freshman; Gaffney won the PIAA Class AAA title at 215 as a junior.

Fifteen wrestlers enter the season with at least one WPIAL championship on their resume.

Shady Side Academy's Matthew Cunningham heads the list with three WPIAL Class AA titles. He has a chance to become the 19th wrestler in WPIAL history to win four titles.

"Winning four WPIAL titles would be a great accomplishment," he said. "[Former teammate] Dane Johnson became the first from our school to win four titles."

Megaludis, Sherlock and West Allegheny's Troy Reaghard have won two WPIAL Class AAA titles. Martellotti and Shady Side Academy teammate Geoff Alexander are two-time WPIAL Class AA winners.

Derry and Burrell each have two WPIAL champions: Gulibon and Travis Shaffer won Class AAA titles for Derry last season. Travis McKillop won a Class AA title for Burrell in 2008, while teammate Dave Makara won last season.

Other returning WPIAL champions in Class AAA are Gaffney, Butler's Cole Baxter and Hopewell's Matt Hundenski -- all winners last season. The other returning champions in Class AA are Fort Cherry's Sam Guidi, who won in 2008, and South Fayette's Nick Carr, who won last season.

Six wrestlers enter the season with 100 or more wins. Martellotti heads the list with a 123-19 record. He has no chance of breaking the WPIAL record, which was set last season by former Shady Side Academy teammate Dane Johnson (182-11).

The other five who have already joined the century club are Cunningham (114-8), Sherlock (109-12), South Side Beaver's Colin Checkan (106-32), Hundenski (102-17) and Reaghard (101-22).

The highest win total for a junior is Shady Side Academy's Alexander (97-14).

Connellsville and Burrell are the teams to beat in the WPIAL. That's no surprise, considering their history.

Connellsville is the only team in the 31-year history of the WPIAL Team Tournament to qualify every year. The Falcons have advanced to the Class AAA title match 13 times and claimed the championship trophy seven times. The only other team to win seven WPIAL titles is Washington, and those came in Class AA.

Burrell has made eight appearances in the WPIAL Class AA title match and claimed five titles. The Buccaneers have made seven consecutive title appearances and are three-time defending champions.

Connellsville lost only two starters from last season's squad, which lost to Bethel Park in the title match. The Falcons have nine returning starters who recorded 15 or more wins and six who had 20 or more wins.

Burrell lost three starters to graduation and had a coaching change, as former Burrell wrestler Ryan Yates takes the reigns while Chris Como moves to the role of assistant coach. The Buccaneers have seven returning starters who had 15 or more wins last season, including four PIAA place-winners.

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