Easy work
Falcons’ Vielma wins 2nd WPIAL title in unique fashion; Leopards’ Brown 3-peats
CANONSBURG — Kai Vielma won his first WPIAL championship last year by fall, but he still had to do some work.
The second district title for the Connellsville junior was about as easy as it gets.
Vielma and Norwin’s Nathan Klingensmith hardly touched a body part besides shaking hands to start the match when Klingensmith called it a day 10 seconds in, and Vielma was awarded the victory via injury default for the district championship in the 145-pound weight class on Saturday in the WPIAL Class 3A Individual Wrestling Championships at Canon-McMillan High School.
Vielma, who improved to 43-3 this season and 132-15 for his career, defeated Klingensmith for the section title the previous Saturday by technical fall, and he also downed the fellow junior, 19-3, in the quarterfinals of the state dual meet tournament on Feb. 6, but heard there was a reason for Klingensmith not engaging.
“I guess he (Klingensmith) hurt his knee last week when we were wrestling in the section finals, and since he wants to continue on wrestling, he wanted to medically forfeit,” Vielma said. “You never want to win this way, but it is what it is. This would have been our third time wrestling in a few weeks, but you can’t worry about wrestling someone too many times. That is just part of the sport.”
Vielma had to work a tad more to reach the finals, but he dominated in the round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals in winning by two falls in times of 3:15 and 4:18 and recording a 23-3 technical fall in 5:51 to advance to his third district final. He was second in the WPIAL as a freshman in 2024.
Vielma and teammates Tommy Gretz (3rd/121), Nolan Rice (3rd/127), Landon Lynn (5th/133), Daniel Smith (6th/139), Luke Lilley (4th/152) and Jake Lilley (5th/160) will return to the home of the Big Macs this Friday and Saturday for the PIAA Class 3A West Regional. Action is scheduled to begin on Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m. with the top five wrestlers in each weight class qualifying for the state tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey on March 5, 6 and 7.
“Tommy (Gretz) and Nolan (Rice) flipped their matches from last week, which was good, but we are looking to flip two more matches with Luke (Lilley) and Jake (Lilley), but hopefully, we will get them next week,” Vielma said. “I thought we wrestled well this weekend. I feel really bad for Zach Franks, who had his season come to an end. He was great for this team, but he was battling with injuries this year.”
Vielma is looking forward to the challenge of the west regional, and he anticipates a matchup with Central Mountain’s Aiden Kunes, whom he defeated, 5-2, on Dec. 6 in the finals of the Tom Best Memorial Top Hat Tournament at Williamsport High School.
Kunes, a junior, who has a record of 35-1 this season and 108-28 overall, has committed to continuing his academic and wrestling careers at the Air Force Academy.
With Kunes being highly regarded as well, and Vielma handing him his only loss this year, the Stanford commit expects a battle if the two meet.
“He (Kunes) is tough and ranked No. 2 in the state, so I would think we would be set-up to meet in the finals, but you never know what could happen,” Vielma said. “We have a lot of tough guys from the WPIAL, too. We wrestled in those tough tournaments like Powerade and Escape the Rock earlier in the season, and I was competing against some of the best guys in the country, which sets me up nicely for the postseason tournaments.”
Belle Vernon’s Elijah Brown won his third WPIAL championship (second in Class 3A) with a 4-0 decision over Kiski Area’s Cooper Roscosky in the finals at 215. The senior and Penn State commit is 39-1 this season and 166-20 for his career. Brown has a 7-0 record against Roscosky, but pointed out the Cavalier senior’s ability to stay close in matches, and that his opponent is no slouch with a career mark of 148-28. Roscosky will continue his academic and wrestling careers at the University of Buffalo.
“I just wanted to stay in good position, wrestle my match and take it to him in the hand-fighting,” Brown said. “I think that sends more of a message than going out there and maybe giving up a takedown or a couple points just to get a couple of points. Cooper is really good at keeping it close. As long as I can stick to my stuff and be confident in what I do, I think things will go pretty well.”
Brown pinned his first two opponents before earning a technical fall in the semifinals to set-up the finale with Roscosky.
Waynesburg Central’s Roan Tustin was fifth at 215. He had a 3-2 lead on Roscosky in the third period during the semifinals, but Roscosky was able to score a late takedown for the win.
Brown and Tustin will join the Connellsville contingent at the west regional tournament.