Pitt's Wentzel, Bonaccorsi among 7 WPIAL wrestlers to reach NCAA semifinals

Mar. 20—Pitt's Jake Wentzel and Nino Bonaccorsi advanced to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship semifinals Friday with wins in the quarterfinals in St Louis.

Both earned All-American status and will wrestle in the semifinals at 8 p.m.

Also advancing were Franklin Regional grads Spencer Lee and Michael Kemerer from Iowa, Latrobe native Ethan Smith from Ohio State, Belle Vernon grad Zach Hartman from Bucknell and North Allegheny grad Jake Woodley from Oklahoma.

Wentzel defeated Missouri's Keegan O'Toole, 9-6, at 165 pounds. Also winning at 165 were Hartman, who received a medical forfeit against Virginia Tech's Mekhi Lewis, and Smith, who rallied to defeat No. 2 seed Anthony Valencia of Arizona State. No. 1 seed, Iowa's Alex Marinelli, was upset by Stanford's Shane Griffith.

Hartman will face Griffith and Smith meets Wentzel in the semifinals.

Lee used a big third period to knock off Devin Schroder, a scrappy wrestler from Purdue, 10-2. Lee scored seven points in the third period at 125.

Derry grad Micky Phillippi from Pitt dropped a 13-5 decision to Iowa's Austin DeSanto at 133.

Bonaccorsi defeated Arizona State's Kordell Norfleet, 4-1, and Woodley defeated Penn State's Michael Beard, 8-3, at 197. They will face each other in the semifinals.

"I felt good at the higher weight," Bonaccorsi said after the match about moving up a weight class. "I'm always trying to score points and I got my shots."

Kemerer continues to rack up big points in his matches as he defeated North Carolina State's Daniel Bullard, 13-4. Kemerer has outscored three opponents in the tournament, 53-12. He'll face Cal Poly's Bernie Traux in the 174-pound semifinals.

Reaching the semifinals for Penn State were Aaron Brooks (184), Carter Starocci (174), Nick Lee (141) and Roman Bravo-Young (133). The Nittany Lions are second with 57.5 points.

Iowa leads the team standings with 74.5 points and five semifinalists: Lee, DeSanto, Jaydin Eierman (141), Kemerer and heavyweight Tony Cassioppi.

Also falling in the quarterfinals were Iowa's Max Murin (Central Cambria) at 149 and Penn State's Brady Berge at 157.

Friday's quarterfinals

125: Spencer Lee (Iowa/Franklin Regional) major dec. Devin Schroder (Purdue), 10-2.

133: Austin DeSanto (Iowa) major dec. Micky Phillippi (Pitt/Derry Area), 13-5; Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) dec. Matthew Schmidt (Missouri/Morgantown, WV), 1-0; Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) dec. Louis Hayes (Virginia), 4-1.

141: Nick Lee (Penn State) major dec. Zachary Sherman (North Carolina), 11-3.

149: Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State) dec. Max Murin (Iowa/Center Cambria), 6-4.

157: Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider) default over Brady Berge (Penn State).

165: Ethan Smith (Ohio State/Latrobe) major dec. Anthony Valencia (Arizona State), 13-4; Zach Hartman (Bucknell/Belle Vernon) won by medical default over Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech); Jake Wentzel (Pitt/South Park) dec. Keegan O'Toole (Missouri), 9-6.

174: Michael Kemerer (Iowa/Franklin Regional) major dec. Daniel Bullard (North Carolina State), 13-4; Carter Starocci (Penn State) dec. Andrew McNally (Kent State), 6-3.

184: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) dec. Taylor Venz (Nebraska), 9-4.

197: Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt/Bethel Park) dec. Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State), 4-1; Jake Woodley (Oklahoma/North Allegheny dec. Michael Beard (Penn State), 9-4.

285: Gable Steveson (Minnesota) dec. Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State), 9-4.

Consolation round of 16 (No. 2)

125: Robert Howard (Penn State) dec. Fabian Gutierrez (Chattanooga), 9-7; Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) dec. Noah Surtin (Missouri), 9-4.

133: Chance Rich (Cal State Bakersfield) dec. Ryan Sullivan (West Virginia/Shaler), 4-3.

141: Parker Filius (Purdue) dec. Cole Matthews (Pitt/Reynolds), 6-3.

157: Kaleb Young (Iowa/Punzsutawney) dec. Benjamin Barton (Campbell), 8-2.

165: Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue/Canon-McMillan) dec. Tanner Skidgel (Navy), 7-4.

174: Austin Murphy (Campbell) pinned Jacob Oliver (Edinboro), 6:40.

197: Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) dec. Greg Bulsak (Clarion/South Park), 6-3; Thomas Penola (Purdue) dec. Max Shaw (North Carolina/Thomas Jefferson), 6-1.

Round of 8 (No. 1)

125: Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) dec. Rayvon Foley (Michigan State), 5-1; Patrick McKee (Minnesota) pinned Robert Howard (Penn State), 2:04.

157: Kaleb Young (Iowa/Punxsutawney) dec. Hunter Willits (Oregon State), 5-1.

165: Peyton Hall (West Virginia) dec. Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue/Canon-McMillan), 3-1 (SV).

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul by email at pschofield@triblive.com or via Twitter .