West Allegheny's Watters aiming to add to prestigious career with elusive WPIAL gold

NORTH FAYETTE TWP. – As Ty Watters prepares for the final matches of his high school wrestling career, he does so with a resume loaded with momentous milestones.

In March of 2022, he became the first West Allegheny wrestler to win a state title.

This past November, he signed a national letter-of-intent that binds his scholarship to West Virginia University.

On Dec. 30, 2022, he won his weight class in the prestigious Powerade Tournament, considered one of the top three in-season high school tournaments in the United States.

He has a 90-8 career record with 53 of those wins by pin.

And, as of right now, he’s ranked No. 4 in the country in the 152-pound weight class according to FloWrestling’s national high school rankings.

All that being said, there’s one thing Watters has yet to accomplish during his time at West Allegheny. He’s yet to win a WPIAL title.

That could change this weekend.

The WPIAL Individual Championships/PIAA Southwest Class 3A Regional Tournament will be held Friday and Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School, and Watters is the overwhelming favorite to win at 152.

“I’m super excited to wrestle,” Watters said. “I can’t wait to have fun and let it fly.”

What would it mean to Watters if he does win his first WPIAL gold medal?

“That would be awesome because I’ve been in the finals before but I didn’t get the win,” he said. “So, adding that would be cool.”

Last year at the WPIAL Championships/PIAA Southwest Regional, Watters entered the competition in the 145-pound weight class as the No. 1 seed. But in the finals, he lost a hotly contested decision to Franklin Regional senior Finn Solomon, 5-4 in double overtime.

But a week later at the PIAA Championships in Hershey, Watters avenged that loss to Solomon, who was a state champ as a junior. This time, Watters beat Solomon in the state final, 7-4.

“We’re good friends,” Watters said of Solomon, who’s now wrestling at North Carolina State. “We’ve always had good, entertaining matches.”

Last year, Watters was 2-2 vs. Solomon, losing in a season-opening tournament, winning at Powerade, losing at the WPIAL Championhips/PIAA Southwest Regional and winning In Hershey.

“We knew we’d see each other at states,” Watters said. “Right out of the gate (in the state final), I had a 5-point move and the rest of the match I just kind of controlled it.”

Watters sure controlled things this past Saturday at the Southern Sectionals held at South Fayette High School. He pinned all three of his opponents.

This weekend, the competition will obviously be tougher.

Watters, who’s 31-0 and one of the few WPIAL wrestlers with unbeaten records, is obviously the No. 1 seed. Among those who’ll try to upset him are No. 2 seed Lucas Kapusta (31-2), a senior from Hempfield, and No. 3 seed Bode Marlow (32-6), a Thomas Jefferson sophomore.

“Ty might have a target on his back but I don’t think he thinks about things like that,” West Allegheny coach Troy Reaghard said when asked if there’s any pressure on Watters in regards to his perfect record.

“He just wants to go out and dominate every position and score bonus points. I think he’s more ready than ever. He just needs to stay aggressive and to stay on his offense. I’m always confident in him. I know he’s going to go out there and wrestle hard and give it his all. I’m never too worried about Ty.”

Watters, who's never been pinned, is one of 11 West Allegheny wrestlers who advanced from sectionals to the 3A WPIAL Championships/PIAA Southwest Regionals.

“(Those 11) have been training hard,” said Reaghard, a three-time WPIAL champ when he wrestled at West Allegheny and a former University of Pittsburgh wrestler.

“They’ve been putting in the work. They’re doing the right things. We’re doing great things. They just push each other. They’ve competed well. That’s all I can ask for.

Beside the 11 wrestlers West Allegheny will send to Canon-McMillan this weekend, Moon will be sending two contestants.

Here’s the list from West Allegheny and Moon with their place in sectionals and their records:

107 -- 5. Cade Stern, WA, junior, 17-11.

114 – 1. Caiden Harbert, WA, junior, 25-7; 4. Cael Yanek, Moon, freshman, 18-6.

121 -- 1. Cooper Smith, WA, freshman, 25-8.

127 – 6. A.J. Snatchko, WA, freshman, 13-11.

133 – 2. Nick Jones, WA, junior, 21-8.

145 – 2. Nico Taddy, WA, senior, 30-5.

152 – Watters.

160 – 2. Shawn Taylor, WA, junior, 30-2.

172 – 5. Ben Moore, WA, junior, 8-9

189 – 6. Chase Schepis, WA, junior, 9-8.

215 – 6. Connor Lindsey, Moon, senior, 11-19

285 – 4. Dom Vennare, WA, senior, 8-16; 6. Matt Tobin, Moon, sophomore, 8-19.

The top four finishers in each weight class advance to the PIAA Championships in Hershey on March 9-11.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: West Allegheny's Watters aiming to add to prestigious career with elusive WPIAL gold