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Dec 26, 2025 By Jonathan Guth 4 min read

As they observed their families partake in all the food options that Christmas offers, the majority of high school wrestlers had to pass on their favorite sweets.

The holidays allow for quality time with families and a large consumption of calorie-increasing goodies, but those who are competing in the upcoming tournaments had to pass on filling their bellies.

The Powerade tournament now includes high school girls action, which kicked off Saturday, and will conclude on Sunday.

Girls wrestling has been on the rise the past five years, and after it became sanctioned by the PIAA during the 2023-24 season, the growth continued.

Albert Gallatin, Connellsville and Southmoreland represent the local schools competing at Canon-McMillan High School.

The Lady Scotties’ Zoey Murphy was awarded the highest seed in the area, as she is No. 2 at 235 pounds. Murphy is the defending WPIAL champion and the PIAA runner-up. She placed third at Powerade last year.

The Lady Colonials’ Jenna Chapman received the third seed at 235. Chapman defeated Murphy earlier in the season and entered the tournament at 4-0. The sophomore was fifth at Powerade last season.

The Lady Falcons are well represented with 12 entries. Five Connellsville wrestlers are seeded with Ravyn Cameron-Botti leading the way as the fifth seed at 190. Julieth Flores (100) and Olivia Shultz (155) check-in at No. 6. Trinity Moore is seventh at 112, and Jayden Wiltrout was tabbed the No. 8 seed at 148.

Connellsville coach Bill Swink will be awfully busy from Saturday until Tuesday evening, as he coaches the boys and girls teams.

“I will be at Powerade all four days, but we also have great assistant coaches that will help me out,” Swink said. “The girls tournament has gotten bigger, and they moved it from one day to two days this year. We have solid representation, and we work with the girls team like we do the boys to schedule top-level competition.”

The boys tournament is recognized nationally, as 78 teams (21 partial teams) have entered the competition from all across the country. There are 19 WPIAL squads in the field, including Connellsville, Waynesburg Central and West Greene.

The Pioneers’ Colin Whyte was seventh last year in the Powerade tournament at 285. Whyte, who was fourth in the state in Class 2A at 285, has committed to Kent State University.

The Falcons had two medalists last season in Evan Petrovich and Lonzy Vielma, who both graduated and are wrestling in college with Petrovich at Pitt and Vielma at West Virginia University.

Connellsville junior Kai Vielma, a Stanford commit, lost in the blood round last year. Vielma is 8-0 this season and has a career mark of 97-12.

“This tournament is a big spot for Kai,” said Swink. “He had lost in the blood round, but he came back and finished third at states last year. You will see a lot of guys that don’t place at Powerade but come back to place at states.

“The level of competition at Powerade is so strong you will see teams that are in the top 20 in the country and some phenomenal individuals. It keeps growing and our plan is to always compete in the Powerade tournament. Connellsville has been going to the Powerade since the 1970s. We would see a team here and there from other states, but not like it is today.”

The boys varsity action at the 59th Annual Powerade begins at 8 a.m. on Monday. It continues through Tuesday with the championship and consolation finals scheduled for 3 p.m.

While the Powerade is the marquee event, the Southmoreland Holiday Classic will be well represented by local teams, as Albert Gallatin, Beth-Center, Frazier, Laurel Highlands and the Scotties begin action at Southmoreland High School in Alverton on Monday. The tournament wraps up on Tuesday.

Belle Vernon and Jefferson-Morgan took part in the MyHouse Trojan Wars at Chambersburg High School on Saturday and Sunday.

Brownsville will compete in the Penn Hills Classic on Monday.