The West Allegheny High School wrestling team doubled its pleasure at the WPIAL Class AAA tournament this past Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School, as Troy Reaghard and Aaron McKinney won gold medals.

Reaghard (36-2), a 160-pound senior, claimed his third WPIAL title with a 5-2 decision against Bethel Park's Nick Bonaccorsi in the title match.

"This was the toughest of the three," Reaghard said. "I was real nervous before the finals. Everyone was counting on me to win another title. I was certainly feeling the pressure [of being a two-time returning champion]."

Reaghard recorded two takedowns in the title match, but both came on counters to shots by Bonaccorsi.

"He's tough with the shots," Reaghard said. "It was hard to see them coming. He's real fast. Once he got my leg, I used a funk to get out of it both times."

Reaghard won his first title at 152 pounds in 2008, moved to 171 last year, and dropped to 160 this season.

"It's a little tough cutting to 160, but it suits me better," he said. "I feel better going to states at 160 than 171."

McKinney (36-4), a 145-pound junior, became the 11th wrestler in West Allegheny history to win a WPIAL title with a 3-1 win against Kiski Area's Justin Harold in the finals.

"Having a three-time WPIAL champion as my practice partner has really helped," said McKinney, sharing the credit with Reaghard. "It's great to have somebody push me as much as Troy does in practice."

McKinney placed fourth in the WPIAL at 125 as a freshman, then finished fifth at 145 last year.

"There was a little bit of pressure being the top seed," McKinney said. "Once I got to the championship match, I was able to relax and wrestle the way I have all season. It's a great feeling to be a WPIAL champion."

Reaghard was thrilled to see his teammate win a WPIAL title.

"It got me excited to see Aaron win his title," he said. "I just wish Matt would have won, too, but things didn't work out for him."

Reaghard was referring to Hopewell's Matt Hundenski, who came up short in his bid to become a two-time WPIAL champion. Hundenski made his second consecutive appearance in the 152-pound final, but lost, 4-1, to Kiski Area's Zack Shannon.

"I was really disappointed to see Matt lose," Reaghard said. "I'm real good friends with Matt. We work out together a lot on weekends."

The next mountain for Mc-Kinney and Reaghard to climb is the PIAA tournament. It starts this morning at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.

"This will be my first time to wrestle at Hershey," McKinney said. "I attended last year's tournament as a workout partner for our two qualifiers and watched the tournament from the stands. It will be nice to be wrestling instead of being a spectator."

Central Mountain's Andrew Alton, a PIAA champion at 140 last year, is the favorite in the 145-pound class.

"My goal is to get on the podium at states, as far up as I can get," McKinney said. "To stand on the top of the podium is my ultimate goal."

Reaghard is facing an even stiffer challenge at 160 where Central Dauphin's Marshall Peppleman is a two-time PIAA champion.

"I want gold and I'm the only one who thinks I can get it," Reaghard said. "It will no doubt be a tough road with Peppleman and [Bradford's Mark] Havers, but all the pressure will be on [Peppleman]. I will be ready to wrestle him."

Reaghard is the second wrestler in West Allegheny history to win three WPIAL titles. The first was Eric Yanek, who won titles in 1990, '91 and '92.

Chartiers Valley's Tyler Wilps was named Outstanding Wrestler of the WPIAL Class AAA tournament after winning the most anticipated match of the finals, the 171-pound weight class.

It was the feature match because Wilps and Butler's Cole Baxter were both 36-0. Baxter was the 145-pound WPIAL champion last year, and Wilps was the runner-up at 171.

"It's a great feeling to finally win a WPIAL title," Wilps said.

Wilps broke a 1-1 tie with a takedown 19 seconds into the third period.

"I knew I was pushing the pace and I saw he was getting tired," Wilps said.

"When I let him up early in the third period, I immediately caught him in a front head trap, then switched off to a double-leg takedown. It worked out perfectly."

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