Kibe finishes with second place nod at PIAA championships

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: March 14, 2021

By BRIAN CARSON

HERSHEY – One missed headlock prevented Mifflin County’s Trey Kibe from winning a second PIAA title in a 3-2 loss to Waynesburg’s Luca Augustine in the 172-pound finals at the PIAA Class 3A championships on Saturday.

Kibe defeated Augustine by a 5-3 score at the West Super Regional the previous week.

In the finals, both wrestlers came out cautiously with manycollar ties and very few shots from either wrestler.

Augustine (21-1) opened the scoring with an escape early in the second period for the 1-0 advantage. Kibe (22-1) chose defense to begin period three and escaped to knot the score at 1-1.

The Husky senior saw an opening for the headlock and went for it, but the Pitt commit rolled through and scored the winning takedown with 10 seconds left in regulation. Kibe, who will continue his wrestling at Virginia Tech, escaped ending the match.

Kibe finished his high school career with a 139-14 career record and 76 pins. He was a four-time PIAA qualifier and three-time placer, finishing first as a sophomore, fourth as a junior, and second this season.

He ends up fourth all-time in victories and second in pins (76)for the Huskies. Kibe is the third Husky wrestler to place three times at Hershey.

Kibe reached the finals with a 7-0 win over Matt Romanelli of Downingtown East in the quarters and a 4-2 decision of Kiski Area’s Kenny Starr in the semifinals.

Mifflin County finished tied for 19th place in the team race with 16 points. Waynesburg won the team title with 100 points and five wrestlers in the finals. Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (152) won the Outstanding Wrestler Award after capturing his third PIAA championship.