Senior Paul Dunn, and sophomore Nino Bonaccorsi, both had tremendous state tournaments. Dunn placed third in the 160-pound weight class, while Bonaccorsi placed sixth in the 152-pound weight class.

In WPIALs, Dunn grappled his way through his respected weight class all the way to the championship match, where he faced Franklin Regional’s Josh Shields. Shields was the top-ranked wrestler in the state and country.

Dunn lost a hard fought match 17-7, but still qualified for states.

Bonaccorsi was making a solid run in his weight class as well. He lost in the semifinals to eventual WPIAL champion Vincenzo Joseph.

Bonaccorsi later wrestled in the third place match against Latrobe’s Ethan Smith. He dropped a tough 5-4 loss. This was the second year in a row he finished fourth in the WPIAL for his weight class. It used to be that you needed to finish in the top three of your weight class, but this year they changed the format so that the top four wrestlers would advance to states.

Dunn qualified for states last year and took third as well.

He was hoping to advance to the championship match this time around.

After a first round bye, Paul wrestled Jonah Barley from Penn Manor. Paul won the match 6-4, which advanced him to the quarterfinals, where he would face Noah Stewart.

Dunn dropped a tough match to Stewart 3-2, but they would meet again later in the tournament. Paul knew it was going to be a challenge going in.

“Stewart is a tough wrestler and I knew that going in. He made me pay for my mistake.”

Dunn won two huge matches in the consolation bracket to get himself in the third place match. This would be a rematch with Stewart.

This would prove to be another close match, but this time Dunn would be victorious.

This was the second year in a row that Dunn finished third in the state. He is the only wrestler in Bethel Park history to place that high twice!

He always wants to be the best wrestler he can be.

After the fact, Dunn said: “I’m disappointed with my finish. I made a mistake in my quarter final match and it cost me my goal.”

Being the hardworking wrestler Dunn is, he always wants more out of himself.

“Two third place finishes are nice, but any wrestler would trade them in a heartbeat for one gold medal.”

Nino Bonaccorsi as well had success at states. Bonaccorsi defeated St. Joseph’s Robert Endy in his first-round matchup.

He then had to face eventual fourth-place finisher, Kaleb Young from Punxsutawney.

Bonaccorsi ended up losing the match 6-1 to send him to the consolation bracket.

After, he said: “I knew he was tough so I expected a good, hard match but I expected everybody up at states to be tough. To me it felt like there were no ‘easy’ matches, every bout was a battle.”

Bonaccorsi would then come up with three big wins in a row to send him to the consolation semifinals.

This time, Bonaccorsi earned himself a rematch with Young. He would lose again 6-4, but it was a much better match for him this time around.

“My second match I executed my moves better than the first time. I was a little more calm due to the fact that I had already placed when I was going to wrestle him, so I just figured that I had nothing to lose and wrestle my last medal bouts as hard as I could.”

Bonaccorsi then lost in the fifth place match to Scranton’s Kazim Bakhrivey. Despite the loss, Nino still finished sixth in the state as only a sophomore.

Bonaccorsi added, “I am very satisfied with my performance and placing at states. It was difficult wrestling eight matches in the tournament, but it was worth it in the end when I got my medal.”

This season, Dunn and Bonaccorsi each eclipsed the 40-win mark– Paul with 42 and Nino with 40.

Dunn ended his high school career with 133 wins, which places him third on the all-time list.

He is going to take a short break before he starts back up training again.

“I actually sprained my knee during one of my matches so after Dapper Dan I am going to take some time to heal that up before I start training hard again.”

Dunn is referring to the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic of which he has been selected to wrestle in as a member of the WPIAL All-Star Team.  The match will take place at 4 PM on Sunday, March 15 at the Fitzgerald Field House on Pitt’s campus.

As a freshman, Dunn had big goals for his high school career.

“I expected to be high up on the wins list. One of my goals was to finish second all time with wins. So I came up a little short there too,” he said.

As a wrestler, Dunn has already accomplished so much in his career. He will be continuing it next year at Lehigh University.

Bonnacorsi sill wants to continue to improve as a wrestler.

He said, “My goal for next year is to get stronger through lifting, work on my moves and get better, and lastly to just keep working harder and harder every day.

“I wrestle a lot during the offseason. My next tournament is FloNationals which is held in April, along with multiple dual matches, and some freestyle and Greco-Roman after that.”

Good luck to both wrestlers in the future!