PENN HILLS - The progress McKeesport wrestling coach Adam Alfer is chasing isn't anything complicated. With a lineup full of inexperienced wrestlers, Alfer wants to see the Tigers learn from their mistakes.

McKeesport picked up its first dual meet win of the season when it beat Penn Hills, 48-24, Monday night on the road. The Tigers (1-10) received seven forfeits. Tigers freshman Jamal Hafiz picked up McKeesport's lone win on the mat when he pinned Jayden Fuqua at 121 pounds.

"We're just trying to build some confidence in all the moves that they're working on in practice and the repetition their taking," Alfer said. "We want the kids to understand the way the moves work when you hit them out here, not just in the wrestling room, we want the kids to advance into some of the moves they've been working on. Hopefully, it carries into the postseason. We're a young team and hopefully the program continues to grow the sport."

Hafiz improved to 6-8 on the season with five of his wins coming via fall. With the win over Fuqua, Hafiz snapped a two-match slide and won after not wrestling for 10 days.

"He's had an up-an-down season," Alfer said. "He understood coming in that he's been building confidence over the past couple matches and has been working hard in the mat room. He finally put it together against a good kid from Penn Hills."

Penn Hills (0-4) has struggled to keep its numbers up with injuries and eligibility issues. The Indians won four of the five contested matches against McKeesport.

Penn Hills senior Daemon Phipps, who improved to 21-5 with a pinfall win over Isaiah Johnson at 121 pounds, improved to 85-36 in his career on the Indians' Senior Night. Indians coach Jeremy Packer said his team has done the most with what they have available.

The most competitive bout of the night was the 133-pound match between Xavier Nicholas and Evan Morgan. Morgan picked up the first takedown before Nicholas rallied to score a pin. Tony Gay-Scott (172 pounds) and Zakariyaa Lahujjiddin (285) also won for the Indians, winning by pin and injury default, respectively.

"It would be nice if we had a deeper lineup and then we could be a senior-led team and then they could be leading us to wins," Packer said. "It is what it is this year. We're just kind of learning and growing in every match and trying to get better."

McKeesport 48, Penn Hills 24
107: No match
114: Brady Helfrich (M) win by forfeit
121: Jamal Hafiz (M) pin Jayden Fuqua
127: Daemon Phipps (P) p. Isaiah Johnson
133: Xavier Nicholas (P) p. Evan Morgan
139: Jayden Cotton (M) wbf
145: Tyler Faulk (M) wbf
152: Tory Anderson-Pearson (M) wbf
172: Tony Gay-Scott (P) p. Evan Leone
189: Naragana Roka (M) wbf
215: Mahiya Brown (M) wbf
285: Zakariyaa Lahujjiddin (P) injury default Alex Winowitch

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

NORTH VERSAILLES TWP -- Sticking on a college campus wasn’t going to work for Xavier Rodela. The Texas native moved to live with his family in Mount Washington in June of 2024 with the idea he would go to West Liberty (W.Va.) University to wrestle, pursue a degree and add some traditional structure to burgeoning ambitions of being a barber.

Rodela, 20, went 8-9 during his freshman season and chose to leave college to pursue his mixed martial career. 

“I didn’t want to go into debt,” Rodela said. “I wasn’t with school. I wanted to set my own schedule. I didn’t like school, but I knew I wanted to be a barber. I was just putting it off to wrestle.”

Rodela’s amateur MMA career got off to an electric start during the 247 Fighting Championships MMA Saturday night at the Venue 4 at Sunny Days Arena.

He knocked out 30-year-old Jacob Kennedy 26 seconds into the second round of a 140-pound novice amateur catchweight bout.

“I’ve been doing jiujitsu for about 14 years," Rodela said. “I’ve been doing kickboxing, all of that kind of stuff. There were no ifs, ands or buts about it, I was ready for this since I started. This wasn’t a three-month long camp like it was for him. It was a 14-year camp.”

A Familiar Feeling

Rodela had his dad, Randy Villarreal, in his corner for his fight. Villarreal, 39, fought 24 times professionally. He compiled an 11-13 career record and last fought in Fury FC 60 on April 24, 2022.

Villarreal didn’t come into fighting as a decorated wrestler like his son. Rodela was a two-time state champion wrestling in Texas. Villarreal’s background was in jiu jitsu.

“I think the hardest part for me, being a fighter myself, is reliving everything,” Villarreal said. “Everything he’s going through, I went through. In a sense, it kind of brings me relief.”

Rodela showed off his wrestling chops by earning a clean takedown toward the end of the first round. In the second round, Rodela ended a combo with a looping right that sat Kennedy down in the center of the cage.

“The combo that he hit, we worked at the whole camp and that was part of the game plan,” Villarreal said. “Showing the knee, faking the knee and following through with the check hook. He’s going to be dangerous.”

Rodela, who trains with Stout Pittsburgh, said having his dad in the corner is a bonus. His coach, Mike Wilkins, was also there to coach him.

​“That’s my support right there,” Rodela said. “Him, my mom and then coach Mike were in my corner today. That’s just something extra, I’m not going to lose in front of my dad.”

Back to work

Rodela promised during his in-cage interview after his fight to take over the Pittsburgh MMA scene. Villarreal said he feels like his son is a natural 125-pounder and his power will carry to a lighter weight class. Rodela didn’t have to cut any weight for the fight.

Until Rodela’s next fight, he is glad to have work to keep him busy while he trains. Rodela is the founder of Ascension Cutz.

“I love doing fades, taper fades and all that stuff,” Rodela said. “I’m good with that if you want to come and see me.”

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or X @J_oshRizzo.​

Jason Nolf, a Kittanning graduate, went on to accomplish great things with the Penn State University wrestling program. Nolf, 29, still stops by his old stomping grounds in Western Pennsylvania to get some work in.

Nolf, who is now in Real American Freestyle, a non-scripted professional wrestling league, challenged everyone at The Mat Factory in Lower Burrell on Christmas Eve. He offered $5,000 to anyone who could submit him in jiu jitsu. 

Nolf is 1-1 in RAF. He recently competed at RAF 04 and won his match tech fall over Andy Varela, 10-0.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

Karli Jo Thomas' third fight with the Cage Fury Fighting Championships didn't go quite as she planned. The Waynesburg women's wrestling coach and Albert Gallatin graduate lost to Paige Wilcox by submission in a strawweight bout at Cage Fury Fighting Championship 149 Saturday night in Atlantic City.

Thomas had a busy last eight months of 2025. She made her professional debut with CFFC in May, submitting Lateesha Mohl in the first round. Thomas followed that up with a third-round win by rear-naked choke in August. This time around, Thomas got caught in the first round by a debuting Wilcox.

​Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

Some of the top WPIAL alumni is recently memory have been called upon to participate in the new professional wrestling league, Real American Freestyle.

Franklin Regional graduates Nico Megaludis and Spencer Lee, along with Kittanning's Jason Nolf, all lost their first match. Nolf fared much better during his second opportunity Saturday night at Fisher's Event Center in Fisher's, Ind. Nolf beat Andy Varela via technical fall, 10-0.

Nolf was a three-time NCAA champion at Penn State. He also won three Class 2A championships during his high school career at Kittanning and finished with a career record of 176-1.

Josh Rizzo is editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

The Highlands-Valley match produced more excitement than most people were hoping for Wednesday night. The Golden Rams won 55-8, but match's result was barred by a fight that broke out. Read more about the match in the Valley News Dispatch.

Jason Nolf, a Kittanning graduate and former Penn State University wrestling standout, will attempt to be the first WPIAL wrestler to find success at a Real American Freestyle event. Franklin Regional graduates Spencer Lee and Nico Megaludis recently competed for the organization and came up short.

This will be Nolf's second attempt at picking up a win in the fledgling league. ​Nolf also competed at RAF 01, losing 10-8 to Evan Wick in a middlweight bout.

Nolf, 29, will be taking on Andy Varela, 33 in a welterweight battle at RAF 04 at Fishers Event Center in Fisher, Ind. Varela is an accomplished grappler who have five professional MMA fights under his belt.

Much like Lee and Megaludis, Nolf shined as a collegiate wrestler. During Nolf's time at Penn State, won three consecutive national NCAA Division I championships from 2016 to 2019. Nolf made a run at qualifying for U.S. wrestling team for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but was turned away by Kyle Dake.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

Franklin Regional graduate Spencer Lee took a tough loss at Real American Freestyle 03 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Lee, who was a large betting favorite, had a 9-4 lead with 23 seconds remaining when his Ukranian opponent, Andrii Yatsenko, attempted a trip and threw Lee to his back.

Yatsenko quickly capitalized on the position, wrapping up the pin in the final 10 seconds of the 135-pound bantamweight match.

Lee, a former Olympic silver medalist, was a significant favorite ahead of the bout. Lee was a -1718 (bet $1,718 to make $100) favorite according to Nxtbets. Anyone bold enough to back Yatsenko was paid out at +700. A $100 bet on Yatsenko would have paid out $800.

Lee is now 41-4 in his freestyle career. This year, Lee has taken three losses. He challenged himself by taking on Masanosuke Ono at the FlowWrestling: Night in America at 59.5 kilograms and lost 3-2 back in February.

Lee took his other loss at the 2025 World Championships, where he placed ninth at 57 kilograms. Lee opened the tournament with a win, but was eliminated when he lost to Arsen Harutyunyan by technical fall, 14-3.
​
Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges.

Tika Hemingway is set to have a day in her honor Saturday, Nov. 22, in Wilkinsburg. Hemingway, a professional boxer, is being honored for her work with Pittsburgh Girls Box. She has a class in downtown Wilkinsburg to teach women of all ages how to box.

Hemingway, a Perry graduate, chose to get into boxing after she was raped as a teenager. She likes the opportunity to help girls learn self-defense to protect themselves and help stay in shape to keep boxing herself.

Hemingway was scheduled to box last summer at Live! Casino in Hempfield Township. But the event was canceled. Hemingway is 2-0 as a professional and last fought in January 2022. Hemingway was one of Claressa Shield's major rivals to make the U.S. Olympic team for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Hemingway, who was a four-time national champion as an amateur, had a 100-13 before turning professional.

"Thank you to Wilkinsburg Mayor Dontae Comans for officially making November 22 be known as Tika Hemingway day," Hemingway wrote on instagram.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and pubsisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.