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.

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.

Chris Heater had nothing against the Kiski Area wrestling team participating in the Trinity Duals again this season. The Cavaliers' opened last season there and enjoyed the event. But Heater chose to take his team to the Sheetz Kickoff Classic in Greenville instead.

The Cavaliers wanted a fresh batch of opponents. Eight of the teams in the event were from District 9 or 10. The only other WPIAL team to participate beside Kiski was Armstrong.

Kiski (6-0) won all five of its duals at the event. Mario Hutcherson, Cooper Roscosky, Gavin Murphy, Bear Joseph and Jackson Pollick all went 5-0 for the Cavaliers.

"We went to Trinity last year and we wrestled three teams that we saw again later in the season," Heater said. "I just wanted to go somewhere where we wouldn't see anybody and give our guys the chance to wrestle five matches and see where their endurance and conditioning was. It was a good opener for us."

Kiski will host another intense dual event this weekend. The Cavaliers will have a number of strong WPIAL programs -- Canon-McMillan, Hempfield, North Allegheny, Penn-Trafford, Peters Township and Waynesburg Central -- along with District 9's DuBois and District 10's Fort LeBoeuf.

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.

ALLEGHENY TWP - Brin Zehmisch once had to look for competition wherever she could find it. The Butler junior girls wrestler couldn't always find people in her weight class in the fledgling sport of girls wrestling. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zehmisch was eager to accept matches even against opponents that outweighed her significantly.

Zehmisch, who is 35-16 in her career, opened the season by pinning Kiski's Marissa Prignon during the second period of a 130-pound bout Wednesday night on the road.

"As a kid, I wrestled a lot of guys and there weren't many girls who wanted to wrestle," Zehmisch said. "At a small tournament, there was only me and one other girl. I wanted to wrestle no matter what my weight class was. One time I wrestle a girl who was close to 200 pounds when I was 90 pounds."

Zehmisch, who has been wrestling for 10 years, has seen her experience pay off since the WPIAL and PIAA started sponsoring girls wrestling. Last season, Zehmisch finished fourth in the WPIAL at 118 pounds. Zehmisch, who was 21-10 overall, qualified for the West Regional.

Zehmisch, who finished 1-2 at the regional tournament, said she got into wrestling because of her younger sister. Her interest in wrestling was because of her dream to wrestle in the WWE. Once she started with folkstyle, Zehmisch's desire changed.

"My little sister brought a flyer home from school and it seemed like something I wanted to do," Zehmisch said. "It seemed like something I really wanted to do because I wanted to wrestle in the WWE. As I started progressing in wrestling, I didn't want to wrestle in WWE anymore. I like wrestling as it is."

Golden Tornado girls wrestling coach Nathan Bottinger said he was happy with how aggressive Zehmisch was against Prignon.

"She was forcing the pace a little bit," Bottinger said. "She's not a high-pressure kind of kid, but she likes to stay with girls, find that opening and pounce on it."

Zehmisch said she believes her style of wrestling allows her to catch her opponents off guard. During matches, Zehmisch is able to quickly shift her weight to be in better positions.

"Some of the people I practice with, they think I'm heave than I actually am," Zehmisch said. 

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.

Another Franklin Regional graduate will competing on Real American Freestyle. Former Panther Nico Megaludis competed on the card last month in State College, losing by technical fall.

Now, Olympic silver medalist Spencer Lee is listed for the next card on Nov. 29 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Lee is listed as competing at bantamweight (135 pounds) against Ukraine's Andrii Yatsenko. Yatsenko was originally supposed to compete at RAF 02 against Megaludis, but the opponent was changed during fight week.

Megaludis instead faced off against Austin DeSanto, the opponent who upset Lee in the state title match his senior season of high school to prevent Lee from becoming a four-time champion. The main event is set to feature Chad Mendes and Michael Chandler, two UFC alums who have strong amateur wrestling backgrounds.

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.

Nico Megaludis was supposed have a matchup with a Ukrainian opponent during the Real American Freestyle 02 card. Instead, the Franklin Regional graduate was tasked with taking on former Iowa standout Austin DeSanto in a bantamweight belt.

DeSanto, who once upset future Olympic silver medalist and Franklin Regional great Spencer Lee in the PIAA finals, took care of Megaludis, 10-0.  During their battle Saturday night at Bryce Jordan Center, neither DeSanto or Megaludis could get much going in the first period.

DeSanto recorded the only point on a shot-clock point with 45 seconds left in the first round. DeSanto quickly stretched his lead out in the second period by picking up five points. He picked up a pair of takedowns in the third period to win by technical fall.

Former Penn State wrestlers went 2-2 at the event.

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.