“I knew I had a chance to be one of the best in the state,” said Senior Leo Joseph.
In the past couple of years of Greater Latrobe’s wrestling history, many of the 2025 seniors have left an outstanding legacy. Even with many hardships throughout the four years, wrestlers persevere and continue forward to get the best out of their high school years.
With so many senior accomplishments, that also leaves underclassmen with inspiration. Sophomore Hunter Snyder had an amazing first two years of high school wrestling. Three Greater Latrobe wrestlers, including Leo Joseph, Luke Willochell, and Hunter Snyder, represented Greater Latrobe at PIAA state championships.
Even though Hunter was unable to come out on top first round and was still able to come back into taking third in states. “And I feel like that’s huge. I feel like taking first and third are the two most honorable because I feel like if you can win that’s always pretty awesome but losing and coming back for the next biggest thing and I feel like that’s huge,” says Snyder. As an underclassman, Hunter has made it a long way. Hunter has looked up to his upperclassmen teammates for the past two years of high school.
Hunter hurt his knee during the 24-25 season. With the injury, he was not able to compete in the county tournament. But even sitting out for counties, it was a refresh for Hunter and he was still able to recover and participate in states. Even with that, not being able to compete also takes a mental toll on players. With long practices and the long season, motivation lowers. “You just have to remind yourself of what you do it for and who you do it for,” said Snyder.
“I felt most proud after winning the WPIAL championship as that was a big accomplishment and I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to become a WPIAL champ,” said Leo Joseph. Leo is a 2x state medalist as well as a WPIAL champ. His overall high school record is 140-39. Joseph battles through a knee injury after the first tournament of the season. Luckily he was still able to compete in states and WPIALs as the injury was not major.
With injuries, it’s especially difficult to keep spirits up. “When the individual post-season starts it is a long grind with little competition in between and lots of practice,” says Joseph. But with the right mindset, Leo was able to stay determined and focused for both WPIALs and states. Leo is committed to the Naval Academy to continue wrestling and academics. Leo alongside Luke Willochell have been together for their whole high school.
Luke Willochell’s high school career ended with 2x state runner-up, 3x WPIAL champ, and 4x state placer with an overall record of 166-17, tying Latrobe’s school win record. Luke is continuing his wrestling career at the University of Wyoming. With many teammates getting eliminated, it’s hard to keep focused. “When I made it my freshman year, I always wanted to go back. It took me a long three years to get back to that point, so I was really proud of myself,” said Luke.
After achieving such an amazing experience his freshman year, he kept striving to keep going back. “ It kinda sucked to watch all my teammates wrestle and I just had to kinda sit back and do my own thing,” said Luke. He had to sit out for 2-3 weeks, which can take a toll on his mindset.
Leo and Luke truly will leave a mark on Greater Latrobe wrestling. Every year Latrobe has had wrestlers participate in going to states for the past couple of years. Their records and efforts are inspiring and other wrestlers even look up to them. The success at Greater Latrobe is tremendous.
