High school wrestling teams will be on the mat a little less this season.

The PIAA has adopted a winter sports schedule that begins one week later, due in part to the length of the fall sports seasons.

In response to the change, the PIAA Wrestling Steering Committee cut two competition points from its schedule. That means schools have only 22 scheduling points for dual meets and tournaments.

The WPIAL Wrestling Steering Committee kept its section alignment, but cut the number of section matches by dividing each section into two sub-sections.

"We have four dual meets and six tournaments on our schedule," North Allegheny coach Jamie Kyriazis said. "It's a little strange, but I think it can work."

North Allegheny has won or shared eight consecutive Section 3-AAA titles since Kyriazis became head coach at his alma mater. The Tigers hope to keep that streak alive as the high school season gets underway tomorrow night.

"We will travel to Ohio for the Ironman Tournament this weekend," said Kyriazis, referring to a tournament sponsored by Walsh Jesuit High School that is considered one of the strongest tournaments in the country. "It's one of four tournaments we have scheduled in the month of December."

North Allegheny is in sub-section B along with Avonworth, North Hills, Pine-Richland and Shaler. The teams in sub-section A are Butler, Fox Chapel, Hampton, Knoch and Seneca Valley.

"We've won six outright titles and tied for the title the other two years," Kyriazis said. "Winning a section title is always our goal, but this year will be a little different because we only face four teams in section matches."

North Allegheny (14-2, 9-0) has 10 starters back from last season's squad, including three PIAA place-winners, Nick Rodgers (6-3 at 112), Joe Waltko (38-5 at 125), and Dave Cawley (20-5 at 140). Rodgers and Cawley were PIAA place-winners in 2007, but neither made a return trip to Hershey due to injuries.

Waltko is a three-time WPIAL runner-up who placed third in the state last year. Also back for the Tigers are five other WPIAL qualifiers, Kevin Monper (19-17 at 103), Andy Candiello (32-9 at 130), Adam Powers (16-14 at 135) and Seb Fischer (18-11 at 160).

"North Allegheny has to be considered the favorite," Fox Chapel coach Ron Frank said. "Our goal, like the other eight teams in our section, is to unseat them as section champions. It will not be easy, but we do have a very experienced group of kids."

Fox Chapel (17-6, 7-2) has all but two starters back from a squad that tied for second place in Secion 3-AAA with Butler and North Hills.

"Our starters are battle tested," Frank said. "Most of our starters have three or four years of wrestling experience, and some began in our elementary program 10 years ago."

Fox Chapel has seven starters back who qualified for the WPIAL tournament last year, Carson Brooks (29-10 at 112), Mike Dunn (17-15 at 119), Tom Caldwell (24-10 at 135), Dave DiBenedetto (16-7 at 145), Justin Mahon (32-8 at 152), Nick Letters (29-5 at 160) and Aaron Baker (25-11 at 171).

Butler and North Hills were hit hard by graduation losses.

Butler (21-6, 7-2) lost seven starters to graduation, including three WPIAL qualifiers. The Golden Tornado has five WPIAL qualifiers returning, Eric Tuck (24-17 at 103), Damon Redenbach (23-15 at 112), Mike Crawford (30-9 at 119), Cole Baxter (33-8 at 130) and Marino Quercio (18-13 at 215).

North Hills (23-5, 7-2) lost six starters, including a trio who combined for 365 career wins. The Indians have five returnees who had 20 or more wins: Kraig Esswein (30-13 at 103), Cameron Weber (30-12 at 112), Ben Amrhein (29-12 at 152), Adam Muehlbauer (23-9 at 171) and Tom McElwaine (33-7 at 189). Everyone but Muehlbauer was a WPIAL qualifier last year.

Pine-Richland (7-11, 3-6) lost five starters to graduation, including PIAA qualifier Sam Brehm. The Rams have three WPIAL qualifiers returning, Ross Orler (30-6 at 103), Harrison Maxwell (18-16 at 145) and Alex Lugar (17-18 at 189).

Seneca Valley (11-6, 5-4) is the only Section 3-AAA team with a new coach. Tom Tomeo, a two-time PIAA champion from Grove City High School, has replaced Lee Mullett. The Raiders have all but two starters back, but only two recorded 20 or more wins last year: Grant Evans (24-7 at 119) and Nate Cully (24-7 at 135).

Avonworth (7-10, 2-7) has five WPIAL qualifiers returning, Conrad Branchen (17-7 at 130), Andrew Puciata (19-11 at 140), Ben Kramer (23-10 at 145), Jared Psensky (17-13 a 160) and Justin Okinski (20-13 at 171).

Hampton (12-10, 3-6) has all but three starters back, but only two were WPIAL qualifers: Joe Raimondi (31-8 at 215) and Ryan Craig (5-1 at 125).

Shady Side Academy, Burrell, and Highlands are the top three teams in Section 3-AA. Burrell is the defening WPIAL and PIAA champion, but the Bucaneers will be hard pressed to repeat, as Shady Side Academy has all but one starter returning.

"If we can stay healthy, we have a team that's talented enough to win both the WPIAL and PIAA titles," Shady Side Academy coach Tim Giel said. "Burrell suffered some graduation losses, but they always field a team that is capable of winning it all."

Shady Side Academy's lineup features 10 individuals who had 20 or more wins last year, including six who qualified for the PIAA tournament, Geoff Alexander (50-5 at 103), Frank Martellotti (50-11 at 112), Dane Johnson (49-2 at 125), Dave Brown (47-11 at 145), Matthew Cunningham (48-3 at 152), and Roman SanDoval (50-7 at 189). Johnson has won three WPIAL titles, while Cunningham has two. Alexander, Martellotti and SanDoval have each won one each.

Highlands lost eight starters to graduation, including a pair of WPIAL qualifiers. The Golden Rams have five starters back who recorded 20 or more wins last season: Mike Henderson (31-8 at 103), Dan O'Neil (21-11 at 119), Ron Festa (20-11 at 125), Richie Bass (26-4 at 135), and Jordan Toth (22-14 at 145).