It was a double gold weekend for Central Catholic and Derry Area at the WPIAL Class AAA wrestling tournament.

Both schools had two wrestlers climb to the top of the winners platform at Canon-McMillan High School Saturday night.

Tyler Zymroz and Lorenzo Thomas won gold medals for Central Catholic, while Jimmy Gulibon and Travis Shaffer claimed their second gold medals for Derry.

"It's great to win a WPIAL title, but having Lorenzo win made the weekend even more special," said Zymroz (40-4), who claimed the 130-pound title with a 4-3 win against Latrobe's Ty Lydic (36-5). "We give each other a lot of confidence. We pump each other up."

Thomas (43-3) made his second appearance in the WPIAL finals and claimed his first title with a convincing 12-4 major decision of Canon-McMillan's Sam Lombardo in the 140-pound final.

"Watching Tyler win his title really pumped me up," Thomas said. "It got me ready and got me in the zone. I lost in the finals last year and I didn't want it to happen again. Having been in the finals before really helped. I knew what to expect and wasn't nervous."

Zymroz and Thomas are only the fourth and fifth wrestlers in Central Catholic history to win a WPIAL title. The other three were George Mehalic in 1988, Brendan Bibro in 1994 and Andrew Sherry in 2004.

"This is the first time Central Catholic has had two WPIAL champions in the same season," Vikings coach Sanshiro Abe said. "And the program has never had three PIAA qualifiers in the same season."

Gulibon and Shaffer were returning champions.

Jimmy Gulibon (32-1) moved up from 103 to capture the 112-pound crown with a convincing 20-6 win against Hempfield's Paul Bewak (34-6).

"My weight class was a little tougher this year," Gulibon said. "A lot of kids came up and they got better. If you look at the entire weight class, it's probably the strongest in the WPIAL. We had three returning PIAA place-winners in this weight class and one didn't qualify for states."

Gulibon was referring to Penn-Trafford's Ryan Bohince, who placed eighth in the state in 2008. Bohince was knocked out of contention in the consolation semifinals.

"I expect the state tournament to be even tougher," Gulibon said. "There are a lot of good kids out there. I just have to go out and do my best and hope for the best."

Shaffer (29-3) claimed his second consecutive 135-pound title with a 3-0 shutout of Canon-McMillan's Nick Catalano (29-3).

"It's an unexplainable feeling to win a second WPIAL title," Shaffer said. "Nick is a very tough kid. I've wrestled him numerous times over the years and it's always been a close match. It's great to get a win like that under my belt before the state tournament."

Shaffer was joined on the winners platform by his cousin Eric Shaffer, who wrestles for Latrobe. Eric Shaffer (37-2) claimed the 189-pound title with a 4-3 win against Trinity's Kyle McWreath.

"I'm just as happy for Eric as I am for myself winning a second title," Travis Shaffer said. "I've always told Eric he would be a champion."

Franklin Regional's Nico Megaludis and Kiski Area's Zack Shannon were also gold medalists at the WPIAL Class AAA tournament.

Megaludis (32-0) recorded his 80th consecutive victory and third title with a 6-3 win against Waynesburg Central's Derrick Nelson (30-3) at 119.

"I realize that I have a chance to win four WPIAL titles, but that's the last thing I'm thinking about now," Megaludis said. "I just have to get ready for the state tournament."

Shannon (37-2) pulled a major upset in the 152-pound final with a 4-1 win against Hopewell's Matt Hundenski, who was a returning champion.

"I had no worries at all," said Shannon, when asked for his thoughts prior to the title match. "I came into the championship match with nothing to lose. He was the defending champion, so the pressure was on him. There was no pressure on me. It's my senior year, so I just went out and had fun."

Norwin's John Pezze and Kiski Area's Justin Harold also made an appearance in the WPIAL finals, but both had to settle for silver medals. Pezze (31-2) was pinned by Waynesburg's Zach McGinnis in the 125-pound final. Harold lost, 3-1, to West Allegheny's Aaron McKinney in the 145-pound final.

Burrell had six wrestlers qualify for the PIAA Class AA tournament at the Southwest Regional, which took place over the weekend at the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown. The Buccaneers had four wrestlers advance to the finals and two claimed regional titles.

Dave Makara (41-5) won the 125-pound crown with a first-period pin of Shady Side Academy's Phillip Elias. Brian Beattie (42-4) claimed the 215-pound title with a 6-3 win against Mt. Union's Jamel Fortson.

Travis McKillop and Dakota DesLauriers were runners-up for the Buccaneers. McKillop lost, 2-0, to Charleroi's Cody Wiercioch in the 152-pound final. DesLauriers dropped a 7-2 decision to Shady Side Academy's Matthew Cunningham in the 171-pound final.

Mike White's "High School Sports Edition" videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.