Pennsylvania
Pining for Pennsylvania: Trump’s Philadelphia suburban problem lingers – Washington Examiner
Pennsylvania is the ultimate battleground for 2024, with the White House, Senate, and House all poised to flip based on how voters here cast their ballots. In this series, Pining for Pennsylvania: Unlocking the crucial Keystone State, the Washington Examiner will look at the demographics, politics, and key areas that have made Pennsylvania the must-watch state of the year. Part six, below, looks at how the suburbs are a major concern for Donald Trump’s campaign.
Former President Donald Trump‘s struggles with suburban voters have plagued him throughout the 2024 primary cycle, continuing even when he is the only GOP candidate still in the race.
Trump’s trouble with the voting demographic was particularly noticeable in the Pennsylvania primary, where despite Trump winning nearly 84% of the vote, or 790,000 votes, Nikki Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, won more than 157,000 votes, or nearly 17%, roughly seven weeks after suspending her presidential campaign.
“There’s no question that there’s work that the former president has to do with suburban voters, particularly suburban women, particularly in the Philadelphia collar-county area,” Christian Nascimento, chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Committee, told the Washington Examiner.
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Philadelphia’s collar counties include Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware counties. The “collar counties” shifted more in Democrats’ favor in 2020, with Biden significantly expanding the margins by which then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton won the counties in 2016 against Trump before ultimately losing the state.
Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016 by just 44,000 votes, while Biden flipped the state in 2020 by over 80,000 votes. The thin margin by which the state has been won in the past two presidential cycles means that if enough Haley voters cross over to Biden in November or simply sit out the election, it could sink Trump’s chances to win the state back.
Haley’s top performances in Pennsylvania’s 2024 primaries were located in the Philadelphia collar counties, particularly in Montgomery and Chester counties, where she won 25% of the vote in both counties.
The next top two Haley strongholds were in Delaware County and Cumberland County, where she won 23% of the vote in both counties. In nearby Bucks County, Haley won 19% of the vote.
Biden won the majority of these counties, except for Cumberland, in 2020.
Democratic pollster Matt McDermott called Tuesday’s results a “major red flag for Republicans.”
Republicans, however, tempered those warnings.
Nascimento told the Washington Examiner that Tuesday’s results were due to a “sleepy primary” but that it won’t lead to dire problems for Trump.
“I think the thing that he can do to work on that is focus on his policies and really shine a light on the differences between where we were when he was in office versus where things are under President Biden,” he continued.
In Dauphin County, another place Biden won in 2020, Haley won 21% of the vote. Dauphin County also includes Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s state capital.
Haley won 20% of the vote in Erie County, another Biden 2020 county, and Lancaster County, which Trump won in 2020%.
Haley also won 19% in Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, and 19% in Centre County, both of which went for Biden in 2020.
Joe Morris, Mercyhurst University senior political analyst and chairman of the political science department, spent a decade conducting polls in Pennsylvania and is conducting in-depth interviews with voters in Erie County.
In this northwestern part of Pennsylvania, the winner of the county has gone on to win the state and presidency in several elections.
An overwhelming majority of Erie County residents told Morris they were turned off by moments when Trump threw paper towels at people in Puerto Rico devastated by Hurricane Maria.
“We are a state that has a great deal of empathy. We’re socially conservative, but we have a great deal of empathy for people who are suffering,” Morris said. “That bombastic rhetoric probably doesn’t play as well in most of Pennsylvania as it does in other places.”
Morris claimed there is a playbook that Trump could take to win the Keystone State that doesn’t involve winning Haley supporters or Biden-sympathetic Republican voters.
“If you look back to 2016, Donald Trump’s strategy was not to go to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and win votes,” Morris said. “He went to all of the other communities in Pennsylvania and really pushed turnout up really high, and that offset his performance in those other counties.”
“And if he is interested in doing as well in Pennsylvania, as he did in 2016, then I think that’s his best strategy,” he added.
Some political experts cautioned against assuming that Haley voters would abandon Trump in November.
“Some of those voters, they’re going to come home. There’s no need to win them over. They are going to be loyal to the Republican Party,” said Sam Chen, principal director of the strategy firm The Liddell Group and a former staffer to retired Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey. “This was an opportunity to put a protest up. But a lot of voters they need to be won.”
But Chen cautioned that in conservative Centre County, Trump’s margins were concerning. “That’s not a great number for Donald Trump in that part of the state,” he said referring to the northern and middle sections of the state known as the “middle T.”
“With the exception of Dauphin County, which is Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the capital, that is a very, very red, very Republican area,” Chen said. “When Sen. Toomey won statewide twice, a big part of that was claiming that middle T.”
The Biden campaign did not resist slamming Trump for continuing to hemorrhage Haley voters.
“Across the battleground states, hundreds of thousands of *Republican* voters have come out AGAINST Trump,” wrote spokesman Ammar Moussa in an email sent out Wednesday afternoon. “Even though he’s been the presumptive nominee for seven weeks, he is not building the coalition necessary to win 270 electoral votes.”
Yet the Trump campaign dismissed the attacks in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“President Trump continued his winning streak and delivered a resounding primary win in Pennsylvania,” said Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign.
“More importantly, President Trump continues to dominate Feeble Joe Biden in every battleground state poll including his home state,” Leavitt continued. “The Dishonest Biden campaign has spent millions in Pennsylvania gaslighting voters, but it is not enough to make everyone ignore Bidenflation and rising costs, Biden’s border bloodbath, and his war on American energy.”
A Republican National Committee spokesperson referred the Washington Examiner to polls showing voter dissatisfaction with Biden’s handling of the economy, the border crisis, and foreign policy.
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All of which Nascimento said Trump should highlight to Pennsylvania voters in the lead-up to the November election.
“He should talk about the Abraham accords and talk about what he did in the Middle East and how this type of situation that we have now, several situations, wasn’t happening under his watch,” Nascimento said of how Trump should discuss the multiple conflicts currently happening including the battle between Israel and Hamas.
Is Pennsylvania the most wrestling-centric state in the country? Does the Keystone State have the most talent? Or even the top talent? Is it harder to win a state title there than anywhere else?
These all are terrific questions, and the answers may vary depending on who you ask and where they’re from, much like our nation’s great pizza debate, where the answers will vary by region.
What we do know for sure, is that Pennsylvania is well-represented in the 2025-2026 FloWrestling High School Wrestling Rankings, but with the 2026 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys & Girls Individual State Wrestling Championships on the horizon, where do the competitors rank amongst their peers?
If you follow high school wrestling, you’ve probably already heard many of the names, whether it was at past PIAA events, national tournaments, international competition, college recruiting news or signings, etc.
Now, here they are listed by weight class in FloWrestling’s latest Pennsylvania-only rankings.
Among the most recognizable are Bishop McCort senior Bo Bassett (152 pounds), his brother and teammate Melvin Miller (172 pounds) and Adam Waters (189 pounds) from rival school Faith Christian Academy.
As you get ready to see who takes home the titles at the 2026 PIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships, set for March 5-7 at GIANT Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, here’s a look at where everyone falls in the pecking order:
What Are The Weight Classes For High School Wrestling In Pennsylvania?
- Boys: 107, 114, 121, 127, 133, 139, 145, 152, 160, 172, 189, 215, 285
- Girls: 100, 106, 112, 118, 124, 130, 136, 142, 148, 155, 170, 190, 235
Pennsylvania High School Wrestling Rankings Before 2026 PIAA State Championships
As of Feb. 22, 2026
Boys
Girls
When Are The 2026 PIAA Boys & Girls Individual State Wrestling Championships?
The 2026 PIAA Boys & Girls Individual State Wrestling Championships will take place March 5-7, live on FloWrestling and the FloSports app.
The first girls wrestling champions in PIAA action were determined in 2024.
The road back to GIANT Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, began with regional competition across 12 sites (eight boys, four girls) in February (Feb. 20-21; Feb. 22; Feb. 27-28; Feb. 28)
Among the highlights at the 2025 event was Bassett winning his second individual PIAA state championship and helping Bishop McCort to a Class AA runner-up finish behind Faith Christian.
Read more: 2025 PIAA Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets
How To Watch The 2026 PIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships
Live coverage of the 2026 PIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships on March 5-7 will be broadcast on FloWrestling and the FloSports app, with news, notes, stats and more available on both platforms.
Archives will be available immediately following the conclusion of each match.
If you’re going to be in the area and want to catch the action in person, click here for spectator and ticket information.
Read more: 2026 PIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships Schedule & Brackets
2026 PIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships Brackets
Here’s where you’ll be able to find the brackets for the 2026 PIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships:
2026 PIAA Individual State Wrestling Championships Schedule
Here’s a look at when everything is going down:
All Times Eastern
Wednesday, March 4
- 4-7 p.m. – Media registration
- 4-7 p.m. – School registration (AA/Girls/AAA)
- 4-7 p.m. – Qualifying wrestlers’ workout (AA/Girls/AAA) (six mats)
- 6 p.m. – Officials’ meeting
Thursday, March 5 (Session 1)
- 7:30 a.m. – Media registration
- 7:30 a.m. – Admit coaches and contestants (AA)
- 7:30 a.m. – Late school registration (AA)
- 7:45 a.m. – Skin condition check (AA)
- 8 a.m. – Weigh-ins (AA)
- 9 a.m. – Preliminaries and first round (AA), six mats (52/104 matches)
- 12:30 p.m. – First-round consolations (AA), six mats
- 12:30 p.m. – Admit coaches and contestants (Girls)
- 12:30 p.m. – Late school registration (Girls)
- 12:45 p.m. – Skin condition check (Girls)
- 1 p.m. – Weigh-ins (Girls)
- 2 p.m. – First round (Girls), six mats (104 matches)
- 3 p.m. – Admit coaches and contestants (AAA)
- 3 p.m. – Late school registration (AAA)
- 3:15 p.m. – Skin condition check (AAA)
- 3:30 p.m. – Weigh-ins (AAA)
- 3:30 p.m. – First-round consolations (Girls), six mats (52 matches)
- 4:30 p.m. – Preliminaries and first round (AAA), six mats (52/104 matches)
- 8 p.m. – First-round consolations (AAA), six mats (52 matches)
Friday, March 6 (Session 2/Session 3)
- 6:30 a.m. – Admit coaches and contestants (AA)
- 6:45 a.m. – Skin condition check (AA)
- 7 a.m. – Weigh-ins (AA)
- 8 a.m. – Quarterfinals (AA), three mats (52 matches)
- 8 a.m. – Second-round consolations (AA), three mats (52 matches)
- 10:15 a.m. – Admit coaches and contestants (Girls)
- 10:30 a.m. – Third-round consolations (AA), three mats (52 matches)
- 10:30 a.m. – Skin condition check (Girls)
- 10:45 a.m. – Weigh-ins (Girls)
- 11:45 a.m. – Quarterfinals (Girls), six mats (52 matches)
- 12:45 p.m. – Admit coaches and contestants (AAA)
- 1 p.m. – Skin condition check (AAA)
- 1:15 p.m. – Weigh-ins (AAA)
- 1:15 p.m. – Second-round consolations (Girls), six mats (52 matches)
- 2:15 p.m. – Quarterfinals (AAA), three mats (52 matches)
- 2:15 p.m. – Second-round consolations (AAA), three mats (52 matches)
- 4:45 p.m. – Third-round consolations (AAA), six mats (52 matches)
- 6:15 p.m. – Admit coaches and contestants (AA/Girls/AAA)
- 7 p.m. – Semifinals (AA/Girls/AAA), 2/2/2 mats (26/26/26 matches)
- 9 p.m. – Fourth-round consolations (AA/AAA), 2/2 mats (26/26 matches)
- 9 p.m. – Third-round consolations (Girls), two mats (26 matches)
Saturday, March 7 (Session 4/Session 5)
- 8 a.m. – Admit coaches and contestants (AA/Girls/AAA)
- 8:15 a.m. – Skin condition check (AA/Girls/AAA)
- 8:30 a.m. – Weigh-ins (AA/Girls/AAA)
- 8:45 a.m. – Skin condition check, finalists (AA/Girls/AAA)
- 9 a.m. – Weigh-in, finalists (AA/Girls/AAA)
- 9:30 a.m. – Fifth-round consolations (AA/AAA), 2/2 mats (26/26 matches)
- 9:30 a.m. – Fourth-round consolations (Girls), 2 mats (26 matches)
- 11:30 a.m. – Third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches (AA/Girls/AAA), 2/2/2 mats (39/39/39 matches)
- 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. – Admit coaches and contestants (AA/Girls/AAA)
- 3:40 p.m. – Parade of Champions (AA/Girls/AAA)
- 4 p.m. – Championship Finals (AA/Girls/AAA), 1/1/1 mats (13/13/13 matches)
When Was The 2026 PIAA Team Wrestling State Championships?
The 2026 PIAA Team Wrestling State Championships took place Feb. 6-7 at the 1st Summit Arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and included 20 teams that survived the preliminary and first round of the tournament, which was held Feb. 3 at host schools across the state.
The advancing teams made their way to Johnstown for two more days of intense competition, with the 1st Summit Arena hosting the quarterfinals through the championship matches.
In Pennsylvania this year, there were 475 schools participating in boys wrestling.
They were divided into two classifications – 228 schools in AA and 247 schools in AAA – which are further split into 12 districts. Class AA is for schools with 1-308 male enrollees, and Class AAA wrestling includes schools with 309-9999 male students.
Read more: 2026 PIAA Team Wrestling State Championships Schedule & Brackets
Did You Know: PIAA Wrestling Has A Long History
The first state wrestling championships in Keystone State happened in 1938, while the girls were added to the action in 2024. The PIAA Team Wrestling State Championships debuted in 1999.
There are 14 four-time individual state champions in Pennsylvania. Another 30 have won three times.
2025-2026 FloWrestling High School Wrestling Rankings
Top 20 as of Feb. 18, 2026
Curious about how the top wrestlers from each state stack up against competitors from across the country?
Click here to see the latest high school rankings from FloWrestling.
FULL DUAL: Bishop McCort vs. Faith Christian | 2026 PIAA AA Team State Finals
Faith Christian has been dominant in team wrestling in Pennsylvania, and Bishop McCort keeps falling just short.
Trackwrestling Has Joined The New FloWrestling
Trackwrestling officially has merged with FloWrestling, bringing its powerful tournament tracking tools and live data into a modern, all-in-one platform.
Fans can follow every bout with pro-grade brackets, mat schedules, team rosters and detailed wrestler profiles—all seamlessly integrated within FloWrestling.
This move delivers a faster, smarter and more connected experience for the wrestling community. Through the updated FloSports app, users can track live results, explore brackets and even sign up for free alerts so they never miss a match.
FloWrestling Archived Footage
Video footage from all events on FloWrestling will be archived and stored in a video library for FloWrestling subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.
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A man has been cited after police said he drove a vehicle into a frozen pond at a country club in Pennsylvania, left the scene, then spent the night in a hotel.
According to the East Lampeter Township Police Department, on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, around 10:38 a.m., officers were called to the Lancaster Country Club after receiving reports about a vehicle in a pond.
Police said that, through an investigation, it was learned that Sung Chun, a 50-year-old man from Hoboken, New Jersey, had driven onto the property the day before around 8:30 p.m., crossed portions of the golf course, and ultimately ended up in a pond.
Chun then exited the vehicle and walked away without reporting the incident and spent the night at a nearby hotel, according to police.
Credit: East Lampeter Township Police Department
Credit: East Lampeter Township Police Department
Credit: East Lampeter Township Police Department
Police said Chun returned to the location while police were on scene investigating the incident and was ultimately cited with “Trespass by Motor Vehicle.”
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