The WPIAL has produced the last two 5A State Champions in Pine-Richland and Penn-Trafford. In thanks for that success, the PIAA made things even harder on the WPIAL this year, bumping the WPIAL Champion back from entering the state playoffs in the semifinals to entering in the quarterfinals. This meant that rather than being able to take 12 teams into the playoffs as they did last year, only 8 teams were able to qualify for the postseason. This made for some incredibly tight races down the stretch and good teams like Penn Hills, Peters Twp, and Hempfield were left at home.
WPIAL 2022 5A Playoff Primer
