With the area populated mostly by small schools, team success in wrestling is a challenge.
The area always produces top-flight individuals, but great teams don’t come along that often anymore. Last year, for example, Hamburg and North Schuylkill enjoyed deep runs in the district and state team tournaments.
That was about it. In fact, only Pine Grove and Jim Thorpe qualified for District Duals as well.
This year, the number will be a lot higher than four. More on that later.
In a lot of ways, team wrestling is a numbers game. Think about it. Name another sport with 14 starters, all of whom have to be a different size.
Football and soccer start 11, and those players can be short or tall, heavy or thin. It doesn’t matter, they can still play.
That lack of student-body depth shows up in District 11 Class AAA, where Blue Mountain (363) and Pottsville (383) rank near the bottom in terms of enrollment.
Only Bethlehem Catholic (278) has a lower enrollment among the 21 Class AAA teams. Becahi, which draws athletes from across the Lehigh Valley and beyond, opted up for this two-year cycle. When you get athletes from far and wide to build an All-Star-like squad, you belong in Class AAA.
To compare, here are some enrollment numbers for public schools: Parkland (1,259), Liberty (1,254), Easton (1,101), Emmaus (967), Frreedom (795) and Northampton (700). Nazareth (592) does an amazing job for a school its size.
So, heading into Friday’s action, to have 10 of the area’s 18 teams in line for District Duals berths is a positive sign.
Let’s take a closer look:
• In District 11 Class AAA, Blue Mountain (13-0) is rated No. 2 and Pottsville (9-4) is No. 11. Neither local team qualified last season; the Crimson Tide won just five duals last season.
Bethlehem Catholic (6-0) comes in at No. 1, with No. 3 Freedom (22-0), No. 4 Parkland (15-3) and No. 5 Bangor (15-2) rounding out the top five. Many Lehigh Valley teams competed Friday, so expect some movement in the rankings.
• In District 11 Class AA, six local teams may make the field. Saucon Valley (14-2) comes in at No. 1, followed by North Schuylkill (14-1) and Tri-Valley (9-1). Northern Lehigh (15-2) is No. 4, with Northwestern Lehigh (11-4) completing the top five.
No. 7 Lehighton (12-4) is in, with No. 8 Pine Grove (7-5), No. 9 Panther Valley (7-6) and No. 11 Schuylkill Haven (8-5) not yet officially qualified.
The cutoff for results to count for District Duals is today. The preliminary rounds are scheduled for Thursday at four sites to be determined. The championship rounds and wrestlebacks will be held Saturday at Freedom.
• In District 3 Class AA, Hamburg (12-5) entered the day sixth in an eight-team field. The top three were Bermudian Springs (18-1), Boiling Springs (11-3) and Delone Catholic (11-2).
• In District 4 Class AA, Mount Carmel, which won just three dual meets last season, is 11-5 and No. 9 in the power rankings. No. 1 Wyalusing (18-0), No. 2 Line Mountain (16-0) and No. 3 Montoursville (17-1) are loaded.
Short time
With District Duals upon us, that leaves little time for several teams — most notably those that have sectionals in Districts 3 and 4 — to complete their regular-season schedules.
Wednesday’s snowout created a logjam in the calendar and headaches for athletic directors. With more bad weather in the forecast, the schedule could get tighter.
It’s almost time for some creative scheduling in which teams wrestle twice on the same day/night. Upper Dauphin had that in the works Wednesday with Col-Mon Vo-Tech and Newport coming to Elizabethville, but snow scrapped those plans.
A quick look around the Schuylkill League:
• In Division I, all eight teams have wrestled three league duals. That leaves four remaining. Fortunately, all eight teams are District 11 schools that have no sectionals and don’t start districts until Feb. 20.
• Division II is a little dicier. Jim Thorpe has wrestled just one league dual, meaning the Olympians have five remaining. Upper Dauphin and Halifax, which have sectionals Feb. 14, both have four league meets left. Williams Valley has four remaining as well.
Pennant chase
Some big meets this Wednesday — weather permitting — will sharpen the focus of the division races.
In Division I, Pottsville visits Blue Mountain for a first-place showdown. Both teams are 3-0 in the league. Also, a pair of 2-1 squads will tangle when Tri-Valley hosts North Schuylkill.
The big Division II meet of the week has Mahanoy Area (2-1 in D-II) visiting Williams Valley (2-0).
Looking ahead
Pottsville athletic director Eric Rismiller confirmed that the Crimson Tide will host the Schuylkill League Wrestling Tournament next season.
The event came to Martz Hall in 2013 and was a resounding success. The Mecca is a great venue for wrestling as well as basketball.
Building blocks
One of the under-appreciated aspects of the Schuylkill League Wrestling Tournament is the inclusion of a JV bracket.
Junior high kids get lots of matches during the dual-meet season, but JV guys sometimes get left on the sidelines. The league tournament is a great opportunity to get what these developing guys need most — mat time.
Here’s a rundown of JV champions: North Schuylkill’s D.J. Zaharick (106-113), Panther Valley’s Malik Zver (120-126), Halifax’ Wes Brady (132-138), Panther Valley’s Zach Glassic (145), Blue Mountain’s Nate Stine (152), Tri-Valley’s Shykir Bethea (160-170), Mahanoy Area’s Chris Caravella (182-195) and North Schuylkill’s Mike Damiter (220-285).
(Lipsky is the wrestling writer for The Republican-Herald)
Power Poll
Team W-L Pvs
1. Blue Mtn. 13-0 1
2. Tri-Valley 9-1 3
3. Pottsville 9-4 4
4. N. Schuylkill 14-1 2 5. Lehighton 12-4 —
As reported by coaches and/or recorded on trackwrestling website through matches of Jan. 22. Minimum 12 bouts, 6 wins above .500.
KEY:
Blue Mountain (BM), Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech (CMVT), Halifax (Hal), Hamburg (Ham), Jim Thorpe (JT), Lehighton (Leh), Mahanoy Area (MA), Mount Carmel (MC), North Schuylkill (NS), Panther Valley (PV), Pine Grove (PG), Pottsville (P), Schuylkill Haven (SH), Shamokin (Sham), Tamaqua (Tam), Tri-Valley (TV), Upper Dauphin (UDA), Williams Valley (WV)
106 pounds
Kevan Gentile (JT) 20-1
Owen Boyer (NS) 19-4
Nate Kemmerer (Leh) 19-9
Josh Mason (BM) 17-3
Landon Bruner (Hal) 16-6
Ryan Green (P) 16-8
113 pounds
Willy Girard (WV) 21-3
Kyle Stephen (TV) 20-6
Coy Campbell (UDA) 19-4
Mason Madden-Edwards (NS) 19-4
Hunter Blankenhorn (BM) 18-5
Ben McQuillen (BM) 15-7
Connor Boyer (UDA) 14-8
120 pounds
Sean Stanish (Ham) 30-5
Caleb Bordner (TV) 19-3
Shane McGrath (NS) 19-5
Zach Kemmerer (Leh) 19-7
Tanner Kennedy (PV) 19-9
Austin Engle (SH) 18-6
Richie Bentz (P) 16-6
126 pounds
Luke Gardner (P) 22-1
Tanner McHugh (Tam) 22-3
Sammy Hepler (TV) 18-4
Darren Goida (PV) 17-4
132 pounds
Danny Diaz-Walton (PG) 20-5
Preston Gehring (SH) 18-3
Jess Wetzel (NS) 17-8
Kale Yacko (CMVT) 15-6
138 pounds
Tegan Durishin (Leh) 24-5
Dylan Rynkiewicz (Tam) 23-2
Nathan Cromyak (P) 19-7
Ali Capobianco (PV) 18-9
Reese Mason (Ham) 19-12
145 pounds
Christian Gosch (BM) 23-2
Cole Painter (P) 20-8
Dylan Miller (Ham) 18-7
Chase Schaeffer (TV) 17-5
Joe Alexander (NS) 16-10
152 pounds
Lucas Forbes (BM) 19-4
Jackson Kennerly (UDA) 19-5
Tyler Deiter (P) 19-6
Matt James (Ham) 19-8
Trevyn Fessler (SH) 17-5
Anthony Snyder (TV) 17-5
160 pounds
Blake Panko (MC) 22-2
Hunter Harner (TV) 21-3
Ian Cagle (BM) 21-5
Tyler Cann (Leh) 16-6
Matt Lewandowski (MA) 14-6
Ron Lavigne (Ham) 15-8
Josiah Miller (Sham) 12-2
170 pounds
Brady Mickatavage (NS) 19-5
Devon Krammes (BM) 18-7
Alec Soltys (PG) 17-10
Tyler Herber (Ham) 17-11
Nolan Fegley (MA) 16-6
Kolby Kleckner (P) 16-9
Brandon Kessock (P) 15-7
Robbie Geisinger (JT) 13-7
182 pounds
Ignacio Reynoso (Ham) 27-10
Connor Frey (Leh) 23-3
Gabe Bogutskie (MC) 16-5
Dylan Moyer (PV) 15-8
C.J. Steinhilber (NS) 15-9
195 pounds
Alek Hummel (NS) 23-0
Allen Yancoskie (MC) 20-6
Daymian Shoop (WV) 14-8
220 pounds
Erech Noecker (BM) 21-2
Kirk Dougherty (BM) 20-6
Max Kline (Ham) 19-13
Jake Paul (Hal) 18-2
Danny Scheib (TV) 16-6
Wes Shurock (MC) 16-6
Wyatt Clements (Leh) 16-8
Ian Minnich (WV) 15-6
J.J. Cox (WV) 12-6
285 pounds
Nate Gadinski (NS) 23-0
Scott Werner (PG) 15-7
Max Motko (SH) 15-8