Every offseason, several struggling wrestlers and a few teams dedicate themselves to becoming better. That hard work tends to show up over the winter.
This year was no exception.
Traditionally, this weekend before the district tournaments we take a look back at some individuals and squads that made major improvements this season.
Let’s start with the wrestlers:
• Tri-Valley senior Kyle Stephen made one of the biggest jumps, rising from 17-18 as a junior to 30-10 as a senior. More on the Dawgs later.
• Pottsville had some fine turnaround stories, such as junior Nathan Cromyak (17-22 to 25-12), sophomore Ryan Green (9-16 to 22-15) and senior Brandon Kessock (7-7 to 23-10). More on the Tide later, too.
• Blue Mountain had a pair of juniors emerge. Lucas Forbes improved from 22-11 to 31-6 with a Schuylkill League gold medal. Splitting time at 220 and 285, Kirk Dougherty rose from 3-3 to 27-10.
• North Schuylkill had a few guys make strong moves: sophomore Owen Boyer (16-14 to 27-9) and junior Dane Tarantelli (14-13 to 27-9).
• At Hamburg, three juniors took steps forward: Matt James (13-19 to 21-9), Tyler Herber (18-24 to 19-12) and Dylan Miller (2-2 to 19-9).
• Others of note: Mahanoy Area junior Nolan Fegley (10-13 to 23-7), Halifax sophomore Jake Paul (19-17 to 26-2), Schuylkill Haven junior Trevyn Fessler (14-14 to 23-7) and Mount Carmel sophomore Wes Shurock (15-16 to 20-6).
Now for the teams.
• Pottsville coach Gary Keener often speaks of the process: Getting more athletes out of the hallways, then layering technique improvements on top of weight training on top of tougher competition. The Tide’s offseason work showed up immediately with a team title at the Bloomsburg DKI Tournament. In dual meets, Pottsville improved from 5-12, 2-4 in Division I last season to 12-8, 5-2 in D-I. The Tide also qualified for the District Duals and beat Pleasant Valley for the program’s first victory in that team competition.
Lots of work remains, but Pottsville’s headed in the right direction.
• Despite a lack of depth, Tri-Valley made an excellent jump, too. The Bulldogs went from 4-10, 2-3 in D-I a year ago to 15-4, 6-1 in D-I. The Dawgs also placed third at the District Duals.
Tri-Valley wrestlers routinely bump around weight classes to create favorable matchups in dual meets. The Dawgs are also a formidable tournament team.
• Under first-year head coach Steve Sinkovich, Mount Carmel improved from 3-11, 1-5 Heartland Athletic Conference Division II to 13-7, 3-3 HAC-II.
Road to Hershey
The individual postseason officially gets under way today with six local teams at Class AA sectional tournaments.
In District 3, Hamburg hosts a sectional, while Upper Dauphin and Halifax are at the other District 3 sectional at Susquenita. Top six in each weight class advance to districts at the Hershey-park Arena.
In District 4, Mount Carmel, Shamokin and Col-Mon Vo-Tech will compete in the Southern Sectional at Southern Columbia High School. Top four in each weight class advance to districts at Williamsport Area High School.
District 11 primer
Bethlehem Freedom and Liberty host all wrestling all the time Feb. 20-21.
Class AAA holds all of its rounds at Liberty, including the consolation finals at 5 p.m. and the finals at 7:15 p.m. Saturday.
Class AA holds all rounds through the consolation semifinals at Freedom before packing up and heading down the road to Liberty for the consolation and championship finals. Those rounds for both classes run at the same time on adjacent mats.
Preliminary action begins at 4 p.m. Friday.
Stars of tomorrow
Youth wrestling will also be big this weekend as Parkland High School hosts the District 11 Junior High Wrestling Tournament.
The interesting thing about this event is that the bracket combines Class AAA and AA wrestlers into the same field.
In the Coal Cracker Wrestling League for elementary kids, the division championships are set for Sunday at Pine Grove. In the first round at noon, Upper Dauphin will meet North Schuylkill and Tamaqua will take on Line Mountain. Blue Mountain and Southern Columbia have first-round byes.
The league tournament is set for Sunday, Feb. 22, at Blue Mountain High School.
(Lipsky is the wrestling
beat writer
for The Republican-Herald)
Power Poll
Team W-L Pvs
1. Blue Mtn. 18-2 1
2. Tri-Valley 15-4 2
3. Pottsville 12-8 3
4. N. Schuylkill 18-5 4
5. Hamburg 13-6 5
As reported by coaches and/or recorded on trackwrestling website through matches as of Feb. 12. Minimum 20 bouts, 10 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) 31-1
Owen Boyer (NS) 27-9
Josh Mason (BM) 24-5
Landon Bruner (Hal) 23-8
Nate Kemmerer (Leh) 22-10
113 pounds
Kyle Stephen (TV) 29-10
Mason Madden-Edwards (NS) 27-9
Willy Girard (WV) 26-4
Hunter Blankenhorn (BM) 26-9
Coy Campbell (UDA) 24-5
Connor Boyer (UDA) 20-8
120 pounds
Sean Stanish (Ham) 33-5
Luke Gardner (P) 32-2
Caleb Bordner (TV) 31-3
Richie Bentz (P) 24-11
Zach Kemmerer (Leh) 23-7
Austin Engle (SH) 23-9
Shane McGrath (NS) 22-8
126 pounds
Tanner McHugh (Tam) 30-4
Sammy Hepler (TV) 29-5
Darren Goida (PV) 25-8
132 pounds
Preston Gehring (SH) 26-3
Danny Diaz-Walton (PG) 25-6
138 pounds
Christian Gosch (BM) 32-6
Dylan Rynkiewicz (Tam) 31-2
Tegan Durishin (Leh) 27-6
Ali Capobianco (PV) 26-13
Nathan Cromyak (P) 25-12
Tommy McDonald (MC) 17-7
145 pounds
Chase Schaeffer (TV) 28-6
Jackson Kennerly (UDA) 24-5
Dylan Miller (Ham) 19-9
152 pounds
Lucas Forbes (BM) 31-6
Tyler Deiter (P) 28-10
Anthony Snyder (TV) 27-8
Trevyn Fessler (SH) 23-7
Matt James (Ham) 21-9
160 pounds
Hunter Harner (TV) 32-4
Ian Cagle (BM) 30-8
Blake Panko (MC) 26-2
Tyler Cann (Leh) 17-7
Matt Miller (WV) 17-7
Josiah Miller (Sham) 15-5
170 pounds
Devon Krammes (BM) 27-11
Brady Mickatavage (NS) 25-11
Nolan Fegley (MA) 23-7
Brandon Kessock (P) 23-10
Kolby Kleckner (P) 23-13
182 pounds
Ignacio Reynoso (Ham) 29-10
Connor Frey (Leh) 27-3
Dylan Moyer (PV) 24-11
C.J. Steinhilber (NS) 23-12
Travis Enders (Hal) 21-8
Gabe Bogutskie (MC) 20-5
195 pounds
Alek Hummel (NS) 35-1
Allen Yancoskie (MC) 24-6
Daymian Shoop (WV) 20-9
220 pounds
Erech Noecker (BM) 31-3
Kirk Dougherty (BM) 27-10
Jake Paul (Hal) 26-2
Danny Scheib (TV) 25-10
Ian Minnich (WV) 20-6
Wes Shurock (MC) 20-6
Rian Shubeck (PV) 19-2
285 pounds
Nate Gadinski (NS) 34-1
Max Motko (SH) 23-8