The Road to Hershey begins this weekend for wrestlers in District 11.
For 11 from Schuylkill League, that road will start from the pole position.
The 67th annual District 11 Wrestling Championships will take place Friday and Saturday in Bethlehem, with Class AAA competition at Liberty High School and the early rounds in Class AA at Freedom High School. The finals for both classes will be Saturday night at Liberty.
Pigtails and preliminary-round matches will begin at 4 p.m. Friday, with the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. and the first round of consolations at 8 p.m.
Saturday, second-round consolations will start at 9 a.m., with the championship semifinals and third-round consolations at 10:30 a.m. and the fourth-round consolations at 1 p.m.
Saturday evening’s session at Liberty features the consolation finals for third and fifth places at 5 p.m. and the championship finals at 7:15 p.m.
In Class AA, Tri-Valley had five wrestlers earn the top seed in their respective weight classes: Caleb Bordner (120), Sammy Hepler (126), Chase Schaeffer (145), Hunter Harner (160) and Dan Scheib (220). Another Bulldog, Anthony Snyder, is seeded second at 152 pounds.
Other Schuylkill League wrestlers to secure top seeds were North Schuylkill’s Alek Hummel (195) and Nate Gadinski (285), Jim Thorpe’s Kevan Gentile (106), Williams Valley’s Willy Girard (113), Tamaqua’s Dylan Rynkiewicz (138) and Lehighton’s Connor Frey (182).
In Class AAA, Bethlehem Catholic wrestlers grabbed six of the 14 top seeds, while no Schuylkill League wrestler will lead their weight class.
The highest-seeded Schuylkill League wrestlers were Blue Mountain’s Joshua Mason (103) and Pottsville’s Luke Gardner (120), who were both third.
The top-four placewinners in Class AA advance to the Southeast Regional held Feb. 27-28 at Wilson West Lawn, while the top-five placewinners in Class AAA advance to the Northeast Regional the same weekend.
District 11 Wrestling Championships
Friday-Saturday, in Bethlehem
CLASS AA
Top 4 Seeds
106 — 1. Kevan Gentile, Jim Thorpe (29-0); 2. John Consorti, Wilson (27-3); 3. Zack Wasser, Palisades (25-4); 4. Matt Peters, Northwestern Lehigh (22-4)
113 — 1. Willy Girard, Williams Valley (24-3); 2. Mason Madden-Edwards, North Schuylkill (23-6); 3. Colten Rex, Northern Lehigh (21-3); 4. Jack Hill, Saucon Valley (25-6)
120 — 1. Caleb Bordner, Tri-Valley (25-3); 2. Quentin Bernhard, Northwestern Lehigh (21-3); 3. Zach Kemmerer, Lehighton (20-6); 4. Tanner Kennedy, Panther Valley (20-12)
126 — 1. Sammy Hepler, Tri-Valley (23-5); 2. Jacob Wasser, Palisades (15-2); 3. Tanner McHugh, Tamaqua (28-3); 4. Chase Anklam, Pen Argyl (21-5)
132 — 1. Jason Jones, Saucon Valley (24-7); 2. Matt Schmall, Northern Lehigh (24-3); 3. Hunter Kennedy, Panther Valley (20-12); 4. Ryan Greene, Catasauqua (20-6)
138 — 1. Dylan Rynkiewicz, Tamaqua (28-2); 2. Tyler Marsh, Palisades (28-1); 3. Tegan Durishin, Lehighton (23-6); 4. Ali Capobianco, Panther Valley (22-10)
145 — 1. Chase Schaeffer, Tri-Valley (23-5); 2. Ryan Farber, Northern Lehigh (24-3); 3. Reese Cornish, Notre Dame-Green Pond (27-4); 4. Dylan Yonney, Saucon Valley (21-6)
152 — 1. Michael Comunale, Pius X (24-0); 2. Anthony Snyder, Tri-Valley (23-6); 3. Conrad Young, Northern Lehigh (22-6); 4. Trevyn Fessler, Schuylkill Haven (22-4)
160 — 1. Hunter Harner, Tri-Valley (26-4); 2. Christian Gretzinger, Palisades (12-6); 3. Michael Reif, Notre Dame-Green Pond (23-7); 4. Blayne Hirshbeck, Saucon Valley (21-9)
170 — 1. Jason Lynch, Saucon Valley (27-2); 2. Zachary Graver, Palmerton (17-4); 3. Dylan Moyer, Panther Valley (20-9); 4. Brady Mickatavage, North Schuylkill (22-7)
182 — 1. Connor Frey, Lehighton (24-3); 2. C.J. Steinhilber, North Schuylkill (18-10); 3. Jarred Mooney, Palmerton (21-8); 4. Benjamin Nosal, Catasauqua (9-3)
195 — 1. Alek Hummel, North Schuylkill (29-1); 2. Rian Shubeck, Panther Valley (14-1); 3. Nicholas Bord, Palisades (16-2); 4. Keegan Connelly, ACC (21-7)
220 — 1. Dan Scheib, Tri-Valley (21-7); 2. Ian Minnich, Williams Valley (18-4); 3. Julian Wismer, Notre Dame-Green Pond (27-3); 4. Satchel Stauffer, Catasauqua (24-6)
285 — 1. Nathan Gadinski, North Schuylkill (28-1); 2. Anthony Greggo, Pius X (23-2); 3. Cameron Kates, Northern Lehigh (24-3); 4. James Cox, Williams Valley (15-8)
CLASS AAA
Top seed, plus locals in Top 8
106 — 1. Tyson Klump, Nazareth (12-9) ... 3. Joshua Mason, Blue Mountain (19-4)
113 — 1. Daniel Moran, Northampton (25-4) ... 8. Hunter Blankenhorn, Blue Mountain (22-6)
120 — 1. Jake Riegel, Bethlehem Catholic (27-3) ... 3. Luke Gardner, Pottsville (26-2)
126 — 1. Luke Karam, Bethlehem Catholic (27-2) ... 5. Richie Bentz, Pottsville (21-8)
132 — 1. Evan Fidelibus, Easton (29-1)
138 — 1. Stephen Maloney, Bethlehem Catholic (27-5) ... 4. Christian Gosch, Blue Mountain (28-4)
145 — 1. James Saylor, Easton (28-1) ... 8. Cole Painter, Pottsville (20-11)
152 — 1. Michael Labriola, Bethlehem Catholic (28-3) ... 6. Lucas Forbes, Blue Mountain (25-6); 8. Tyler Deiter, Pottsville (23-8)
160 — 1. Adam Soldridge, Bethlehem Catholic (24-7) ... 5. Ian Cagle, Blue Mountain (25-7)
170 — 1. Matthew Mirth, Southern Lehigh (22-0) ... 7. Devon Krammes, Blue Mountain (20-10); 8. Brandon Kessock, Pottsville (18-8)
182 — 1. Jake Jakobsen, Stroudsburg (27-1)
195 — 1. Thomas Alcaro, Emmaus (22-1)
220 — 1. Omar Haddad, Parkland (24-7) ... 4. Erech Noecker, Blue Mountain (26-2)
285 — 1. Andrew Dunn, Bethlehem Catholic (27-0) ... 4. Kirk Dougherty, Blue Mountain (23-8)