Lackawanna Trail’s Robbie Schneider and Wyoming Area’s Jaden Pepe won Class 2A Northeast Regional Wrestling titles Saturday night in Williamsport.
Schneider defeated Muncy’s Ty Nixon, 4-2, at 160 pounds while leading Lackawanna Trail to its best-ever team finish in the regional.
The Lions finished second to Benton, 101-80, in the team standings of the two-day event.
Pepe already has a state title to his credit, but the regional championship was his first.
Last season, Pepe’s only loss came in the regional final.
This time, Pepe cruised through the final, remaining unbeaten with a 14-6 major decision of Jersey Shore’s Brock Weiss.
Pepe’s toughest challenge came in his first bout, in the quarterfinals, when he defeated Line Mountain’s Nolan Baumert, 10-6.
Schneider and Pepe were District 2’s only two finalists.
After pinning Jersey Shore’s Tyler Bauder with six seconds left in the quarterfinals, Schneider won the semifinal by major decision, 11-2, over Towanda’s Bryant Grant.
Pepe reached the final by pinning Benton’s Chase Burke in 53 seconds.
Wyoming Area finished fifth out of 41 teams with 74 points. Western Wayne was tied for 24th with 16 points, Lake-Lehman was 27th with 15, Blue Ridge 28th with 14, Mountain View 30th with 8, Honesdale and Montrose tied for 32nd with 5, Berwick and Nanticoke tied for 34th with 4 and Scranton Prep 37th with 3. Hanover Area did not score.
Top four finishers in each weight class advanced to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Individual Championships Thursday through Saturday in Hershey.
Wyoming Area is sending four wrestlers to Hershey and Lackawanna Trail is sending three.
Cooper Price from Wyoming Area decisioned Deegan Ross from Lackawanna Trail, 5-2, at 152.
Wyoming Area also advanced Anthony Evanitsky, at 138 pounds, and Connor Wrobleski, at 189 pounds.
Lackawanna Trail 215-pounder Jonah Houser was the district’s other third-place finisher.
Tyler Rozanski and Seth Ross gave the Lions alternates to the state tournament – in the case of a withdrawal – by finishing fifth at 172 and 189.
Other fifth-place finishers from District 2 were: Blue Ridge’s Jackson Maby at 126, Western Wayne’s Nicolas Arcadipane at 145 and Lake-Lehman’s Mason Konigus at 160.
