By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
PLAINS – Wyoming Valley West has the lead and Pittston Area is in position to mount a challenge for the team title when the Wyoming Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament resumes Sunday at 1 p.m.
The tournament was scheduled to be completed as a one-day event Saturday, but a water main break in Plains cut off the water supply to Wilkes-Barre Area High School leading to wrestlers and fans being sent home early.
The semifinals had been completed Saturday, setting up the finalists and all weight classes were trimmed to six wrestlers, including the four that were about to compete in the consolation semifinals.
The consolation semifinals will start Sunday’s action following a noon weigh-in. Those will all have two bouts because they will proceed to third- and fifth-place matches along with the finals.
Wyoming Valley West built its 13-point lead over Pittston Area by sending six wrestlers into the championship round when no other school had more than four.
Pittston Area has the most total wrestlers alive with 12 and a chance to make up ground in the consolation semifinals with eight in action.
Caleb Hoffman is one of Wyoming Valley West’s finalists after being the only wrestler in the field to knock off a top seed Saturday. He scored a takedown with 52 seconds left and remained on top from there to beat Adam Shotwell from Nanticoke, 6-5, in a 127-pound semifinal.
The Spartans also have one of the defending champions still in action in 107-pounder Dorian Hoffman.
Wyoming Area and Pittston Area both have two defending champions among their four wrestlers in the finals.
Two-time state champion Jaden Pepe and Anthony Evanitsky are the Warriors while Julian Everitt and Jimmy Spindler are the Patriots.
The other defending champions in action are Simon Zamudio from Hazleton Area, Magnus Bibla from Crestwood and Bruce Hartman from Berwick.
The Bibla brothers, Lincoln and Magnus, will wrestle in back-to-back finals at 189 and 215.
There will not be an admission charge for Sunday’s wrestling.
The team scoring, with number of finalists, consolation semifinalists and total wresters for each school, is below, along with the pairings for the finals:
WYOMING VALLEY CONFERENCE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
Team standings
| Rank | Team | Score | Finalists | Consy Semis | Total Wrestlers |
| 1 | Wyoming Valley West | 167.5 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Pittston Area | 154.5 | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| 3 | Crestwood | 126.5 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| 4 | Berwick | 121.5 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 5 | Wyoming Area | 118.5 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | Dallas | 93 | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| 7 | Hazleton Area | 79 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 8 | Tunkhannock | 76 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 9 | Lake-Lehman | 61 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 10 | Wilkes-Barre Area | 58.5 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 11 | Nanticoke | 47 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 212 | Hanover Area | 30 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Final matchups
107 – Dorian Hoffman, Wyoming Valley West vs. Lexi Schecterly, Lake-Lehman.
114 – Connor Novakowski, Wyoming Area vs. Sidney O’Donnell, Dallas.
121 – Simon Zamudio, Hazleton Area vs. Loudon Giza, Wyoming Valley West.
127 – Caleb Hoffman, Wyoming Valley West vs. Dominic Bernardi, Pittston Area.
133 – Jonny Stone, Wyoming Area vs. Santino Casarella, Crestwood.
139 – Jaden Pepe, Wyoming Area vs. Dominic Innamorati, Pittston Area.
145, – Julian Everitt, Pittston Area vs. Tyler Winter, Berwick.
152 – Anthony Evanitsky, Wyoming Area vs. Brayden Emel, Nanticoke.
160 – Jimmy Spindler, Pittston Area vs. Patrick Munley, Tunkhannock.
172 – Joe Rivas, Wyoming Valley West vs. Max Parry, Tunkhannock.
189 – Lincoln Bibla, Crestwood vs. James Griffin, Wyoming Valley West.
215 — Magnus Bibla, Crestwood vs. John McLaughlin, Wyoming Valley West.
285 – Bruce Hartman, Berwick vs. Dave Sudo, Pittston Area.
