Pictured above: Wyoming Area’s Jaden Pepe (on top) in file tournament action from last season.
By Tom Robinson and Ben Magnotta, NEPASportsNation.com
When District 2 established the seeds for its individual wrestling championships Monday, only one of the two defending state champions from the district was entered in the tournament to be held Friday and Saturday at Wilkes-Barre Area High School.
Wyoming Area’s Jaden Pepe, a two-time defending Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association champion, will go after his fourth straight District 2 Class 2A title as the top seed at 133 pounds.
Delaware Valley’s Zac Jacaruso, a Class 3A state champion last season, is not entered.
The only result for Jacaruso in the last dozen competitions for the Warriors was to receive a forfeit in the District 2 Class 3A Dual Meet Tournament championship match against Abington Heights. Jacaruso, who went 16-2 at 121 and 127 pounds, was ready to wrestle that day, if challenged, but has not actually faced an opponent since Jan. 12.
After Jacaruso’s forfeit helped Delaware Valley avenge losses to Abington Heights to decide the 2022 and 2023 Lackawanna League Division 1 championship and the 2022 District 2 Class 3A championship, coach Lou DeLauro said that an injury made Jacaruso unlikely to wrestle in the state team tournament in the hopes of being ready to defend his individual titles.
“He’s banged up,” DeLauro said at the district dual meet final Feb. 4. “ … He was going to wrestle tonight, 100 percent. I’m actually happy that he did not have to.”
As it turned out, Jacaruso’s high school career concluded in the forfeit. He went 111-12 with three district, two Northeast Regional and one state title.
While the district’s top individuals take their shot at advancing into regionals with the hopes of making it to Hershey for the state tournament, there will also be team scoring titles on the line.
After upset losses in rematches in the dual meet finals, Lackawanna League division champions and defending team scoring champions Abington Heights and Lackawanna Trail will have new title shots.
Abington Heights matches West Scranton for the most top seeds in Class 3A with four each.
Abington Heights has the most wrestlers seeded to reach the final with six in the top two and ties Wallenpaupack and Wyoming Valley West for the most seeded in the top four at seven wrestlers each.
Delaware Valley has two top seeds, three seconds seeds and a third seed.
Lackawanna Trail has five top seeds in Class 2A where Wyoming Area, with three, is the only other school with multiples.
The Lions have eight wrestlers seeded to reach the finals and nine seeded to make the top four. Both totals are two more than Honesdale, which beat the Lions in the dual meet final.
There could be more Honesdale-Lackawanna Trail matches ahead with four weight classes where the Hornets and Lions combine for the top two seeds.
The top four seeds in each weight class:
CLASS AAA
107 – 1, Luke Sirianni, Abington Heights (35-2). 2, Dorian Hoffman, Wyoming Valley West (37-2). 3, Drew Leonori, Scranton (22-4). 4, Oscar Ciriaco, Pittston Area (21-9).
114 – 1, Tyson Cook, West Scranton (29-1). 2, Landon Machado, Delaware Valley (27-11). 3, Nicholos Skokos, Wallenpaupack (25-12). 4, Brady Kareha, Abington Heights (19-15).
121 – 1, Jason Williams, West Scranton (23-8). 2, Simon Zamudio, Hazleton Area (20-10). 3, Louden Giza, Wyoming Valley West (26-9). 4, Luke Magnotta, North Pocono (22-2).
127 – 1, Michael Turi, West Scranton (37-3). 2, Jaden Colwell, Wallenpaupack (37-3). 3, Caleb Hoffman, Wyoming Valley West (31-9). 4, Sam Jeckell, Crestwood (15-9).
133 – 1, Dom Moyer, Delaware Valley (31-9). 2, Gunnar Myers, Wallenpaupack (35-3). 3, Lucas Tirpak, Dallas (25-5). 4, Jacob Leonori, Scranton (15-13).
139 – 1, Austin Smith, Abington Heights (31-4). 2, Dominic Innamorati, Pittston Area (24-11). 3, Edonel Rodriguez, Hazleton Area (21-12). 4, Liam Evanko, Wilkes-Barre Area (26-6).
145 – 1, MJ Turi, West Scranton (32-5). 2, Sam Stevens, Abington Heights (28-7). 3, Luke Brazanskas, Delaware Valley (23-11). 4, Logan Caruso, Wallenpaupack (15-16).
152 – 1, Brian Heard, Abington Heights (35-4). 2, Gene Ardo, Wilkes-Barre Area (24-7). 3, Mason Marolo, Hazleton Area (17-15). 4, Mason Bennett, West Scranton (20-10).
160 – 1, Jimmy Spindler, Pittston Area (30-4). 2, AJ Dierksen, Delaware Valley (19-14). 3, Mason Sgarlat, Wyoming Valley West (21-9). 4, Louis Antidormi, North Pocono (15-7).
172 – 1, Joe Rivas, Wyoming Valley West (32-7). 2, CJ Walton, Delaware Valley (27-11). 3, Colby Celuck, West Scranton (29-9). 4, Conan Kier, Wallenpaupack (29-12).
189 – 1, Caleb Marzolino, Abington Heights (35-4). 2, Jake Griffin, Wyoming Valley West (27-10). 3, Xaiden Schock, Wallenpaupack (34-7). 4, Lincoln Bibla, Crestwood (19-8).
215 – 1, Hank Baronowski, Wallenpaupack (34-4). 2, Magnus Bibla, Crestwood (28-2). 3, Sean Cordaro, Scranton (23-7). 4, Brody Spindler, Pittston Area (26-8).
285 – 1, Aiden Black, Delaware Valley (25-8). 2, John Gorrick, Abington Heights (19-14). 3, Nick Giza, Wyoming Valley West (24-10). 4, David Sudo, Pittston Area (28-5).
CLASS AA
107 – 1, Lexi Schechterly, Lake-Lehman (19-9). 2, Derek Warman, Hanover Area (17-7). 3, Brice Woodruff, Blue Ridge (23-10). 4, Larissa Taylor, Montrose (18-17).
114 – 1, Connor Novakowski, Wyoming Area (26-8). 2, Brayden Clarke, Lackawanna Trail (21-11). 3, Taylor Daniels, Tunkhannock (19-8). 4, Alex Cordts, Montrose (20-7).
121 – 1, Matthew Almendina, Mid Valley (25-7). 2, Josh Young, Honesdale (29-9). 3, Anthony Kalapach, Berwick (17-8). 4, Nick Boccadori, Valley View (16-9).
127 – 1, Dylan Geertgens, Montrose (22-4). 2, Kyle Winter, Berwick (30-12). 3, David Grzenda, Valley View (18-6). 4, Johnny Stone, Wyoming Area (25-7).
133 – 1, Jaden Pepe, Wyoming Area (33-1). 2, Jackson Maby, Blue Ridge (27-7). 3, Garet Fowler, Lackawanna Trail (25-10). 4, Liam Farley, Western Wayne (25-11).
139 – 1, Anthony Evanitsky, Wyoming Area (30-4). 2, Ethan Lee, Lackawanna Trail (35-4). 3, T.J. Martin, Honesdale (29-11). 4, Tyler Winter, Berwick (24-11).
145 – 1, Jake Leslie, Western Wayne (22-8). 2, Joey Giannetti, Honesdale (28-11). 3, Nathan Oropallo, Blue Ridge (22-11). 4, Josh Kishbaugh, Berwick (13-12).
152 – 1, Max Bluhm, Lackawanna Trail (34-2). 2, Mason Avery, Honesdale (32-9). 3, Nicolas Arcadipane, Western Wayne (15-10). 4, Michael Zipay, Valley View (18-5).
160 – 1, Deegan Ross, Lackawanna Trail (33-2). 2, Bennett Fritz, Honesdale (23-15). 3, John Guerriero, Berwick (27-9). 4, Aidan Shamaski, Hanover Area (12-6).
172 – 1, Robbie Schneider, Lackawanna Trail (34-0). 2, Joel Landry, Honesdale (27-14). 3, Brayden Emel, Nanticoke (21-10). 4, Landon Baker, Elk Lake (21-7).
189 – 1, Paul Renner, Honesdale (28-10). 2, Beau Ware, Lackawanna Trail (30-7). 3, John Tyler, Elk Lake (25-3). 4, Josh Ryan, Lake-Lehman (12-10).
215 – 1, Seth Ross, Lackawanna Trail (32-3). 2, Liam Carroll, Berwick (20-7). 3, Derrick DeMann, Montrose (19-9). 4, Louis Paris, Scranton Prep (17-9).
285 – 1, Jonah Houser, Lackawanna Trail (29-7). 2, Bruce Hartman, Berwick (30-5). 3, Patrick Whelan, Scranton Prep (12-8). 4, Nathan Obrzut, Wyoming Area (19-5).
