By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
PALMYRA TWP. – Abington Heights, Lackawanna Trail and West Scranton all won multiple individual titles, but Delaware Valley used its overall team strength to win the Lackawanna League Wrestling Tournament championship Saturday at Wallenpaupack.
Delaware Valley led early, slipped behind Lackawanna Trail after the Lions went 6-1 in the semifinal round, then moved back in front for good with four straight wins in the middle of the consolation semifinal round.
The Warriors placed wrestlers in the top 6 in 11 of the 13 weight classes, one more than runner-up Abington Heights and Honesdale.
Delaware Valley posted a team score of 199½. The Warriors had one champion, three runner-ups and four third-place finishers
Abington Heights was just fifth in the standings when four other teams got more wrestlers through the quarterfinals, but the Comets worked their way up and passed Lackawanna Trail when the last four of their five finalists produced titles.
The Comets finished 15 points back.
Lackawanna Trail, the defending champion, was third with 177½ points. The Lions and sixth-place West Scranton each had three champions.
Honesdale did not have a champion and had just two finalists, but the Hornets used their depth to take fourth in the 16-team field with 157½ points.
The complete team scores and a weight-by-weight breakdown of the tournament results:
TEAM STANDINGS
| Place | Team | Top Six Finishers | Points |
| 1 | Delaware Valley | 11 | 199.5 |
| 2 | Abington Heights | 10 | 184.5 |
| 3 | Lackawanna Trail | 8 | 177.5 |
| 4 | Honesdale | 10 | 157.5 |
| 5 | Wallenpaupack | 8 | 149.5 |
| 6 | West Scranton | 7 | 121.5 |
| 7 | Scranton | 5 | 99 |
| 8 | Western Wayne | 6 | 60 |
| 9 | Blue Ridge | 4 | 44 |
| 10 | Valley View | 3 | 43.5 |
| 11 | North Pocono | 2 | 38.5 |
| 12 | Scranton Prep | 2 | 24 |
| 13 | Mid Valley | 1 | 21 |
| 14 | Montrose | 1 | 13 |
| 15 | Mountain View | 0 | 4 |
| 16 | Elk Lake | 0 | 0 |
107 pounds
1, Drew Leonori, Scranton
2, Connor Beck, Abington Heights
3, Giovanni Lomanaco, Wallenpaupack
4, Brice Woodruff, Blue Ridge
5, Sam Eisele, Honesdale
6, Drew Sophabmixay, West Scranton
Final results: Leonori over Beck, 14-8; Lomanaco over Woodruff, 6-5; Eisele over Sophabmixay, 3:28.
Notes: Four of the top five were freshmen, joining Beck, a sophomore. … All four of Woodruff’s bouts were decisions by one or two points. He split both one-point and two-point decisions.
114 pounds
1, Luke Sirianni, Abington Heights
2, Landon Machado, Delaware Valley
3, Shoaib Nadir, Scranton
4, Nikolas Skokas, Wallenpaupack
5, Brett Hoey, Honesdale
6, Marcello Caminiti, Western Wayne
Final results: Sirianni over Machado, 13-5; Nadir over Skokas, 2:35; Hoey over Caminiti, 14-11.
Notes: Sirianni also won last year when the second-lowest weight class was 113. He won at 106 as a freshman in 2019. There was no tournament two years ago when COVID shortened the season. … Sirianni only needed to wrestle twice because it was the tournament’s smallest bracket with just seven entries.
121 pounds
1, Tyson Cook, West Scranton
2, Justin Scanlon, Honesdale
3, Luke Magnotta, North Pocono
4, Brady Kareha, Abington Heights
5, Jason Mele, Delaware Valley
6, Nick Boccadori, Valley View
Final results: Cook over Scanlon, 15-0; Magnotta over Kareha, 4-1; Boccadori over Mele, 4:59.
Note: Cook followed up a major decision in the quarterfinals with consecutive technical falls, outscoring his three opponents on the day, 45-1.
127 pounds
1, Zac Jacaruso, Delaware Valley
2, Matt Almedina, Mid Valley
3, Jason Williams, West Scranton
4, Josh Young, Honesdale
5, Kameron Sheffer, Blue Ridge
6, Landon Morcom, Western Wayne
Final results: Jacaruso over Almedina, 5-2; Williams over Young, 3-1; Sheffer over Morcom, 7-4.
Notes: Jacaruso, a returning state champion, won at 120 pounds last year. … Almedina a freshman, reached the final with a 26-second pin, then two decisions in which he gave up just one point. He then went the distance with Jacaruso, who had stopped his first two opponents in a total of 2:03.
133 pounds
1, Mike Turi, West Scranton
2, Jaden Colwell, Wallenpaupack
3, Dom Moyer, Delaware Valley
4, Liam Farley, Western Wayne
5, Jake Leonari, Scranton
6, Luke Evans, Abington Heights
Final results: Turi over Colwell, 15-0; Moyer over Farley, 1:57; Leonori over Evans, 5-4.
Notes: Between technical falls in the preliminary round and final, Turi had to work through two close decisions. The freshman defeated Blue Ridge’s Jackson Maby, 6-5, in the quarterfinals, then rallied from a 1-0 deficit against Moyer after two periods to win, 4-1. … After the one-point loss to the eventual champion, Maby forfeited his next match for medical reasons and was out of the tournament.
139 pounds
1, Gunnar Myers, Wallenpaupack
2, Ethan Lee, Lackawanna Trail
3, Travis Walton, Delaware Valley
4, Aidan Ryan, Abington Heights
5, Tyler Barletta, Western Wayne
6, Memphis Collins, Blue Ridge
Final results: Myers over Lee, 21-9; Walton over Ryan, 4:29; Barletta over Collins, 2:23.
Notes: Myers also won last season at 132. … The weight class joined 152 and 160 as having the tournament’s largest brackets with 14 wrestlers each.
145 pounds
1, Austin Smith, Abington Heights
2, T.J. Martin, Honesdale
3, Nate Oropallo, Blue Ridge
4, Luke Brazanskas, Delaware Valley
5, Michael Smith, Western Wayne
6, Isaac Ryon, Lackawanna Trail
Final results: Smith over Martin, 19-5; Brazanskas over Oropallo, 2-1; Smith over Ryon, 0:55.
Notes: Smith repeated as 145-pound champion. … Martin reached the final with a pair of first-period pins while Smith got there with consecutive second-period pins.
152 pounds
1, M.J. Turi, West Scranton
2, Max Bluhm, Lackawanna Trail
3, Michael Zipay, Valley View
4, Joey Giannetti, Honesdale
5, Colin Price, Abington Heights
6, Nick Arcadipane, Western Wayne
Final results: Turi over Bluhm, 3-2; Giannetti over Zipay, 9-3; Price over Arcadipane, forfeit.
Notes: The weight class joined 133 and 160 as having the tournament’s largest brackets with 14 wrestlers each. … Bluhm got to the final with two straight pins in under a minute, then a major decision.
160 pounds
1, Brian Heard, Abington Heights
2, Deegan Ross, Lackawanna Trail
3, A.J. Dierksen, Delaware Valley
4, Camryn Higgins, Valley View
5, Mason Avery, Honesdale
6, Louis Antidormi, North Pocono
Final results: Heard over Ross, 10-7; Dierksen over Higgins, 4-3; Avery over Antidormi, 7-2.
Notes: The final was a meeting of returning league tournament champions and state qualifiers, making it one of the most anticipated bouts of the event. Heard won at 138 last season as a freshman when Ross was winning at 152. … The weight class joined 133 and 152 as having the largest brackets with 14 wrestlers each.
172 pounds
1, Robbie Schneider, Lackawanna Trail
2, C.J. Walton, Delaware Valley
3, Colby Celuck, West Scranton
4, Bennett Fritz, Honesdale
5, Conan Kier, Wallenpaupack
6, Jamie Barrett, Scranton Prep
Final results: Schneider over Walton, 12-5; Celuck over Fritz, 13-3; Kier over Barrett, forfeit
Notes: Schneider joined Sirianni as three-time champions. He won at 126 pounds in 2019 and 172 in 2021.
189 pounds
1, Caleb Marzolino, Abington Heights
2, Henry Baronowski, Wallenpaupack
3, Beau Ware, Lackawanna Trail
4, Paul Renner, Honesdale
5, Brennan Colville, Delaware Valley
6, Joe Harris, West Scranton
Final results: Marzolino over Baronowski, 0:50; Ware over Renner, 1:14; Colville over Harris, 8-6 (overtime).
Notes: Marzolino won the 172-pound title last season. … Marzolino posted three straight first-period pins against three of the other four top finishers in the weight class, winning in 1:04 and 1:57 on the way to the final.
215 pounds
1, Seth Ross, Lackawanna Trail
2, Sean Cordaro, Scranton
3, Xaiden Schock, Wallenpaupack
4, Joel Landry, Honesdale
5, Noah Polhill, Delaware Valley
6, Louis Paris, Scranton Prep
Final results: Ross over Cordaro, 0:48; Schock over Landry, 10-3; Polhill over Paris, forfeit.
Notes: Ross won the title last season at 189 pounds. … Ross posted three straight pins, two in the first period, in a total of 5:16.
285 pounds
1, Jonah Houser, Lackawanna Trail
2, Aiden Black, Delaware Valley
3, Javon James, Scranton
4, Justin Gougeon, Wallenpaupack
5, J.J. Gorrick, Abington Heights
6, Derrick DeMann, Montrose
Final results: Houser over Black, 4-1; James over Gougeon, 1:52; Gorrick over DeMann, medical forfeit.
Notes: Houser won the 215-pound title last year. … Black finished second last year, losing the final in overtime. … Both finalists were state tournament qualifiers last season.
MORE COVERAGE
Photo Gallery: Lackawanna League Wrestling Photo Gallery – NEPA Sports Nation.
