Delaware Valley’s Zac Jacaruso won the 113-pound title and Abington Heights finished third in the team standings while advancing five wrestlers to the state championships, highlighting District 2 efforts at Friday and Saturday’s Class 3A Northeast Regional Wrestling Tournament at Bethlehem Liberty High School.
Jacaruso, a state runner-up last season as a sophomore, repeated his regional title with a 5-3 decision of Nazareth’s Tahir Parkins.
Abington Heights had three of District 2’s other four finalists and five total in the top four, qualifying them for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Individual Wrestling Championships Thursday through Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Luke Sirianni (106 pounds), Brian Heard (138) and Caleb Marzolino (172) from Abington Heights and Crestwood’s Magnus Bibla (215) all finished second in the region.
Nazareth, the team that knocked Abington Heights out of state dual meet title contention, edged dual meet state champion Bethlehem Catholic, 260-254½, for the team title.
Abington Heights was third with 120 points.
Delaware Valley was next among District 2 teams with 79½ points.
Wallenpaupack was 10th in the 41-team field with 41½ points, Tunkhannock was 11th with 40, Crestwood 14th with 32, Pittston Area 17th with 29, Hazleton Area 19th with 26½, West Scranton and Wyoming Valley West tied for 20th with 23, Dallas 30th with 6½, Scranton tied for 31st with 6. Valley View did not score.
Jacaruso reached the final by shutting out Bethlehem Catholic’s Cole Campbell, 11-0, and edging Northampton’s Carson Wagner, 3-2.
Marzolino made the final with a technical fall and a decision then lost to Luke Thomas from Bethlehem Catholic, 7-3.
Sirianni won by technical fall and first-period pin before his unbeaten record was spoiled in the final in a 13-2 loss to Bethlehem Catholic’s Nathan Desmond.
Heard needed three wins to reach the final. Those wins included a 44-second pin and a technical fall, along with a one-point decision, before being pinned by Bethlehem Catholic’s Tyler Kasak in 2:43 of the final.
Bibla reached the final with consecutive pins then lost to Chase Levey from Nazareth by injury default while trailing, 2-0, at the end of the first period.
Abington Heights also had one of the five District 2 wrestlers who finished third by winning in the consolation finals.
Austin Smith defeated Christian Fritz from Northampton, 8-1, at 145.
The other third-place finishers from the district were: Tyson Cook from West Scranton at 106; Gunnar Meyers, Wallenpaupack, 126; Julian Everitt, Pittston Area, 132; and Aiden Black, Delaware Valley, 285.
Cook defeated Delaware Valley’s Landon Machado, 11-0, in an all-District 2 consolation final.
Sal Schiavone from Abington Heights, at 152, and Henry Baranowski from Wallenpaupack, at 215, joined Machado as regional qualifiers with fourth-place finishes.
Wyoming Valley West’s Dorian Hoffman defeated Easton’s Christopher Kelly for fifth-place at 106, making him an alternate for the state tournament.
Hazleton Area’s Simon Zamudio (113) and Bryce Molinaro (189), Tunkhannock’s Owen Woods (132) and Patrick Munley (152); Abington Heights’ Hutch Lynott (160) and Tomas Delos Rios (215) and Delaware Valley’s A.J. Dierksen (145) and C.J. Ross (172) all finished sixth.
