Lake-Lehman, North Pocono use tourney titles to climb in rankings

Wet conditions moved the league “preseason” golf tournaments into the early stage of the season.

When those tournaments were finally able to be conducted Monday, Lake-Lehman and North Pocono turned in impressive performances in title-producing efforts which allowed each team to make a move in this week’s Scranton Golf Center Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams.

Lake-Lehman rises to No. 1 among Small Schools, building the credentials necessary to pull off the unlikely accomplishment of moving ahead of a defending state champion with the bulk of its lineup still in place.

North Pocono showed it was possible to finish ahead of the defending state champs when it beat Scranton Prep out of the title in the Bob Simons Classic. The Trojans used that effort to climb from third to second among Big Schools.

The tournaments, both conducted in the format that will be used to decide district and state titles, combined with a busy week of league action to help create multiple moves in the rankings from a week ago.

Dallas, Crestwood and Riverside joined Lake-Lehman and North Pocono in moving up. Hanover Area and Mid Valley both moved into the Super Six.

Abington Heights split in two competitions with North Pocono during the week and held on to the number-one spot among Big Schools, but it is a ranking that is now open to increased debate.

The Comets went 3-1 on the week, losing to Scranton Prep, but beating North Pocono, 5½-3½, in Lackawanna League Division 1 play. Abington Heights finished third, behind those two teams, out of 18 in Monday’s Bob Simons Classic at Elkview Country Club.

The new No. 1 Small School is Lake-Lehman, which debuted its new lineup with stunning results.

Brothers Eli and Cael Ropietski, transfers from Holy Redeemer, joined Michael Lugiano, a state qualifier last year as a freshman, as the leaders of a lineup that is a collective 11-under-par through 27 holes of four-man scoring.

Lake-Lehman followed up a 281 to win the Tom Tryba Memorial Tournament at Fox Hill Country Club Monday, then shot 8-under-par 136 to beat two opponents in its WVC Division 3 opener Tuesday.

North Pocono, Dallas and Crestwood each moved up one spot to occupy second through fourth place among Big Schools, behind Abington Heights and North Pocono.

Dallas and Crestwood are each off to 3-0 starts. They were second and third at the Tryba Tournament.

Hazleton Area (2-0) slipped from second to fifth after placing fifth in the Tryba, one spot in front of sixth-ranked Pittston Area, which finished sixth in the tournament and added two more wins to each 3-1.

The Small School portion of the rankings changed even more dramatically than the Big Schools.

Scranton Prep is second despite its credentials and a 5-0 start in Lackawanna League Division 1.

Riverside moves up from fifth to third. The Vikings won two out of three matches, losing only to Scranton Prep in a non-leaguer, and had the best finish of non-Division 1 schools, placing fifth at the Simons Classic.

Hanover Area and Mid Valley moved into the rankings in fourth and fifth.

The Hawkeyes are 3-0 to lead WVC Division 3 and placed fourth in the Tryba Tournament.

Mid Valley shares the Lackawanna Division 3 lead with Lackawanna Trail after tying the defending champion Lions in a league match and finishing ahead of them in the Simons Classic.

Lackawanna Trail (5-0-1) remained in the rankings, but slipped from fourth to sixth.

Defending WVC Division 3 champion Holy Redeemer lost twice and went from third to out of the rankings.

Montrose, the former No. 6, is 2-0, but fell out of the rankings after finishing behind Riverside, Mid Valley and Lackawanna Trail in the Simons Classic.

The ranked teams with their records and last week’s rankings:

SCRANTON GOLF CENTER SUPER SIX POWER RANKINGS

Big Schools

Small Schools