Photo credit: Edonal Rodriguez from Hazleton Area (left) and Lucas Tirpak from Dallas wrestle in the 139-pound semifinals. (Tom Robinson Photo)
By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
PLAINS TWP. – Wyoming Valley West won the team championship of the Wyoming Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament Saturday and Sunday at Wilkes-Barre Area High School.
The Spartans held on to their lead when the tournament was extended into a second day. The championship round and the last two rounds of consolations were completed Sunday after a water main break in Plains caused the event to be suspended Saturday.
Wyoming Area captured four individual titles and Jimmy Spindler from second-place Pittston Area was named Outstanding Wrestler.
Wyoming Valley West’s Dorian Hoffman, Berwick’s Bruce Hartman, Wyoming Area’s Jaden Pepe and Anthony Evanitsky and Pittston Area’s Spindler and Julian Everitt all repeated as champions.
The top six places in each weight class were determined.
While Wyoming Area had the most champions, Wyoming Valley West had the most finalists with six, three of which won titles.
Pittston Area had the most top-six finishers with 12.
The complete team scores and a weight-by-weight breakdown of the tournament results:
TEAM STANDINGS
| Place | Team | Top Six Finishers | Points |
| 1 | Wyoming Valley West | 9 | 198 |
| 2 | Pittston Area | 12 | 188 |
| 3 | Berwick | 8 | 162 |
| 4 | Crestwood | 10 | 158.5 |
| 5 | Wyoming Area | 7 | 147.5 |
| 6 | Dallas | 7 | 113 |
| 7 | Hazleton Area | 5 | 99 |
| 8 | Wilkes-Barre Area | 5 | 89.5 |
| 9 | Tunkhannock | 5 | 81 |
| 10 | Lake-Lehman | 3 | 61 |
| 11 | Hanover Area | 3 | 53 |
| 12 | Nanticoke | 2 | 41 |
107 pounds
1, Dorian Hoffman, Wyoming Valley West
2, Lexi Schechterly, Lake-Lehman
3, Derek Warman, Hanover Area
4, Carmen Malt, Berwick
5, Oscar Ciriaco, Pittston Area
6, Shane Emsley, Wyoming Area
Final results: Hoffman over Schechterly, 15-0, 4:12; Warman over Carmen Malt, 0:41; Ciriaco over Emsley, 2:48.
Notes: Hoffman and Schechterly each got to their final-round rematch with back-to-back, first-period pins. … Hoffman scored 11 points in the second period of the final by following up an escape and takedown by turning Schechterly to her back three times.
114 pounds
1, Connor Novakowski, Wyoming Area
2, Sidney O’Donnell, Dallas
3, Taylor Daniels, Tunkhannock
4, Nick Webb, Crestwood
5, Richie Kioskie, Wyoming Valley West
6, Jonathan Healey, Pittston Area
Final results: Novakowski over O’Donnell, 4-3; Daniels over Webb, 4-0; Kioskie over Healey, forfeit
Notes: Novakowski scored a takedown 14 seconds into the final, then fell behind, 3-2, before the first minute was over. Novakowski tied the match on a first-period escape and won it with a second-period escape. … The bracket was the smallest in the tournament with just seven entries, earning Novakowski the only quarterfinal bye of the event. … Third-seeded O’Donnell reached the final with a 6-4, overtime decision over second-seeded Daniels with the help of a tying takedown with 12 seconds left in regulation.
121 pounds
1, Simon Zamudio, Hazleton Area
2, Louden Giza, Wyoming Valley West
3, Anthony Kalapach, Berwick
4, Jacob Walsh, Tunkhannock
5, Jahiem Butler, Pittston Area
6, Jacob Savignono, Dallas
Final results: Zamudio over Giza, 3-0; Kalapach over Walsh, :12; Butler over Savignono, 2-0.
Note: Zamudio scored all the points in the final on an escape and takedown in the last 28 seconds of the second period. … Zamudio reached the final with first-period pins in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
127 pounds
1, Caleb Hoffman, Wyoming Valley West
2, Dominic Bernardi, Pittston Area
3, Kyle Winter, Berwick
5, Sam Jeckell, Crestwood
Final result: Hoffman over Bernardi, 7-2.
Notes: Hoffman had the only first-day win over a No. 1 seed when he knocked off Nanticoke’s Adam Shotwell, 6-5, in the semifinals. Hoffman broke a 4-4 tie on a takedown with 52 seconds left. … When both consolation semifinalists on the same side of the bracket were no-shows Sunday, Winter’s 5-0 decision over Jeckell in the other decided third and fifth place. Fourth and sixth place were vacated.
133 pounds
1, Jonny Stone, Wyoming Area
2, Santino Casarella, Crestwood
3, Aidan Fitzgibbon, Wilkes-Barre Area
4, Aiden Jones, Wilkes-Barre Area
5, Noah Moran, Dallas
6, Aiden Stewart, Nanticoke
Final results: Stone over Casarella, 11-5; Fitzgibbon over Jones, 1:26; Moran over Stewart, forfeit.
Notes: Stone reached the final with pins in 0:36, 0:21 and 1:56. … The tournament allowed up to two entries per weight class for each team, leading to the meeting of Wolfpack teammates in the consolation final and other examples of teams placing two wrestlers in the same weight class.
139 pounds
1, Jaden Pepe, Wyoming Area
2, Edonal Rodriguez, Hazleton Area
3, Lucas Tirpak, Dallas
4, Dominic Innamorati, Pittston Area
5, Liam Evanko, Wilkes-Barre Area
6, Sawyer Keller, Berwick
Final results: Pepe over Rodriguez, 0:51; Tirpak over Innamorati, 2-1; Evanko over Keller, 2-0.
Notes: Two-time defending state champion Pepe won by four straight pins, all in less than a minute. … The largest weight class in the tournament had 17 entries. … Third-seeded Rodriguez defeated second-seeded Tirpak, 1-0, in the semifinals on an escape early in the second period.
145 pounds
1, Julian Everitt, Pittston Area
2, Tyler Winter, Berwick
3, Lucas Macking, Wilkes-Barre Area
4, Ethan Zabroski, Crestwood
5, Troy Jones, Dallas
6, Jacob Edwards, Crestwood
Final results: Everitt over Winter, 1:42; Macking dec. Zabroski, 5-3; Jones over Andrews, 1:46.
Notes: Everitt and Winter each reached the final with three straight pins. … Winter, the third seed, pinned Ardo, the second seed, in 1:08 of the semifinals.
152 pounds
1, Anthony Evanitsky, Wyoming Area
2, Brayden Emel, Nanticoke
3, Gene Ardo, Wilkes-Barre Area
4, Christian Torres, Hanover Area
5, Cole Stauffer, Tunkhannock
6, Jimmy Mitkowski, Lake-Lehman
Final results: Evanitsky over Emel, 0:42; Ardo over Torres, 2:34; Stauffer over Mitkowski, forfeit.
Note: Evanitsky won the title with three first-period pins and a second-period technical fall.
160 pounds
1, Jimmy Spindler, Pittston Area
2, Patrick Munley, Tunkhannock
3, Mason Sgarlat, Wyoming Valley West
4, Aidan Shamaski, Hanover Area
5, Cameron Gomez, Berwick
6, Isaac Mertz, Crestwood
Final results: Spindler over Munley, 18-3, 5:20; Sgarlat over Shamaski, 4:22; Gomez over Mertz, forfeit.
Notes: Spindler’s Outstanding Wrestler performance culminated in his 100th career victory. … Spindler won by two technical falls, one of them in the first period, and a pin. … In the final, Spindler used three straight takedowns for a 6-2 lead after one period; turned Munley twice for an 11-2 lead after two, then scored two takedowns and a near fall in the third to close out the win.
172 pounds
1, Joe Rivas, Wyoming Valley West
2, Max Parry, Tunkhannock
3, Robert Anderson, Hazleton Area
4, Jonas Apponick, Hazleton Area
5, John Guerierro, Berwick
6, Reilley Kirkutis,Lake-Lehman
Final results: Rivas over Parry, 1:35; Anderson over Apponick, 4-3; Guerierro over Kirkutis, 3:24.
Notes: Rivas’ title was the result of three first-period pins and a semifinal major decision over Anderson. … Anderson broke a 2-2 tie with a reversal with 1:23 left in the consolation final.
189 pounds
1, Lincoln Bibla, Crestwood
2, Jake Griffin, Wyoming Valley West
3, Dan Sabulski, Dallas
4, Dane Dilodovico, Crestwood
5, Keith Hower, Pittston Area
6, Tavin Brooks, Pittston Area
Final results: Bibla over Griffin, 3:00; Sabulski over Dilodovico, 0:33; Hower vs. Brooks, 1:26.
Notes: Bibla and the third-seeded Griffin stormed into the final with three straight first-period pins, including Griffin’s 13-second win over second-seeded Sabulski in the semifinals. … Griffin, a Holy Redeemer baseball and football player, is wrestling for Wyoming Valley West as part of a new cooperative sponsorship of the sport this season. … Griffin put Bibla on his back three times in the final. He opened a 10-1 lead in the first period and was on the verge of a technical fall with a 16-3 lead when Bibla turned and pinned him.
215 pounds
1, Magnus Bibla, Crestwood
2, John McLaughlin, Wyoming Valley West
3, Brody Spindler, Pittston Area
4, Pete Youngcourt, Hazleton Area
5, Noah Gruber, Pittston Area
6, Ryan Morris, Dallas
Final results: Bibla over McLaughlin, 2:32; Spindler over Youngcourt, 2-1; Gruber over Morris, forfeit.
Notes: Bibla did not allow a point in the tournament. He was shutting out two opponents when he pinned them and won a 7-0 decision in the semifinals. … Spindler took his 2-1 lead on a reversal with 1:39 left in the third period then held Youngcourt down the rest of the way to take third place.
285 pounds
1, Bruce Hartman, Berwick
2, Dave Sudo, Pittston Area
3, Nate Obrzut, Wyoming Area
4, Chris Smolenak, Crestwood
5, Ethan Speece, Wyoming Area
6, Luke Hoffman, Wyoming Valley West
Final results: Hartman over Sudo, 1:31; Obrzut over Smolenak, 7-4; Speece over Hoffman, forfeit.
Notes: Hartman had three first-period pins, including one in 13 seconds in the quarterfinals. … Sudo also had three first-period pins, two of them in less than a minute to start the tournament.
