Abington Heights’ Frank Scialpi, right, and West Scranton’s Max Turi compete in the 215-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Dane Wheeler, left, and West Scranton’s Xzahvier Davis compete in the 285-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Mason Whitney, top, and West Scranton’s Hector Rios compete in the 133-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Chace Berry, right, and West Scranton’s Jake Kizer compete in the 152-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Edward Reed, top, and West Scranton’s Reggie Rollins compete in the 145-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Tommy Schechterly, left, and Abington Heights’ Coen Holland compete in the 172-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Tommy Schechterly, back, and Abington Heights’ Coen Holland compete in the 172-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Jonyae Sostre, bottom, and Abington Heights’ Zack Brower compete in the 189-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Dakota Sandy, left, and West Scranton’s Santino Aniska compete in the 121-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Edward Reed, right, and West Scranton’s Reggie Rollins compete in the 145-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ J.J. Beck, front, and West Scranton’s Connor LaGier compete in the 127-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Lucas Drake, top, and West Scranton’s Evan Walsh compete in the 160-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Abington Heights’ Braghan Pallis, right, and West Scranton’s Matthew McKeefery compete in the 139-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Jullian LaGier, top, and Abington Heights’ Lucas Kareha compete in the 114-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Jullian LaGier, left, and Abington Heights’ Lucas Kareha compete in the 114-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Jocelyn Suhow Sanchez, bottom, and Abington Heights’ Zoey Hearst compete in the girls 118-pound bout at West Scranton High School. Sanchez won the match, 10-8. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Kamiah Green, right, and Abington Heights’ Grace Welch compete in the girls 124-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. Green won the match with a pin. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Spectators cheer as Abington Heights’ Braghan Pallis and West Scranton’s Matt McKeefery compete in the 139-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Abington Heights’ Frank Scialpi, right, and West Scranton’s Max Turi compete in the 215-pound bout Wednesday at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
SCRANTON — Down by one point in the third period, Abington Heights wrestler Braghan Pallis looked to the sideline.
“Honestly, the reason that match ended that way was really my coach looking at me and saying to me, ‘This is where you show your heart. This is where you need to show heart,’” Pallis said. “I’m not the best kid on the team, and I find that my part on this team is showing leadership and giving my all when I need to give my all. And that was a moment I was like it’s now or never.”
The Comets junior emphatically chose now.
Pallis took down West Scranton’s Matthew McKeefery for a two-point lead, fought for the pin and secured it with 17 seconds left in the 139-pound bout. When the referee’s hand hit the mat, Abington Heights fans let out their loudest cheer of the night.
“It felt good to just do my part,” Pallis said. “In a competitive conference like this, I just would like to do what I need to do out there to benefit my team and keep us moving forward.”
The Comets did their jobs Wednesday night, as Dakota Sandy, Mason Whitney, Edward Reed, Chace Berry, Lucas Drake, Frank Scialpi and Dane Wheeler also secured pins to lead Abington Heights to a 54-18 victory over West Scranton in a Lackawanna League Division I match at West Scranton.
“I thought the team came out fired up, focused and once we got on that roll we just kept going,” Abington Heights coach Gregory Theony said. “The whole team showed heart tonight. They wrestled until it was over.”
After West Scranton built a 9-0 lead because of a forfeit at 107 and Jullian LaGier’s 12-6 decision over Lucas Kareha at 114, Sandy rolled to a first-period pin over Santino Aniska to cut the deficit to 9-6.
“Dakota’s pin, he’s been fighting injuries, that was huge for us,” Theony said of Sandy, who is ranked 14th in the state at 114 in Class 3A, according to PA Power Wrestling. “Just a huge momentum builder, and we just took it from there.”
J.J. Beck (127) earned a win by injury default over Connor LaGier, and Whitney (133) — ranked fifth in the state — rolled to a first-period pin of Hector Rios to give the Comets an 18-9 lead heading into Pallis’ match against McKeefery.
The bout started slow, with Pallis gaining a 1-0 lead with an escape in the second period. However, Pallis was called for stalling to tie the match at 1. Then, McKeefery escaped for a 2-1 lead in the third.
“I honestly would have liked to wrestle better on my feet,” Pallis said. “I’m talented in my feet, but sometimes when the lights come on, I get a little stiff in the beginning.”
Then he took his shot, initially grabbing hold of McKeefery’s right leg to get him to the mat before corralling his left leg for the three-point takedown and a 4-2 advantage. Pallis battled for bonus points from there, and secured the pin at 5:43 to give the Comets a 24-9 lead.
“His match is always exciting because he’s got lots of talent, but he sometimes doesn’t believe in himself and we just kept reminding him, just believe in yourself,” Theony said. “You have the talent, pull the trigger and he finally did and he knows what he’s doing when he finally pulls the trigger. He showed heart tonight.”
Reed (145) kept the momentum going with a first-period pin of Reggie Rollins, Chace Berry (152) pinned Jake Kizer in the third period and Lucas Drake (160) needed just 58 seconds to pin Evan Walsh for a 42-9 lead.
“I’ve just got to remember the work that I put in in the room and just let it fly out there,” said Drake, a freshman who is second on the team in wins (20) behind Whitney (24).
West Scranton’s Tommy Schechterly (172), ranked sixth in the state, and Jonyae Sostre (189) had a technical fall and a major decision, respectively, to stop the Comets’ seven-match win streak before Scialpi (215) and Wheeler (285) capped the match with back-to-back pins.
The Comets (2-0) will have a showdown with defending Division I and District 2 Class 3A champion Wallenpaupack (1-0) next Wednesday at Wallenpaupack.
“We don’t really change anything,” Theony said. “We just keep working the way we’ve been working. We’ve been working very hard trying to stay as disciplined as we can, staying focused on what the task is at hand and try to block out the noise and just wrestle.”
107: Bertocki (WS) by forfeit; 114: J. LaGier (WS) dec. Kareha, 12-6; 121: Sandy (AH) pinned Aniska, 1:53; 127: Beck (AH) injury default C. LaGier; 133: Whitney (AH) pinned Rios, 1:05; 139: Pallis (AH) pinned McKeefery, 5:43; 145: Reed (AH) pinned Rollins, 1:59; 152: Berry (AH) pinned Kizer, 4:22; 160: Drake (AH) pinned Walsh, :58; 172: Schechterly (WS) tech. fall Holland, 15-0; 189: Sostre (WS) maj. dec. Brower, 20-12; 215: Scialpi (AH) pinned Turi, :54; 285: Wheeler (AH) pinned Davis, 3:54.
Delaware Valley 65, Scranton 8: At Delaware Valley, Angelo Cosentino (121), Drew Churchill (139), Nick D’Ambola (160) and Michael Seltzer (285) each had a pin to lead the Warriors to a Division I win.
Colton Eckert (152) added a tech. fall for Delaware Valley (1-0).
Drew Leonori (133) won by tech. fall for the Knights (0-3).
107: Kahmar (DV) by forfeit; 114: Colon (DV) by forfeit; 121: Cosentino (DV) pinned Dominguez, 1:26; 127: Elliott (DV) by forfeit; 133: Leonori (SCR) by tech. fall Snyder, 16-1; 139: Churchill (DV) pinned Thapa-Magar, 2:57; 145: Brown (SCR) dec. Sieber, 11-8; 152: Eckert (DV) tech. fall Salazar, 15-0; 160: D’Ambola (DV) pinned Swingle, :36; 172: McAfee (DV) by forfeit; 189: Segal (DV) by forfeit; 215: Capo (DV) by forfeit; 285: Seltzer (DV) pinned Gottstein, 7:28.
North Pocono 39, Valley View 36: At Valley View, Joshua Magnotta (215) had a first-period pin in the second-to-last bout to secure the Division II victory for the Trojans.
Alyssa Publik (107), Seth Wheeland (139) and Kayden Radice (152) also added pins for North Pocono (1-1).
James Scagliotti (121), Dominic Klem (145), Tywone Giles (160), Seamus Sprague (172), Mason Mitchell (189) and Apollo Kazmerski (285) had pins for the Cougars (1-1).
107: Publik (NP) pinned Lopez, 1:14; 114: Hall (NP) maj. dec. Healey, 16-8; 121: Scagliotti (VV) pinned Kearney, 4:47; 127: Craven (NP) by forfeit; 133: Young (NP) tech. fall Venia, 21-6; 139: Wheeland (NP) pinned Rawlings, 1:47; 145: Klem (VV) pinned Matay, :30; 152: Radice (NP) pinned Kamora, :41; 160: Giles (VV) pinned Howe, 1:08; 172: Sprague (VV) pinned Blume, 2:27; 189: Mitchell (VV) pinned Wolff, 3:07; 215: Magnotta (NP) pinned Rivera-Laboy, 1:46; 285: Kazmerski (VV) pinned Bardzilouskas, :42.
Montrose 54, Mountain View 6: At Montrose, Grady Loureiro (121), Delos Stone (133), Lucas Brookes (145) and Corey Anderson (215) each had a pin to lead the Meteors (2-1) to a Division III win.
Trey Hummel (172) had a pin for the Eagles (0-1).
107: Brander (MON) by forfeit; 114: No match; 121: Loureiro (MON) pinned Handler; 127: No match; 133: Stone (MON) pinned Chamberlin; 139: Nolt (MON) by forfeit; 145: Brookes (MON) pinned Barto; 152: Steele (MON) by forfeit; 160: No match; 172: Hummel (MTV) pinned Hobbs; 189: Kany (MON) by forfeit; 215: Anderson (MON) pinned Jacob; 285: Fraiser Jr. (MON) by forfeit.
Blue Ridge 60, Elk Lake 18: At Blue Ridge, Trinity Lord (107), Jason Luce (145) and Wayne Canute (152) had pins to lead the Raiders (3-0) to a Division III win.
Michael Hiller (189) had a pin for the Warriors (0-3).
107: T. Lord (BR) pinned Tracy; 114: D. Tanzini (BR) by forfeit; 121: A. Tanzini (BR) by forfeit; 127: Annesi (BR) by forfeit; 133: Woodruff (BR) by forfeit; 139: R. Lord (BR) by forfeit; 145: Luce (BR) pinned Crawford; 152: Canute (BR) pinned Kinney; 160: Baldwin (BR) by forfeit; 172: Krupovich (BR) by forfeit; 189: Hiller (EL) pinned Hobart; 215: Ruark (EL) by forfeit; 285: Smith (EL) by forfeit.
Honesdale 63, Scranton Prep 3: At Scranton Prep, Dominic Schuman (114), Owen Poppo (152), Morgan Wilcox (160), Brayden Maciejewski (172), Duke Martin (189) and Bobby MacDowell (285) each had a pin to lead the Hornets to a nonleague win.
Joseph Whelan (145) had a decision for the Cavaliers.
133: J. Scanlon (HON) by forfeit; 139: C. Scanlon (HON) dec. Barrett, UTB 6-5; 145: Whelan (SP) dec., 15-14; 152: Poppo (HON) pinned Duke, 3:04; 160: Wilcox (HON) over Pula, 3:29; 172: Maciejewski (HON) pinned Camacho, 1:47; 189: Martin (HON) pinned Simpson, 2:15; 215: Landry (HON) by forfeit; 285: MacDowell (HON) pinned Henning, 3:35; 107: No match; 114: D. Schuman (HON) pinned Carter, 2:15; 121: King (HON) by forfeit; 127: Steffens (HON) by forfeit.