Wallenpaupack’s Sawyer Jones wrestles West Scranton’s Nasir Burns during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Connor Lagier, right, competes against Wallenpaupack’s Giovanni Lomonaco during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wallenpaupack’s Kyle Scartelli lifts West Scranton’s Reggie Rollins off the mat during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wallenpaupack’s Greg Nalesnik, top, wrestles West Scranton’s Vito Betrocki during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wallenpaupack’s Kyle Scartelli, right, wrestles West Scranton’s Reggie Rollins during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Jullian Lagier, right, wrestles Wallenpaupack’s Dominick Tufaro during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Matthew McKeefery, right, wrestles Wallenpaupack’s Jacob Yancewicz during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Connor Lagier, top, wrestles Wallenpaupack’s Giovanni Lomonaco during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wallenpaupack’s Ayden Blaut lifts West Scranton’s Anthony Olavarria off the mat during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wallenpaupack’s Ayden Blaut, top, wrestles West Scranton’s Anthony Olavarria during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Tommy Schechterly, front, wrestles Wallenpaupack’s Gabriel Caufield during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wallenpaupack’s Tristan Braxton, bottom, wrestles West Scranton’s Evan Walsh during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
West Scranton’s Santino Aniska, bottom, wrestles Wallenpaupack’s Brodey Resino during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Spectators watch Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wallenpaupack coach Steve Krushnowski watches the 114-pound bout during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Wallenpaupack’s Sawyer Jones wrestles West Scranton’s Nasir Burns during Wednesday’s match at West Scranton High School. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
SCRANTON — Last season, Wallenpaupack wrestling made school history, capturing the program’s first Lackawanna League Division I and District 2 Class 3A duals titles.
Now, the Buckhorns have their sights on repeating.
“As a team, we want to win districts again, and what coach likes to say is we want to stay at the top of the mountain, be better than every other team, be the team everyone wants to beat,” Wallenpaupack’s 189-pounder Jake Rafferty said.
With three bouts left and the Buckhorns leading by four, Rafferty faced an opportunity to help secure the first step toward the team’s goals. It was only his eighth varsity match, after missing his freshman campaign because of a shoulder injury he suffered during football season.
He found himself trailing by two points to West Scranton’s Jonyae Sostre at the end of the first period, but the Buckhorns sophomore handled the deficit like a veteran, scoring the next 12 points to secure a major decision. Then, Tyler Gallo ended it with a pin, as Wallenpaupack defeated West Scranton, 43-23, in the Lackawanna League Division I opener for both teams at West Scranton High School.
“He was a really strong kid,” Rafferty said. “Coming out, I was thinking I’m just going to work my stuff, and right when I came in, he shot right off the whistle and kind of ruined my whole gameplan. So, I just had to go from there, and I just started working a little more technical and it was a long-fought match, but I came out on top.”
Division I is always a gauntlet, and Wednesday night’s match was no different, as the lead changed six times after seven bouts. With West Scranton leading, 19-17, Nasir Burns looked to extend the lead with an early takedown of Sawyer Jones in the 152-pound match. However, Jones rallied with an escape, a takedown and four back points to take a five-point lead at the end of the first period. Then, Jones chose down, but Burns conceded a point to put them in neutral. Burns then secured a takedown to cut the deficit to 9-6. However, that was the last point he scored, as Jones scored 14 straight to secure the 23-6 technical fall and give the Buckhorns a 22-19 lead.
“Whenever I start a match, I’m not hot,” Jones said. “After the first period or so, I’m into it, and when I get on top, I like to turn. That’s how I get my points, I turn a lot.”
The Wallenpaupack junior is 8-0 with four pins, two tech. falls and two decisions, after going 1-4 last season.
“Sawyer Jones, we went out to Wyalusing and he beat the (Class 3A West Regional sixth-placer) from Bellefonte,” Wallenpaupack coach Steve Krushnowski said. “He is laser focused. Here’s a kid who was a spot starter for us last year, and he is on fire. He wants it, he’s hungry.”
Tristan Braxton extended the lead to 27-19 with a 15-0 tech. fall over Evan Walsh at 160, but Tommy Schechterly cut the deficit to 27-23 with a 14-1 major decision over Gabe Caufield in a battle of state-ranked wrestlers.
With three bouts left, Sostre had an opportunity to give West Scranton the lead back. After Rafferty’s opening takedown, Sostre hit a reversal and collected three back points as he fought for the pin at the end of the period. However, Rafferty threw the Invaders sophomore right to his back for a seven-point move. In the third period, Rafferty added a reversal and three back points. Sostre got a reversal seconds before the end of the third, as Rafferty secured a 15-7 major decision, gave the Buckhorns a 31-23 lead with two bouts left and pushed his record to 7-1.
“Rafferty was one of our best guys coming up from junior varsity last year,” Krushnowski said of the Wallenpaupack sophomore. “He got a shoulder injury in football, so we lost him for the year. He wrestled pretty good tonight, but as he goes, you’ll see he’s going to get a hell of a lot better.”
Gallo (215) pinned Kenneth Harris to seal the match, and Vincent Panzarella pinned Max Turi at 285 for the final margin.
Greg Nalesnik (107) and Ayden Blaut (127) added pins for Wallenpaupack (1-0), and Kyle Scartelli (139) tacked on a tech. fall.
“(They wrestled) fantastic. It’s early, and we have a couple guys out of the lineup, so it was going to be iffy, and we’ve got a lot of guys with big expectations,” Krushnowski said. “We could have bumped and done some things, but we wanted our guys to see what we had, and the kids really came out and wrestled hard.”
The Buckhorns’ next league match is Jan. 2 when they host Delaware Valley, as they continue their chase for a second straight Division I title.
“It’s been tough. You’re replacing really good leaders in (Xaiden) Schock, (Conan) Kier and (Nick) Skokos, and you’re asking other guys to step up,” Krushnowski said. “Good leadership is tough, but these guys have stepped up and they’re learning. They’re learning to lead. Our best guys all have regional aspirations and state aspirations, so learning how to lead and lead the right way is tough, but they’re coming along.”
West Scranton’s Connor Lagier won the marquee match of the night in a back-and-forth bout with Gio Lomonaco at 133. In a battle of All-Region wrestlers, Lagier, a two-time state qualifier, secured the first takedown for a three-point lead. Lomonaco answered with an escape and takedown for a one-point lead. Lagier then hit a reversal and Lomonaco answered with an escape as the first period ended tied at 5. After Lagier secured two points in the second period, Lomonaco took an 8-7 lead with a takedown before the buzzer. Lomonaco chose down to start the third and escaped for a 9-7 lead, but Lagier clinched the win with a takedown.
“He sat out last week because he was sick for (the) Cumberland Valley (tournament), so he was coming back,” West Scranton coach Jim Morgan said. “He weighed in light today, and Lomonaco’s very good. We knew it was going to be a tight match like that, but for Connor, especially to score takedowns to win that match, I know Connor beat him a couple times last year, but it was mainly because of mat wrestling. But for him to go out there and beat Lomonaco with some takedowns is very encouraging.”
Jullian Lagier (114) had a pin for West Scranton (0-1), while Santino Aniska (121) and Matthew McKeefery (145) each had a tech. fall.
“I thought we wrestled well,” said Morgan, who took over as West Scranton’s coach in November. “We really competed. We do have a lot of younger guys in there. We’re in good matches, we do good things. They have experienced guys who are a little bit older, and they kind of took over, but as long as we build on that I think we’ll be fine.”
107: Greg Nalesnik (WAL) pinned Vito Bertocki, 1:02; 114: Jullian Lagier (WS) pinned Dominick Tufaro, 1:21; 121: Santino Aniska (WS) tech. fall Brodey Resino, 17-2; 127: Ayden Blaut (WAL) pinned Anthony Olavarria, 1:55; 133: Connor Lagier (WS) over Giovanni Lomonaco, 10-9; 139: Kyle Scartelli (WAL) tech. fall Reggie Rollins, 17-1; 145: Matthew McKeefery (WS) tech. fall Jacob Yancewicz, 21-6; 152: Sawyer Jones (WAL) tech. fall Nasir Burns, 23-6; 160: Tristan Braxton (WAL) tech. fall Evan Walsh, 15-0; 172: Tommy Schechterly (WS) maj. dec. Gabriel Caufield, 14-1; 189: Jake Rafferty (WAL) maj. dec. Jonyae Sostre, 15-7; 215: Tyler Gallo (WAL) pinned Kenneth Harris, 2:18; 285: Vincent Panzanella (WAL) pinned Max Turi, 1:07.
Abington Heights 67, Scranton 0: At Abington Heights, the Comets won every match — highlighted by pins from Dakota Sandy (121), Jason Beck (127), Lucas Drake (160) and Joseph Scialpi (172) — to romp to a Lackawanna Division I win over Scranton.
107: No match; 114: Kareha (AH) by forfeit; 121: Sandy (AH) pinned Dominguez, :54; 127: Beck (AH) pinned Luis, 2:19; 133: Full (AH) by forfeit; 139: Whitney (AH) tech. fall Leonori, 17-2; 145: Reed (AH) tech. fall Salazar, 17-2; 152: Berry (AH) by forfeit; 160: Drake (AH) pinned Swingle, :52; 172: Scialpi (AH) pinned Davis, :43; 189: Kane (AH) by forfeit; 215: Scialpi (AH) by forfeit; 285: Wheeler (AH) dec. Gottstein, 9-3.
Scranton Prep 48, Elk Lake 12: At Scranton Prep, Sane Subba (139), Jeremiah Duke (152) and Jordan Henning (285) had pins to lead the Cavaliers (1-0) to a Division III win.
Colby Ruark (215) had a pin for the Warriors (0-1).
139: Subba (SP) pinned Crawford, 1:15; 145: Suhosky (SP) by forfeit; 152: Duke (SP) pinned Kinney, 3:27; 160: Pula (SP) by forfeit; 172: Durkin (SP) by forfeit; 189: No match; 215: Ruark (EL) pinned Simpson, 2:43; 285: Henning (SP) pinned Smith, 5:09; 107: No match; 114: Tracy (EL) by forfeit; 121: Carter (SP) by forfeit; 127: No match; 133: Diegnan (SP) won by forfeit.
Blue Ridge 48, Montrose 30: At Montrose, Blue Ridge used consecutive pins from Conner Rieman (172), Zachary Krupovich (189) and Ryder Hobart (215) to earn a victory in Lackawanna Division III.
Nicholas Smith (152) also had a pin for the Raiders.
Sawyer Brander (107), Delos Stone (139), Carl Nolt (145) and Wyatt Steele (160) recorded pins for the Meteors.
107: Brander (MON) pinned T. Lord, :20; 114: D. Tanzini (BR) by forfeit; 121: A.Tanzini (BR) by forfeit; 127: Annesi (BR) by forfeit; 133: Woodruff (BR) by forfeit; 139: Stone (MON) pinned Luce, 3:29; 145: Nolt (MON) pinned R. Lord, 2:49; 152: Smith (BR) pinned Brookes, 1:29; 160: Steele (MON) pinned Pedro, :49; 172: Rieman (BR) pinned Hobbs, :47; 189: Krupovich (BR) over Kany, 2:16; 215: Hobart (BR) pinned Anderson, 4:45; 285: Fraiser Jr. (MON) by forfeit.