Expand<\/a><\/p>\nBETHLEHEM \u2014 Tommy Schechterly knew he made a mistake.<\/p>\n
However, West Scranton\u2019s star wrestler needed 42 seconds to rectify it.<\/p>\n
A one-minute, 14-second whirlwind in the second period saw Schechterly gain the lead, lose it and regain it.<\/p>\n
Then, he shut the door in the third for a 5-3 decision over Nazareth\u2019s Dominick Tunison to capture the 160-pound title at the Class 3A Northeast Regional on Saturday at Liberty High School.<\/p>\n
It was District 2\u2019s only Class 3A crown, with Hazleton Area\u2019s Gabe (114) and Jake Benyo (121) and Pittston Area\u2019s Brody Spindler (215) all settling for silver.<\/p>\n
The public address announcer mistakenly called Schechterly a West Scranton senior during the parade of champions.<\/p>\n
Although he\u2019s only a sophomore, the Invaders star certainly responded to a little adversity like a seasoned veteran.<\/p>\n
Schechterly, ranked fourth in the state according to PA Power Wrestling, chose down to start the second period and scored the first point of the final with an escape. Then, Tunison (seventh in state) secured a takedown for a 3-1 advantage.<\/p>\n
However, he didn\u2019t panic, secured the escape and had a nice shot into Tunison\u2019s right leg that resulted in a takedown and a 5-3 lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I messed up when I stepped over and gave him that free three,\u201d Schechterly said. \u201cI had to turn the burners on, come back and get three, so I didn\u2019t have to be moving all around in the third period.\u201d<\/p>\n
He made sure to keep it there, riding out Tunison for the final two minutes and 35 seconds of the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was good in my position\u201d Schechterly said. \u201cI practiced there. I knew what I could do there, so I just kept tight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schechterly secured his spot at states in a marathon semifinal match against Emmaus\u2019 Xyler Sallit (eighth in state).<\/p>\n
He overcame a stall in the second period, riding out Sallit to get the match back on schedule. Then, he tied it in the third with an escape. After a scoreless overtime period, the two exchanged ride outs to send the match to the ultimate tiebreaker. Since Sallit scored the first point in the match, he had choice for the 30-second period. He chose top, and Schechterly slithered out from underneath him for the match-winning escape.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt him start to get high on top, and knew if I flipped that one leg out I was going to eventually be able to get out and I was lucky enough to get it out in the last eight seconds,\u201d Schechterly said.<\/p>\n
Next up is the PIAA tournament, which runs Thursday through Saturday at the Giant Center in Hershey. The top eight finishers in each weight class earn a state medal.<\/p>\n
Silver lining<\/p>\n
Hazleton Area\u2019s Jake and Gabe Benyo and Pittston Area\u2019s Brody Spindler wish they could have their finals matches back.<\/p>\n
The good news is they might face rematches at states.<\/p>\n
The Wyoming Valley Conference wrestlers secured their spots in Hershey earlier in the day with semifinal victories.<\/p>\n
Jake Benyo (seventh in state) secured a third-period reversal and a stall point for a 3-0 win over Easton\u2019s Jack Famularo (10th in state) in the 121-pound semifinals.<\/p>\n
He delivered some third-period magic again in the final with another third-period reversal to tie his match against\u00a0Bethlehem Catholic\u2019s Nico Emili (fifth in state). It was the third straight match he hit a pivotal reversal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been wrestling pretty much my whole life,\u201d Jake Benyo said. \u201cIn middle school, I\u2019ve had a bunch of those matches. I\u2019ve kind of been training for those moments my whole life. I\u2019m kind of used to it a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a scoreless overtime period, Emili secured an escape with two seconds left in tiebreaker one. Jake Benyo couldn\u2019t respond with an escape of his own in tiebreaker two and settled for silver.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think (I wrestled well), but I didn\u2019t get what I wanted,\u201d Jake Benyo said. \u201cI was getting to my attacks and stuff, but sometimes it just doesn\u2019t work out. Hopefully, that\u2019s a matchup at states I kind of want now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gabe Benyo faced the No. 1 114-pound wrestler in the state in Northampton\u2019s Brayden Wenrich, who secured one takedown in the first and two takedowns in the third for a 9-1 major decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrestled pretty bad,\u201d Gabe Benyo (third in state) said. \u201cI had a lot of nerves going into the match that I need to fix over the weekend for states.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the semifinals, he secured two first-period takedowns, and defeated Parkland\u2019s Braden Todora (12th in state), 7-1.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe gameplan was just to get some takedowns and finish the match out,\u201d Gabe Benyo said.<\/p>\n
Spindler (11th in state) dropped the 215-pound final, 4-0, to\u00a0Notre Dame Green Pond\u2019s Connor Smalley (13th in state), as the Pittston Area senior couldn\u2019t rally from Smalley\u2019s second-period escape and a takedown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrestled the way he wanted to wrestle. I wrestled his match,\u201d Spindler said. \u201cIf I wrestled my match, it would be a different story I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, he made sure he didn\u2019t miss out on the state tournament.<\/p>\n
Spindler used two first-period takedowns to fuel a 7-5 decision over Pleasant Valley\u2019s Evan Gillespie (12th in state) in the semifinals. He survived three near-fall points in the third period that cut his lead to 6-5 before getting an escape and the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing into that match, I knew I wanted to win it more than any because I didn\u2019t want to go back through everything and possibly not even going at all,\u201d said Spindler, who was a state qualifier as a sophomore, but fell short of Hershey last season. \u201cSo that was my most important match of the day I would have to say, and I just focused in on it, got my offense going. I almost got caught, and battled through and ended up winning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bronze Comets<\/p>\n
Brady Full wanted his freshman season to end in Hershey. Mason Whitney desired a shot at a third-straight state medal, and, perhaps, a little revenge.<\/p>\n
Both Abington Heights wrestlers didn\u2019t lose a match Saturday, secured bronze medals and, most importantly, qualified for the PIAA tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew what I had in front of me,\u201d Full said. \u201cI knew it was going to be a long road, and I just didn\u2019t quit on myself. I knew I could hang with the best, and that\u2019s what I did today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Full (17th in state) dominated Parkland\u2019s Matthew Velez (16th in state) and Athens\u2019 Zaine Campbell (27th in state) with a 13-0 major decision and a 15-0 technical fall, respectively, to reach the consolation semifinals.<\/p>\n
There, he rode out St. Joseph\u2019s Prep\u2019s Anthony Colantuono in the second period, secured an escape and a takedown in the third for a 4-0 decision to punch his ticket to states.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t stop there, going the distance against Bethlehem Catholic\u2019s Andre Cerrato (12th in state). Cerrato chose down for the ultimate tiebreaker, and Full went to work on top, securing three back points and the ride out point for the 6-2 victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love that tilt, so when he stood up and started fighting my hands, I snatched it and I knew I had it,\u201d Full said. \u201cIt was tight, and I just rode it back and got the backs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whitney (fourth in state) started Saturday by pinning Shikellamy\u2019s Keatin Lattimore and teching St. Joseph\u2019s Prep\u2019s Maddox Rosenblatt. Then, he topped Bangor Area\u2019s Carter Smith (12th in state), 9-3, in the consolation semifinals to punch his ticket to states and set up a rematch in the third-place bout.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Whitney lost to Nazareth\u2019s Caleb Kosko (third in state), 2-1, in tiebreaker two. He got his revenge Saturday, securing a third-period takedown for a 4-2 victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a really well thought out match,\u201d Whitney said. \u201cI think it really came down to my mindset, and how I was going into it, because in the first match I noticed he was slowing down, getting a little tired in the second and the third. So, I just pushed the pace in the beginning of the first. Obviously, it\u2019s a shorter period, but I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing and eventually we got there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Abington Heights junior eyes his third state medal, after capturing seventh place as a freshman and eighth place as a sophomore.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll just climb that podium,\u201d Whitney said. \u201cI\u2019m working on finishing those shots. I was in on legs countless times that were out of bounds or can\u2019t finish, so obviously mat awareness, keeping it in the middle of the mat and finishing my shots up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abington Heights\u2019 Dakota Sandy (114), Lucas Drake (152) and Frank Scialpi (215) each finished sixth and missed qualifying for states by one place, as the Comets finished seventh in the team standings with 67.5 points \u2014 the most points by a District 2 team at the tournament.<\/p>\n
High five<\/p>\n
Micah Engelman (19th in state) lost his consolation semifinal match, but rebounded in the fifth-place match for a 13-5 major decision over Northampton\u2019s Chase Grabfelder (ninth in state) and a spot in the state tournament.<\/p>\n
The Crestwood freshman (145) secured the first takedown and added another in the second for a 6-3 lead. He piled on in the third with an escape and two takedowns.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that this was the match to go to states, so I\u2019ve got to get ready,\u201d Engelman said. \u201cAfter that first shot, I knew he was the type of guy who would go to the ankles and stay low, so I got a re-attack off of that. Down blocks and re-attacks. I got there and got my win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Engelman celebrated after the match and embraced his father after securing his spot in Hershey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt great,\u201d Engelman said. \u201cIt means a lot how much work I\u2019ve been putting in the past couple years going out to my club Mat Assassins and working hard every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caufield secures spot<\/p>\n
After advancing to the semifinals, Gabe Caufield (19th in state) needed just one more win to punch his ticket to states.<\/p>\n
The Wallenpaupack senior got it in the consolation semifinals when he pinned Hazleton Area\u2019s Jaxson Johnson in the second period.<\/p>\n
He lost his other two matches on the day to Emmaus\u2019 Xayden Sallit (11th in state) in the semifinals and Nazareth\u2019s Elijah Simak (10th in state) in the third-place match. Caufield beat Simak, 10-9, in the quarterfinals Friday.<\/p>\n
Finals<\/p>\n
114: Brayden Wenrich (Northampton) maj. dec. Gabe Benyo (Hazleton Area), 9-1.<\/p>\n
121: Nico Emili (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Jake Benyo (Hazleton Area), 3-2 TB2.<\/p>\n
160: Tommy Schechterly (West Scranton) dec. Dominick Tunison (Nazareth Area), 5-3.<\/p>\n
215: Connor Smalley (Notre Dame Green Pond) dec. Brody Spindler (Pittston Area), 4-0.<\/p>\n
Third place<\/p>\n
127: Brady Full (Abington Heights) dec. Andre Cerrato (Bethlehem Catholic), 6-2 UTB.<\/p>\n
133: Mason Whitney (Abington Heights) dec. Caleb Kosko (Nazareth Area), 4-2.<\/p>\n
172: Elijah Simak (Nazareth Area) pinned Gabriel Caufield (Wallenpaupack), 0:09.<\/p>\n
Fifth place<\/p>\n
114: Elijah Heimbach (Liberty-Bethlehem) dec. Dakota Sandy (Abington Heights), 9-5.<\/p>\n
145: Micah Engelman (Crestwood) maj. dec. Chase Grabfelder (Northampton Area), 13-5.<\/p>\n
152: Mason Hopkins (Whitehall) dec. Lucas Drake (Abington Heights), 3-2 TB2.<\/p>\n
172: Connor Davidson (Athens) pinned Jaxson Johnson (Hazleton Area), 2:25.<\/p>\n
189: Connor Gillahan (Bethlehem Catholic) tech fall Mariusz Bibla (Crestwood), 19-3 3:56.<\/p>\n
215: Evan Gillespie (Pleasant Valley) pinned Frank Scialpi (Abington Heights), 1:18.<\/p>\n
Semifinals<\/p>\n
114: Gabe Benyo (Hazleton Area) dec. Braden Todora (Parkland), 7-1.<\/p>\n
121: Jake Benyo (Hazleton Area) dec. Jack Famularo (Easton Area), 3-0.<\/p>\n
152: Gabriel Ballard (Northampton Area) pinned Lucas Drake (Abington Heights), 5:58.<\/p>\n
160: Tommy Schechterly (West Scranton) dec. Xyler Sallit (Emmaus), 2-1 UTB.<\/p>\n
172: Xayden Sallit (Emmaus) dec. Gabriel Caufield (Wallenpaupack), 7-2.<\/p>\n
215: Brody Spindler (Pittston Area) dec. Evan Gillespie (Pleasant Valley), 7-5.<\/p>\n
Consolation semifinals<\/p>\n
114: Braden Todora (Parkland) dec. Dakota Sandy (Abington Heights), 8-7.<\/p>\n
127: Brady Full (Abington Heights) dec. Anthony Colantuono (St. Joseph\u2019s Prep), 4-0.<\/p>\n
133: Mason Whitney (Abington Heights) dec. Carter Smith (Bangor Area), 9-3.<\/p>\n
145: Ethan Krazer (Easton Area) maj. dec. Micah Engelman (Crestwood), 10-1.<\/p>\n
152: Louden Spotts (Jersey Shore) dec. Lucas Drake (Abington Heights), 2-0.<\/p>\n
172: Gabriel Caufield (Wallenpaupack) pinned Jaxson Johnson (Hazleton Area), 2:03.<\/p>\n
189: Terrell McFarland (Pottsville Area) pinned Mariusz Bibla (Crestwood), 0:16.<\/p>\n
215: Christian Boetsch (Shikellamy) pinned Frank Scialpi (Abington Heights), 3:30.<\/p>\n
Consolation quarterfinals<\/p>\n
114: Dakota Sandy (Abington Heights) tech fall Max Hallman (Shikellamy), 17-1 2:56.<\/p>\n
127: Brady Full (Abington Heights) tech fall Zaine Campbell (Athens), 15-0 3:35.<\/p>\n
133: Mason Whitney (Abington Heights) tech fall Maddox Rosenblatt (St. Joseph\u2019s Prep), 17-1 1:52. Matthew Sommer (Northampton Area) pinned Giovanni Lomonaco (Wallenpaupack), 2:24.<\/p>\n
145: Micah Engelman (Crestwood) dec. Cristopher Recinos (Louis E Dieruff), 4-1.<\/p>\n
152: Louden Spotts (Jersey Shore) dec. Ethan Aftewicz (Pittston Area), 2-1.<\/p>\n
160: Keith Barker (Southern Lehigh) maj. dec. Tristan Braxton (Wallenpaupack), 17-5.<\/p>\n
172: Jaxson Johnson (Hazleton Area) dec. Gene Ardo (Wilkes Barre Area), 7-6.<\/p>\n
189: Conner Gillahan (Bethlehem Catholic) dec. Mason Marolo (Hazleton Area), 5-3.<\/p>\n
189: Mariusz Bibla (Crestwood) maj. dec. JJ Segal (Delaware Valley), 12-3.<\/p>\n
215: Frank Scialpi (Abington Heights) pinned Owen Hoffman (Selinsgrove), 1:48.<\/p>\n
Consolation second round<\/p>\n
107: Chace Vandyke (Athens) dec. David Krantz (Pittston Area), 7-5. Ryan Milheim (Columbia Montour Vo-Tech) tech fall James Mckeown (Wilkes Barre Area), 15-0 2:17.<\/p>\n
114: Jordan Piselli (Williamsport) pinned Zion Colon (Delaware Valley), 4:04. Dakota Sandy (Abington Heights) maj. dec. Derek Fulmer (Nazareth Area), 11-1.<\/p>\n
121: Cooper Helm (La Salle College) dec. Santino Aniska (West Scranton), 5-1.<\/p>\n
127: Brady Full (Abington Heights) maj. dec. Matthew Velez (Parkland), 13-0. Michael Good (Nazareth Area) dec. Ayden Blaut (Wallenpaupack), 5-1. Noah Hernandez (Father Judge) maj. dec. Carlo Salinas (Wilkes Barre Area), 11-3.<\/p>\n
133: Mason Whitney (Abington Heights) pinned Keatin Lattimore (Shikellamy), 2:20. Matthew Sommer (Northampton Area) pinned Jude Salko (Hazleton Area), 1:53. Giovanni Lomonaco (Wallenpaupack) dec. Liam Carr (Archbishop Ryan), 6-5.<\/p>\n
145: Micah Engelman (Crestwood) maj. dec. Ryan Harpster (Selinsgrove), 15-3. Cole Trzeciak (La Salle College) tech fall Chace Berry (Abington Heights), 16-0 3:34.<\/p>\n
152: Louden Spotts (Jersey Shore) dec. Logan Pop (Hazleton Area), 1-0. Ethan Aftewicz (Pittston Area) tech fall Rocco Lukash (St. Joseph\u2019s Prep), 15-0 1:45.<\/p>\n
160: Keith Barker (Southern Lehigh) pinned Liam Evanko (Wilkes Barre Area), 2:46. Tristan Braxton (Wallenpaupack) pinned Keegan Swift (St. Joseph\u2019s Prep), 1:53.<\/p>\n
172: Jaxson Johnson (Hazleton Area) maj. dec. Donte Bazemore (Central), 12-3. Gene Ardo (Wilkes Barre Area) dec. Leonard Demaria (Stroudsburg), 7-3.<\/p>\n
189: Mason Marolo (Hazleton Area) tech fall Max Seitz (Archbishop Ryan), 17-1 1:45. Mariusz Bibla (Crestwood) dec. Brendan Cooke (Athens), 12-9. JJ Segal (Delaware Valley) by forfeit Thomas Quinn (Father Judge).<\/p>\n
215: Frank Scialpi (Abington Heights) dec. Jackson Raker (Williamsport), 5-1. Owen Hoffman (Selinsgrove) pinned Tyler Gallo (Wallenpaupack), 4:40.<\/p>\n
285: Colton Anderson (St. Joseph\u2019s Prep) injury default Noah Gruber (Pittston Area), 10-9 2:16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hazleton Area\u2019s Jake Benyo (second place) on the 121-pound podium. JOE BARESS \/ STAFF PHOTO Hazleton Area\u2019s Gabe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[305,178,180,179,726],"class_list":["post-126509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-high-school-sports","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Hazleton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-MATSDAY2-02.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Hazleton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-MATSDAY2-01.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Pittston](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-MATSDAY2-10.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Abington](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-MATSDAY2-03.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Abington](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-MATSDAY2-04.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Crestwood\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-MATSDAY2-05.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Wallenpaupack\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-MATSDAY2-08.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Abington](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-MATSDAY2-06.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"West](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-MATSDAY2-07-1.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Crestwood\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/STT-L-MATSDAY2-09.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n