{"id":67287,"date":"2025-12-22T05:14:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T05:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/67287\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T05:14:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T05:14:16","slug":"leonori-leaves-mark-on-league-tournament-scranton-times-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/67287\/","title":{"rendered":"Leonori leaves mark on league tournament \u2013 Scranton Times-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

HAWLEY \u2014 Drew Leonori forged a strong career at Scranton, and his accomplishments include rising to the occasion against the league\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

The Scranton senior secured the 133-pound title at the Lackawanna League Championships, his third league crown, on Saturday at Wallenpaupack.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I wrestled well,\u201d Leonori said. \u201cI did like my weight cut. I thought I did it really good. I felt really good in all my matches, felt strong, I felt confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also captured the 107 title as a freshman and the 127 crown as a junior. On Saturday, he secured first-period pins in the preliminaries and quarterfinals and a second-period pin to advance to the final. There he faced Wallenpaupack\u2019s Gio Lomonaco, a wrestler Leonori lost to twice last season including in the District 2 Class 3A semifinals.<\/p>\n

After a scoreless first period, Leonori picked up four back points and then secured the pin with 18 seconds left in the second period for the title.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stayed on our feet for the whole first period. Nothing really happened, and then I deferred and he chose bottom and then from there I was just able to sink the bar in and then run that,\u201d Leonori said.<\/p>\n

Next up for Leonori is the 100-win milestone. He is 99-31 in his career with Scranton\u2019s next match slated for Jan. 2 when it hosts West Scranton.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll also look to build off last season\u2019s strong postseason, where he earned district bronze and regional sixth, one place away from qualifying for states.<\/p>\n

\"AbingtonAbington Heights\u2019 Mason Whitney, right, wrestles Delaware Valley\u2019s Drew Churchill during the Lackawanna League Championships on Saturday at Wallenpaupack. (JASON ARDAN \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
\n\"AbingtonAbington Heights\u2019 Dakota Sandy, top, wrestles Blue Ridge\u2019s Aidan Tanzini during the Lackawanna League Championships on Saturday at Wallenpaupack. (JASON ARDAN \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
\nFamiliar and new faces<\/p>\n

Mason Whitney is one of the best wrestlers in the state, as he is ranked sixth in Pennsylvania at 139 pounds according to PA Power Wrestling and a two-time state placer (seventh and eighth). It was no surprise the Abington Heights junior captured his third Lackawanna League title. It wasn\u2019t a surprise his teammate, Dakota Sandy, secured his first league title either, but it was the freshman\u2019s first opportunity to showcase his talent to the league.<\/p>\n

Sandy secured three technical falls and pinned West Scranton\u2019s Santino Aniska, a district champion last season, in the semifinals to storm to the 121 crown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really happy,\u201d Sandy said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of my first high school tournaments, so I\u2019m very excited for what the future holds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ranked 21st in the state, he is 13-3 this season, with his three losses forfeits because of an illness he battled at the Darren Klingerman Invitational. In contested bouts, Sandy has eight pins and four tech. falls.<\/p>\n

Whitney had two tech. fall and a pin Saturday for his third league crown, and improved his record to 14-0.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel good,\u201d Whitney said. \u201cAt the weight I\u2019m at right now, we\u2019re heading down on a descent plan for hopefully Powerade next weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

The young Abington Heights team will also count on him as a leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we just picked captains the other day actually, so me and two of my buddies are captains of the team now,\u201d Whitney said. \u201cThere\u2019s a bunch of upcoming freshmen who are going to be studs in the future, so it\u2019s good to get this start of the leadership role here and figuring out how to lead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WestWest Scranton\u2019s Tommy Schechterly, top, wrestles Wallenpaupack\u2019s Gabe Caufield during the Lackawanna League Championships on Saturday at Wallenpaupack. (JASON ARDAN \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
\nD\u00e9j\u00e0 vu<\/p>\n

Tommy Schechterly came out on top in a battle of state-ranked wrestlers twice this week.<\/p>\n

Ranked 18th in the state, the West Scranton sophomore topped Wallenpaupack\u2019s Gabe Caufield by 14-1 major decision in a dual meet Wednesday and an 11-2 major decision in the 172 final Saturday. After a scoreless first period, Schechterly chose down, escaped and secured a takedown and four back points to build an eight-point lead in the second period. He added a takedown in the third for the 11-2 win.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good opponent to wrestle,\u201d Schechterly said of Caufield, who is ranked 25th in the state. \u201cHe\u2019s strong and he gave me a good match.\u201d<\/p>\n

He rolled to the final with three first-period pins, and is 14-1 on the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was pretty good,\u201d Schechterly said of his performance Saturday. \u201cThere\u2019s some stuff I can improve on, but other than that it was a good tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wallenpaupack'sWallenpaupack\u2019s Tristan Braxton, top, holds down Abington Heights\u2019 Lucas Drake during the Lackawanna League Championships on Saturday at Wallenpaupack. (JASON ARDAN \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
\n\"Honesdale'sHonesdale\u2019s Brody Walsh, left, and Wallenpaupack\u2019s Ayden Blaut wrestle Saturday during the Lackawanna League Championships at Wallenpaupack. (JASON ARDAN \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
\nTwo-Pack<\/p>\n

Ayden Blaut (127) and Tristan Braxton (160) secured titles to lead Wallenpaupack to second place in the team standings.<\/p>\n

Blaut was the No. 4 seed and had one of the biggest wins of the tournament, upsetting two-time state qualifier and district champion Connor Lagier of West Scranton by 6-5 decision in the semifinals. Entering the final period trailing, 4-2, the Wallenpaupack senior secured a reversal and two back points for a 6-4 lead. Lagier, who is ranked 13th in the state at 133, escaped, but couldn\u2019t get the winning takedown. He added two first-period pins and a tech. fall for the 127 crown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just staying out of my head,\u201d said Blaut, who is ranked 23rd in the state at 127. \u201cI usually get in my head a lot, but it was important to me to stay motivated and not let anything distract me and stay locked in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Braxton went 35-12 and placed second at districts last season to qualify for regionals. He aims to build off that in his junior season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI put in a lot of work in the offseason to be able to come here and display my talents,\u201d Braxton said. \u201cI know last year I came up short, a lot of injuries. I know this year I\u2019m just coming back, same weight, same everything, like a redemption year for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

That work showed Saturday, as he had a first-period pin, a second-period pin and a 13-1 major in the final for the 160 title to push his record to 10-1.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked on my confidence. I\u2019m working on my shots, being more resilient, just practicing with the best kids in the country, best kids in the state to help me get better,\u201d Braxton said. \u201cIt\u2019s just hard work every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Buckhorns also look to repeat as Lackawanna League Division I and District 2 Class 3A duals champions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our team is going to do extremely well,\u201d Braxton said. \u201cFrom top to bottom, we have stacked dudes. Everybody in our lineup is great. We could compete with any team, day in and day out. We practice like a college room, so I just think our team is just going to end up doing what we need to do to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MidMid Valley\u2019s Matthew Almedina, top, holds down Honesdale\u2019s Justin Scanlon during the Lackawanna League Championships on Saturday at Wallenpaupack. (JASON ARDAN \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
\n\"MidMid Valley\u2019s Matthew Almedina, left, and Honesdale\u2019s Justin Scanlon wrestle during the Lackawanna League Championships on Saturday at Wallenpaupack. (JASON ARDAN \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
\nAlmedina repeats<\/p>\n

Matthew Almedina captured his second straight Lackawanna League title in dominant fashion, securing four first-period tech. falls for the 145 crown.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels really good,\u201d said Almedina, who is ranked seventh in the state at 139. \u201cI came in here just wanting to score points, make my matches quick. Not overconfident, but confident enough that I know that I\u2019m the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three-time district champion, three-time state qualifier and three-time All-Region selection will look to cap his career with a state medal in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel really confident this year,\u201d Almedina said. \u201cI fell short one match the past three years, so to break through this year would mean the world to me, and I know I could do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Almedina, it\u2019s not just about him. It\u2019s about the team he helped create and grow at Mid Valley. In their fourth season as a program, the Spartans are 4-4, won the Battle of the Valley belt Friday with a 36-28 victory over rival Valley View and placed ninth of 16 teams at the Lackawanna League Championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re top four for double-A in District 2, so we\u2019re right there for the team race, and I\u2019m really proud of these guys,\u201d Almedina said.<\/p>\n

\"ValleyValley View\u2019s Tywone Giles, top, wrestles Abington Heights\u2019 Chace Berry during the Lackawanna League Championships on Saturday at Wallenpaupack. (JASON ARDAN \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
\n\"ValleyValley View\u2019s Tywone Giles, left, and Abington Heights\u2019 Chace Berry wrestle Saturday during the Lackawanna League Championships at Wallenpaupack. (JASON ARDAN \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
\nStaying perfect<\/p>\n

Tywone Giles stayed unbeaten Saturday, rolling to the 152 title with a pin and three straight tech. falls. The Valley View sophomore is 16-0 this season with eight pins, five tech. falls, one major decision and two forfeit wins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HAWLEY \u2014 Drew Leonori forged a strong career at Scranton, and his accomplishments include rising to the occasion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[305,178,180,179,726],"class_list":["post-67287","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\/67287","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=67287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}