High School Sports

H.S. WRESTLING

January 6

Stepping stone to a future PIAA title begins in area Notebook

The Pa. Junior Wrestling State tournament will be held at arena March 26-27.

By Dave Rosengrant drosengrant@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter

Several minor league sports teams have the slogan that you can see tomorrow’s stars today.

In a few months, that slogan can be used for wrestling.

That’s because for the first time in the 40-year history of the Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling State Championships the event will be held in the eastern part of the state.

The tournament, which consists of more than 50 weight classes and four different age groups from 8-and-under through age 14, will make its debut at the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp. on March 26-27. The move to NEPA was made possible thanks to a group of backers led by chairman Schuyler Frey from Region X (NEPA).

“Schuyler Frey has really been a great manager in a sense that he has come in with a vision and shared that vision and everyone bought in and has moved forward,” said Vito Pasone, a committee member who also helped bring the event to the area and a PIAA official.

Joining Pasone on the committee is Wyoming Area coach John Ratajczak, who has organized the operation side of things, former state champion from Crestwood Gary Siegel, who handles the sponsorships and much more and Bob Hawkins, who is the treasurer.

Four wrestlers from Region X who previously won a PJW state championship won a PIAA Championship in 2009. Benton’s Corey Lear and Eric Hess and Line Mountain’s Jon Fausey won Class 2A titles, while Abington Heights’ 285-pounder Evan Craig won a Class 3A championship. Those names are just a glimpse of greatness this event turns out. A whopping 52 percent of athletes which have medaled in this event over the years have gone on to medal or win a state championship, while dozens have succeeded collegiately claiming NCAA medals or Championships on the Division I level.

Recent Wyoming Valley Conference graduates who won a PJW championship and went on to do well at the PIAA Championships are Pittston Area alum Robbie Robinson and Wyoming Valley West product Tyler Cowman.

The open event features four age groups, including an 8-under division for the first time. Each age group has at least 14 weight classes and more than 1,200 wrestlers are expected to participate.

An individual wishing to participate will go by his age as of Dec. 31, 2009. An entry fee of $18 is all that’s required and there is no advancement fee. To enter into the tournament, a wrestler must enter into the district tournament, which will be at Tunkhannock or Montoursville. Information on entering those events can be found at www.pajw.org and then click on Area X.

January Madness

Normally, the wrestling season starts getting hectic in February and March. In 2010, however the madness begins this month.

A total of 44 Wyoming Valley Conference divisional duals will be held in the next three and a half weeks. By the time it’s all said and done, more than 100 pins will be recorded and two team champions will be crowned.

The divisional matchups start tonight with four Division I duals and one Division II bout on the slate. The most interesting of the five appears to be Meyers traveling to Wyoming Area in a D-II showdown. Every team has championship aspirations to begin divisional play and the Mohawks and Warriors are two contenders for the title. It’s early, but this one could have championship implications.

In D-I action tonight, Lake-Lehman goes to Coughlin, Wyoming Valley West travels to Berwick, Crestwood hosts Pittston Area and Hazleton Area takes the long trip to Tunkhannock. All meets begin at 7 p.m.

The chaos doesn’t stop there for the 14 WVC teams. This weekend will mark the first Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament, which will be held at Lake-Lehman on Friday and Saturday.

Tiebreakers

With the start of the conference’s divisional dual season beginning today, parity is sure to have a presence accompanied by close matches and even the possibility of tied scores after every bout is wrestled.

When the score ends tied, a tiebreaker procedure goes into effect with 14 possible scenarios.

The following is the tiebreaker criteria used in the PIAA:

1. Least number of team points deducted for flagrant or unsportsmanlike conduct. 2. Most matches won. 3. Most points for a fall, default, forfeit or disqualification. 4. Most points for a tech fall. 5. Most points for a major decision. 6. Most first points scored. 7. Most points for near falls. 8. Most takedowns. 9. Most reversals. 10. Most escapes. 11. Least amount of penalties for stalling. 12. Least amount of stall warnings. 13. Fewer number of points for other infractions. 14. Flip of the disc.

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