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Tunkhannock Kiwanis Tournament

Seminary looks to be unbeatable

Blue Knights capture eight titles en route to second straight tournament crown.

By Dave Rosengrant drosengrant@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter

TUNKHANNOCK — Just four years ago, Wyoming Seminary coach John Gordon was being asked, “Seminary has a wrestling team?”

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Wyoming Seminary’s Nicky Gordon looks for a hold while wrestling Chris Gugliotti from Pittston Area in the 140-pound weight class during the finals of the Tunckhannock Kiwanis Wrestling Tournament in Tunckhannock Tuesday night.

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Now, he’s being asked if his wrestling team can be stopped.

And that question was answered with an emphatic “NO” on Tuesday at the Tunkhannock Kiwanis Tournament.

The Blue Knights breezed to their second straight victory in the event, crowing an unprecedented eight champions and scoring a whopping 307 points, finishing 100 points ahead of second-place Pittston Area.

“We’ve come a long way in the four years I’ve been here,” said Blue Knight senior 215-pounder Joe McMullan, who joined teammate Nicky Gordon as four-time champions of the tournament.

“It’s a tremendous team effort. We all bust our (butt) in practice and we’re all just here trying to get national recognition.”

Seminary’s eight champions eclipsed the mark of seven by one team which was held by Lake-Lehman in 1980 and Wyalusing in 1999.

Its second straight team crown makes the school the first repeat champion in the tournament since Wyalusing won nine in a row from 1995 through 2003.

The Blue Knights’ dominance didn’t exactly win over fans in the Tunkhannock gym as fans were booing Seminary wrestlers through some of the finals matches.

“We don’t wanna get booed or anything, we are all just good people trying to do good things,” added McMullan, who knocked off Towanda’s Jessie Chesie 6-5 in the finals.

Joining McMullan and Gordon (140 pounds) as champions for the Blue Knights were Dom Malone (103), Kyle Johnson (119), Simon Kitzis (130), Justin Martinez (145), Donovan Sarno (152) and Jay Wieller (171).

Bryce Caiazzo (160) and Donald McNeil (189) were also finalists for the Blue Knights.

Caiazzo was the victim of the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler Award recipient Josh Popple from Coughlin.

Popple, who entered the tournament unseeded, ran through the bracket pulling off upset after upset.

In the finals, against the top seed – while controlling his opponent from the top position in the second period – he used a pair of tilts and another move he picked up in practice twice to earn eight back points and knock off Caiazzo, 11-4.

In Tuesday morning’s semifinals, he handed Lake-Lehman’s Shane Stark his first loss of the season with a 5-4 win in overtime.

“I wasn’t expecting to do what I did here in this tournament,” said Popple, a sophomore. “I wanted to go out and maybe just place here. I definitely overachieved and I’m happy.”

The Patriots, who grabbed 207 points to finish in second, crowned champions in Michael Domarasky (112) and Cody Roccograndi (135). Domarasky, a sophomore, earned the fastest pin of the championships getting Tunkhannock’s Ray Yagloski on his back in 1:08 to get his second consecutive tournament win.

Roccograndi earned his second straight Kiwanis title when he pinned Wyalusing’s Aaron Kenyon in 3:24.

Matt McAndrew (119), Chris Gugliotti (140) and Kris Gratalo (171) were also finalists from Pittston Area, while five other Patriots placed either fifth or sixth.

The Patriots, who open their Wyoming Valley Conference Division I schedule with a home meet against Coughlin on Jan. 8, are one of the favorites to knock off Hazleton Area and claim the division title this year, and a good showing over the past two days could definitely help achieve that goal.

“I think our kids wrestled well and having 10 guys place in this tournament, we’re happy with that,” Pittston Area coach Matt Giampietro said. “We’re happy with our performance. I think it’s a good stepping stone to start the season.”

Lake-Lehman’s James Rosencrans (130) and GAR’s Morgan Luton (125) represented the WVC by grabbing second-place finishes.

Team Scores: 1. Wyoming Seminary (WS) 307; 2. Pittston Area (PA) 207; 3. Wyalusing (Wya) 183; 4. Towanda (Tow) 173.50; 5. Elk Lake (EL) 161; 6. Scranton (Scr) 121; 7. Lake-Lehman (LL) 119; 8. Honesdale (Hon) 106.50; 9. Tunkhannock (Tun) 93.50; 10. Warren County (WC) 86; 11. Coughlin (Cou) 78; 12. Dallas (Dal) 77; 13. Lackawanna Trail (LT) 73; 14. Pocono Mountain East (PME) 56; 15. GAR (GAR) 51.50; 16. Scranton Prep (SP) 48; 17. Susquehanna (sus) 30; 18. Valley View (VV) 25; 19. Mountain View (MV) 19; 20. Montrose (Mon) 18; 21. Coudersport (Coud) 15; 22. Western Wayne (WW) 10

Finals

103 – Dom Malone (WS) tech fall Mike Forba (Tun) 15-0; 112 – Michael Domarasky (PA) pinned Ray Yagloski (Tun) 1:08; 119 – Kyle Johnson (WS) dec Matt McAndrew (PA) 3-2; 125 – Zane McClaskey (Wya) pinned Morgan Luton (GAR) 5:35; 130 – Simon Kitzis (WS) pinned James Rosencrans (LL) 1:21; 135 – Cody Roccograndi (PA) pinned Aaron Kenyon (Wya) 3:24; 140 – Nicky Gordon (WS) pinned Chris Gugliotti (PA) 5:23; 145 – Justin Martinez (WS) dec Tom Desir (Scr) 7-6; 152 – Donovan Sarno (WS) dec Anthony Juser (EL) 8-1; 160 – Josh Popple (Cou) dec Bryce Caiazzo (WS) 11-4; 171 – Jay Wieller (WS) dec Kris Gratalo (PA) 5-3, OT; 189 – Darin Rockwell (Tow) dec Donald McNeil (WS) 3-2; 215 – Joe McMullan (WS) dec. Jessie Chesie (Tow) 6-5; 285 – Lance Moore (LT) dec Travis Chesla (Tow) 4-2

Championship Semifinals

103 – Forba dec Devon Emerson (LL) 7-0; Malone maj dec Cody Wheeler (Tow) 13-2; 112 – Domarasky pinned Keaton Bennett (EL) 3:28; Yagloski maj dec Pete Santarelli 14-5; 119 – Johnson maj dec Bryan Brown (Wya) 8-0; McAndrew maj dec John Young (Dal) 18-4; 125 – McClaskey (Wya) tech fall Devon Fiorentino (EL) 16-1; Luton dec Caleb Wiley (Tow) 13-9; 130 – Kitzis pinned Joe Champluvier (Wya) :25; Rosencrans dec Spencer Bunce (WC) 3-2; 135 – Roccograndi dec Devon Brown (WS) 3-1; Kenyon pinned Alan Blaisure (EL) 3:22; 140 – Gordon tech fall Cody Mosher (Wya) 18-3; Gugliotti tech fall Justin Desarro (Scr) 15-0; 145 – Martinez dec Noah Blackwell (GAR) 11-4; Desir dec Jon Lynn 8-4; 152 – Sarno maj dec Taylor Woznicki (Wya) 12-3; Juser tech fall Caleb Spencer (Tow) 18-0; 160 – Caiazzo dec Bill Bidwell (PA) 10-3; Popple dec Shane Stark (LL) 5-4 OT; 171 – Wieller pinned Adam Goeringer (Dal) 2:41; Gratalo dec Pete Mesko (Hon) 4-1; 189 – Rockwell dec Seth Canfield (EL) 3-1 OT; McNeil maj dec Jason Laboranti (PA) 15-7; 215 – McMullan tech fall Jake Eastman (EL) 16-1; Chesie dec Roger Jayne (LL) 7-1; 285 – Moore maj dec Frank Savastano (Hon) 11-1; Chesla pinned Jarred Moore (WC) 3:22

Third Place

103 – Cody Wheeler (Tow) maj dec Devon Emerson (LL) 8-0; 112 – Pete Santarelli (VV) dec Keaton Bennett (EL) 4-2; 119 – John Young (Dal) pinned Bryan Brown (Wya) :31; 125 – Devin Fiorentino (EL) pinned Joe Mitchell (PA) 5:30; 130 – Spencer Bunce (WC) dec Joe Champluvier (Wya) 5-1; 135 – Jon Levy (Hon) dec Devon Brown (WS) 2-0, OT; 140 – Cody Mosher (Wya) dec Justin Desarro (Scr) 9-4; 145 – Matt Morningstar (WC) dec Noah Blackwell (GAR) 3-1; 152 – Taylor Woznicki (Wya) pinned Dominick Lussi (PA) :39 ; 160 – Shane Stark (LL) maj dec Bill Bidwell (PA) 13-3; 171 – Pete Mesko (Hon) dec Adam Goeringer (Dal) 6-4; 189 – Seth Canfield (EL) dec Luis Rivero (Hon) 12-9 ; 215 – Roger Jayne (LL) dec Jake Eastman (EL) 3-1; 285 – Ben Puza (WS) dec Josh Ralston (EL) 5-2

Fifth Place

103 –Jamie Scarantino (PA) pinned Todd Cummings (Scr) 4:56; 112 – Bryon Carter (LL) pinned Josh Quirk (Scr) 2:59; 119 – Ryan Smith (Hon) pinned Zack Ripic (Tow) :27; 125 – Caleb Willey (Tow) maj dec Brian Delucca (Dal) 9-0; 130 – Tannar Keeney (Tow) pinned Nick Vales (Sus) 2:01; 135 – DP Miller (PME) dec Alan blaisure (EL) 10-7; 140 – Mike Rihl (Mon) dec Jeremy Robinson (WC) 4-0; 145 – Jon Lynn (LT) pinned Craige Butler (MV) 2:20; 152 – Caleb Spencer (Tow) pinned Alex Shilling (Scr) 2:16; 160 – Mike Cobb (Wya) dec Matt Generotti (SP) 5-0; 171 – Tyler McDonald (LL) dec Mike Clark (Wya) 5-2; 189 – Jason Laboranti (PA) pinned Adam Ryan (SP) 4:40; 215 – Pete Champluvier (Wya) dec Eric Laytos (LT) 3-1; 285 – Jarred Moore (WC) pinned Frank Savastano (Hon) 3:41

Consolation Semifinals

103 – Wheeler pinned Cummings 1:26; Emerson dec Scarantino 10-8; 112 – Santarelli dec Carter 7-4; Bennett pinned Quirk 2:23; 119 – Young maj dec Smith 16-5; Brown dec Ripic 3-1; 125 – Mitchell dec Willey 7-6; 130 – Bunce pinned Keeney :48; Champluvier dec Vales 9-2; 135 – Levy dec Blaisure 4-0; 140 – Desarro maj dec Robinson 14-4; Mosher pinned Rihl 4:00; 145 – Morningstar dec Lynn 5-3; Blackwell pinned Butler 3:38; 152 – Lussi dec Spencer 6-3; Woznicki pinned Shilling 1:18; 160 – Stark dec Cobb 2-0; Bidwell dec Generotti 3-1; 171 – Mesko dec Clark 5-2; Goeringer dec McDonald 3-2; 189 – Rivero pinned Laboranti 2:14; Canfield maj dec Ryan 10-2; 215 – Jayne dec Champluvier 1-0, OT; Eastman maj dec Laytos 13-4; 285 – Puza dec Moore 3-1; Ralston pinned Savastano 4:06

Consolation Fifth Round

103 – Cummings pinned Evan Decker (WW) 2:50; Scarantino dec Matt Evans (Hon) 4-0; 112 – Carter dec Aaron Perez (Dal) 4-2; Quirk dec Dale Maynard (Tow) 17-15; 119 – Smith dec Scott Stout (PME) 1-0; Ripic maj dec Josh Javitz (SP) 11-2; 125 – Mitchell dec Tyler Sterba (Cou) 6-2; Delucca maj dec Raphael Ingaglio (WW) 11-1; 130 – Keeney maj dec Ryan Haraschak (TUN) 13-5; Vales dec Corey McNulty (Cou) 2-0; 135 – Levy pinned Josh Manzer (MV) 4:49; Miller dec Ryan Murphy (LL) 3-2; 140 – Robinson pinned Ryan Bolyard (EL) 2:23; Rihl dec Sam Wiernusz (TUN) 2-1; 145 – Morningstar dec Keith Howard (WYA) 3-2; Butler pinned Christian Szot (Dal) 1:33; 152 – Lussi dec Charlie Bliss (Tun) 5-2, OT; Shilling dec Chris Rushmore (Coud) 10-9; 160 – Cobb dec Steve Teaman (Scr) 6-2; Generotti dec Colton Rosario (Tun) 8-6; 171 – Clark dec Gage Steele (WC) 7-3; McDonald maj dec Godfred Anyang (Scr) 10-2; 189 – Rivero pinned Tucker Vail (LT) :28; Ryan forfeit Carlos Cuevas (Sus) ; 215 – Champluvier pinned Matt Teaman (Scr) 3:50; Laytos dec Jeff Smith (Cou) 6-5; 285 – Puza dec Aaron Rushin (PME) 3-0; Ralston pinned Jose Santana (Scr) :49