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WILKES-BARRE – Throughout his high school career, Owen Davis hasn’t had the best of luck wrestling in tournaments.

The Wyoming Seminary junior was coming off a two-and-out showing at last weekend’s Ironman Tournament and entered the X-Calibur Tournament as the No. 7 seed. The Hanover Township resident was just hoping to earn a medal during his team’s event at Wilkes University’s Marts Center.

He wasn’t expecting the result he earned.

Davis capped a phenomenal tournament on Sunday by winning the 160-pound title, topping the No. 1 seed Patrick O’Neill from North Penn by major decision in the final.

“My expectations weren’t that high. I came in thinking to place maybe top five,” Davis said. “It feels amazing. I love to win. I came in with the mindset that I wanted to win. So I just wrestled as hard as possible.”

After grabbing a takedown 30 seconds into the match and taking a 2-0 lead, Davis wasn’t going to be denied the victory. He worked an escape in the second period to go along with three back points and a late takdown in the third for the victory against the seventh-place finisher in the PIAA State Championships last season.

“I made it that far, I had the mindset to win,” Davis said.

Davis’ day started with a fall in the semis over Justin Lemay from West Morris Central when he locked in a headlock for the win. He got some help along the way in the bracket as Benton’s Nolan Lear defeated the No. 2 seed Cole Rees from Sem, in Saturday’s round of 16. Davis went on to defeat Lear in the quarters. Instead of getting a wrestle-off with his teammate, Davis got the tournament’s gold.

The Blue Knights ran away with the tournament’s team title with 347.5 points to finish more than 100 points in front of second-place Bergen Catholic. Sem picked up eight gold medals and five silvers en route to the victory. From the Wyoming Valley Conference, Wyoming Valley West was the top finisher placing eighth (82 points), Coughlin placed 10th (76) and Lake-Lehman took 11th (71).

One of the biggest wins for the Blue Knights came from the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler Connor Kievman over Bergen Catholic’s Wade Unger in the 145-pound final.

Kievman, a junior, lost to Unger by major decision in a dual last year that was won by Bergen. He turned it around this time with a takedown with just 12 seconds left to pull out a 8-6 win on Sunday.

“It’s all confidence,” Kievman said about his change from the last time he wrestled Unger. “Even going into this tournament I really didn’t have it. I’m just trying to get in my groove. And good warm-ups, even with the music I’m listening to. Just all positivity. It’s easy to get caught in negativity in wrestling since you’re so up and down. So just remaining positive in everything you do, and it’s going to work.”

The Blue Knights and Bergen have put together quite a rivalry over the years. That continued on Sunday with five of the finals bouts being between the two schools and Sem winning three of those.

In addition to Kievman, Benny Baker (152) and Darrien Roberts (182) were also victorious against Bergen Catholic foes.

Like Kievman, Roberts was in a dramatic finish as he was awarded two points for a takedown right at the buzzer to claim a 3-1 win over Chris Foca in a matchup of two grapplers ranked in the top 10 in the country.

“I know if I had a little more time it definitely would have been two (points) so I knew I had to wrestle the corner real quick,” Roberts said about the final takedown. “I think it was two. I don’t know about the timing.”

Beau Bartlett, ranked No. 4 in the country, picked up the title in the 132-pound bracket for Sem, while Jake Stefanowicz (170) and Jake Kaminski (220) also earned tournament victories for the Blue Knights.

The WVC was shut out from golds in one of the toughest tournaments in the country, but the league left the gym with 12 medals. Valley West’s Cadden Kucek (120) and David Krokowski (132) both took third for the highest finishers from the three teams.

Krokowski, a returning state qualifier, defeated fellow state qualifier Bob Long from Lake-Lehman in the third-place bout.

After the score was tied 2-2 early in the second period, Krokowski pulled out a reversal and a pair of back points to take a 6-2 lead before adding a takedown in the last seconds for the win.

The win was a rebound for Krokowski, who defeated the bracket’s No. 2 seed a day earlier, then fell in the Sunday morning semis.

“It was tough (after the semifinal loss) because I was expecting to come in here and wrestle in the finals; I really want to wrestle Beau,” Krokowski said. “After that, I knew I couldn’t take that to heart. I had to wrestle back and do what I came here for.

“Third wasn’t really one of my goals, but I’ll take it as an achievement.”

MyHouse X-Calibur Invitational

Team Scores

1. Wyoming Seminary 347.5; 2. Bergen Catholic 245.5; 3. Quakertown 117; 4. West Morris Central 113.5; 5. Princess Anne, St. Anthony’s 94; 7. East Stroudsburg South 85.5; 8. Wyoming Valley West 82; 9. Bound Brook 77.5; 10. Coughlin 76; 11. Lake-Lehman 71; 12. Benton 69.5; 13. The Hill School 60; 14. Troy 57; 15. Faith Christian Academy, Northwestern Lehigh 56.5; 17. Pennridge 52.5; 18. North Penn 49.5; 19. Landstown 46; 20. Shaler 39; 21. Pocono Mountain East 29; 22. Abington Friends School 21; 23. Pittston Area 12.5; 24. Hayfield 10

Finals

106: Sheldon Seymour (Troy) dec Jake Craig (The Hill School) 9-2

113: Nick Kayal (Bergen Catholic) dec Gabe Strickland (Benton) 5-0

120: Corey Morabito (Wyoming Seminary) maj dec Corey Cope (Quakertown) 10-2

126: Robert Howard (Bergen Catholic) dec Drew Munch (Wyoming Seminary) 12-5

132: Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary) maj dec Preston Maucere (St. Anthony’s) 19-8

138: Pat Gould (East Stroudsburg South) dec Lincoln Heck (Wyoming Seminary) 9-4

145: Connor Kievman (Wyoming Seminary) dec Wade Unger (Bergen Catholic) 8-6

152: Benny Baker (Wyoming Seminary) dec Joe Zargo (Bergen Catholic) 7-4

160: Owen Davis (Wyoming Seminary) maj dec Patrick O’Neill (North Penn) 9-1

170: Jake Stefanowicz (Wyoming Seminary) maj dec Darwin Hull (Wyoming Seminary) 14-2

182: Darrien Roberts (Wyoming Seminary) dec Chris Foca (Bergen Catholic) 3-1

195: Jacob Cardenas (Bergen Catholic) tech fall Mike Doggett (Wyoming Seminary) 17-0, 4:28

220: Jake Kaminski (Wyoming Seminary) pinned Zach Poust (Benton 1:13

285: Jervey Sistrunk (Bound Brook) pinned Nate Miller (Wyoming Seminary) :58

Wyoming Seminary wrestler Owen Davis controls North Penn’s Patrick O’Neal at the edge of the mat after a takedown in the 160-pouond final in the X-Calibur Wrestling Invitational held at Wilkes University’s Marts Center.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_x1_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgWyoming Seminary wrestler Owen Davis controls North Penn’s Patrick O’Neal at the edge of the mat after a takedown in the 160-pouond final in the X-Calibur Wrestling Invitational held at Wilkes University’s Marts Center. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Wyoming Seminary wrestler Beau Bartlett keeps Preston Maucere of Saint Anthony’s under control in the 132-pound final in the X-Ccalibur Wrestling Invitational held Sunday at Wilkes University.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_x2_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgWyoming Seminary wrestler Beau Bartlett keeps Preston Maucere of Saint Anthony’s under control in the 132-pound final in the X-Ccalibur Wrestling Invitational held Sunday at Wilkes University. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Connor Kievman, Wyoming Seminary’s 145-pound wrestler, puts a combination on Wade Unger from Bergen Catholic in the X-Calibur Wrestling Invitational finals.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_x3_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgConnor Kievman, Wyoming Seminary’s 145-pound wrestler, puts a combination on Wade Unger from Bergen Catholic in the X-Calibur Wrestling Invitational finals. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Wyoming Seminary’s Benny Baker rolls with Bergen Catholic’s Joe Zargo in the 152-pound X-Calibur final.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_x4_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgWyoming Seminary’s Benny Baker rolls with Bergen Catholic’s Joe Zargo in the 152-pound X-Calibur final. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Wyoming Seminary’s Benny Baker works on a takedown against Bergen Catholic’s Joe Zargo at edge of the mat in the 152-pound final of the X-Calibur Wrestling Invitational.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_x5_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgWyoming Seminary’s Benny Baker works on a takedown against Bergen Catholic’s Joe Zargo at edge of the mat in the 152-pound final of the X-Calibur Wrestling Invitational. Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Sem’s Davis comes from a 7th seed to pin down gold at X-Calibur Tournament

By Dave Rosengrant

For Times Leader

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