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Returning fully from an injury to get back on the mat and wrestle is one of the hardest things to achieve.
When the seeds for the District 2 Championships were released on Wednesday, several top accomplished wrestlers were omitted due to injuries.
Tunkhannock’s Tommy Traver, Wyoming Area’s Corey Mruk and Coughlin’s Darren Clarke, who were all returning district champions, are among those whose seasons have ended early.
It’s not much of a surprise that Traver’s season is over since suffering a broken leg as the result of an accident in shop class last month.
Mruk, who wrestled just one match this season – last week against Pittston Area – is a two-time district champion and suffered an injury during the football season. Clarke hasn’t wrestled since a dual last month against Crestwood when he lost due to an injury.
“It’s tough to see a lot of tough kids not wrestling this time of the year,” Tunkhannock coach Bob Hegedty said. “It’s what they work for.”
Last month, Traver said that he wanted his season to continue, but it just wasn’t in the cards as his leg still hasn’t healed. Hegedty said that Traver will be at districts and will help the team by coaching, but it still doesn’t take away the sting of missing the postseason.
“It’s tough. It really, really does suck to see somebody like him of his caliber, and the work he’s put in the last so many years to come to an end,” Hegedty said. “It is hard to see — it’s a tough break for him.”
Meanwhile, there are notable names who are returning from an injury for the first time in several weeks to restart their seasons. Tunkhannock’s Dave Evans, a district champion and state qualifier from last year, returns to the lineup at 120 pounds in the Class 2A bracket after rehabbing an arm injury.
Crestwood’s Trey Zabroski (district runner-up last year) and Jordan Miale (district second in 2017) haven’t wrestled in at least a month and are set to return this weekend.
“I’m sure anyone who comes back is going to be tentative at first and then they’ll get back into a comfort zone. Once that happens, they’ll pick back up where they were,” Hegedty said.
Evans is one of two top seeds for the Tigers for this weekend’s tournament at Hazleton Area High School with the other being 106-pound freshman Owen Woods. Lake-Lehman, which defeated the Tigers in the district duals final, lead all of D2 with four top seeds in returning state qualifier Bob Long (132), Hunter Burke (145), Nick Zaboski (170) and T.J. Meehan (220).
Hanover Area’s two-time state qualifier D.J. Erickson is the No. 1 seed in Class 2A at 152 pounds, while Wyoming Area’s Connor Wrobleski grabbed the top seed at 138 to round out the Wyoming Valley Conference’s No. 1 seeds in Class 2A.
The WVC picked up seven No. 1 seeds in Class 3A, with Dallas netting three of them. The Mountaineers’ trio of Len Kelley (170), Steven Newell (182) and Shawn Henniger (285) also helped the team last year take second place in this tournament as they look for a similar performance if not better.
The Class 3A Tournament will also be held at Hazleton Area High School on Friday and Saturday simultaneously with the 2A event. Wyoming Valley West’s David Krokowski (126), who is looking for history and his fourth district title and J.J. White (132) are also top seeds from the conference along with Coughlin freshman Cooper Price at 106 and Hazleton Area’s Shane Noonan at 220.
Wrestling starts at 5 p.m. on Friday with six mats in the high school’s gym. Action will pick up Saturday morning at 10 with the semis and consolation rounds, followed by the finals and consolation finals.
Admission to the event is $7 for adults and $4 for students per day.