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HAZLE TWP. — Steven Newell knew that there would be a lot of hype around his District 2 Class 3A final.
The Dallas 182-pounder couldn’t get away from everyone talking to him about all the ramifications of his match against West Scranton’s Jeremy Seymour.
“Probably 50-plus people came up to me saying, ‘It’s gonna be a great match, ‘” Newell said of the bout against two highly ranked wrestlers in the state.
Still, the senior put all the distractions in the back of his mind. And when he finally took the mat for the last bout of the weekend at Hazleton Area High School, all eyes were on him with hundreds surrounding the circle.
He accomplished quite a bit.
Newell defeated Seymour 9-2 to claim the district title. In doing so, he became the first three-time district champion in school history, won career match No. 150, beat a fellow past state qualifier and then earned the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler Award.
“People like my family, my dad and my mom and my brother and constantly reminded me 150th win, three-time district champ, possibly OW, I just try to focus on the match at hand,” Newell said. “When wrestling is done, then I can celebrate a little bit. But tomorrow, I’ll be right back at it gearing up for regionals and states.”
Newell was one of four wrestlers from the Wyoming Valley Conference to become a multiple-time champion in the Class 3A Tournament. Wyoming Valley West’s David Krokowski won his fourth straight title at 126 pounds. Krokowski’s teammate J.J. White (132 pounds) and Hazleton Area’s Shane Noonan (220) all won their third consecutive title.
Nanticoke Area’s Shane Repasky (285), Coughlin’s Cooper Price (106), and Hazleton Area’s Johnny Corra (113), Charles Everdale (145) and Jake Marnell (170) all won their first district titles.
Krokowski became just the 29th wrestler in District 2 history to win four D2 golds. He’s the first from the WVC to do so since Meyers’ Colin Pasone two years ago, and the first from the conference in Class 3A to do so since the Hazleton Area duo of Pat LaBuz and Mark Uliano accomplished the feat in 2010.
“It’s an incredible feeling. It feels like all my hard work paid off,” Krokowski said. “I’m looking forward to regionals. I want to win that. I want to make it to states. I want to get a good place at states.”
Noonan’s victory kept him unbeaten this season and also helped the Cougars win the team title for the second time in three years. Not only did the Cougars win the team title with 234 points, a whopping 67 ahead of second place Delaware Valley, but the team entered 12 athletes into the tournament and 11 of them advanced to next week’s Northeast Regional Tournament at Liberty High School in Bethlehem.
“That’s awesome. We brought 12 kids and to take 11, that’s awesome. I’m proud of these kids. They all get what they deserve,” Noonan said. “I think it’s good (for the team). We get the sweep. We get the conference. We get the district duals and we win the district tournament. I wasn’t a part of that one yet so it’s good.”
Repasky made a little history of his own when he pinned Dallas’ Shawn Henniger for the second time this season in the finals. The senior became the first district champion for the Trojans since Jason Mitkowski’s remarkable run to a state title in 2003. Repasky kept looking for the cement job on Henniger. He got it once in the first period, but Henniger got out.
Early in the third period, Repasky hit another, and this time Henniger couldn’t escape.
“I wanted to get aggressive, so I just dumped down and hit it and just stuck him,” Repasky said. “It’s amazing. The first time in 16 years at Nanticoke. I’m ecstatic.”
Price picked up a historic win himself. After the freshman pinned West Scranton’s Austin Fashouer in the final, he became the last district champion for Coughlin.
“It’s a really good deal, because nobody else is gonna get it except for you,” Price said about the last district title for the Crusaders. “I really wanted it. I really want to go to states.”
There was history for White as well. The junior picked up his third district title, but has done so in remarkable fashion by not losing a match in his whole career so far to a wrestler from all of District 2.
“It means a lot to me. It feels really great that I’ve been able to go this far and not lose to a district wrestler, but anything can happen so I’m just gonna keep going and not get cocky or anything,” White said.
Corra and Everdale both won by technical fall to claim their first district gold, while Marnell needed 8 minutes to win his first title beating West Scranton’s Cameron Butka, 5-4 in the ultimate tiebreaker.
“Charles is wrestling tough right now. I love the way Charles is wrestling,” Cougars coach Keith Maurer said. “A lot of pure determination from (Marnell). He was banged up earlier in the week. And he was focused there at the end and knew what he had to do and I’m proud of him.”
Corra, who wrestled at 106 most of the season, bumped up to 113 for the postseason. The move looked brilliant.
“Whoever made that move is a genius,” Maurer said about the decision between him, assistant coach Dave Shafer and Corra’s parents. “If we look back, it’s one of those hindsights that’s 20-20. If he finished fifth we would have been bummed.”
District 2 Class 3A Tournament
Outstanding Wrestler: Steven Newell, Dallas
Lackawanna League Sportsmanship Award: John Burgette, Scranton
WVC Sportmanship Award: Dave Parsnik, Coughlin
Coach of the year: Keith Maurer and Dave Shafer, Hazleton Area
Junior High Coach of the Year: Nick Carr, Abington Heights; Tristan Vanderlick, Wyoming Area
Team Scores
1. Hazleton Area (Haz) 234; 2. Delaware Valley (DV) 167; 3. West Scranton (WS) 154; 4. Abington Heights (AH) 148; 5. Dallas (Dal) 129.5; 6. Wyoming Valley West (WVW) 124; 7. Honesdale (Hon) 108; 8. Coughlin (Cou) 96; 9. Wallenpaupack (Wal) 79.5; 10. Nanticoke (Nan) 76.5; 11. Scranton (Scr) 73.5; 12. Crestwood (Cre) 60.5; 13. Valley View (VV) 52; 14. Berwick (Ber) 46; 15. Pittston Area (PA) 21.5
Finals
106: Cooper Price (Cou) pinned Austin Fashouer (WS) 4:10
113: Johnny Corry (Haz) tech fall Cole Kroptavich (AH) 17-0, 4:42
120: Bobby Zelinski (Scr) dec Cadden Kucek (WVW) 10-8, OT
126: David Krokowski (WVW) dec Preston Machado (DV) 4-3
132: JJ White (WVW) dec Joe Casella (DV) 9-3
138: Jack Dardia (DV) dec Garrett Swank (Cre) 8-3
145: Charles Everdale (Haz) tech fall Machias Magill (DV) 17-1, 5:33
152: Jeremiah Oakes (Scr) dec Brandon Lawson (Hon) 5-2
160: Gavin Brazanskas (DV) dec Sam Northup (AH) 8-2
170: Jake Marnell (Haz) dec Cameron Butka (WS) 5-4, UTB
182: Steven Newell (Dal) dec Jeremy Seymour (WS) 9-2
195: Tyler Neglia (Wall) dec JJ Snyder (Ber) 5-2
220: Shane Noonan (Haz) pinned Jose Falcon (DV) 3:09
285: Shane Repasky (Nan) pinned Shawn Henniger (Dal) 4:15
Third Place
106: Brandon Grogan (AH) dec Ian Ratchford (WVW) 2-1
113: Drew Howell (Hon) dec Justin Benscoter (Dal) 1-0
120: Anthony Caramanno (WS) dec Beck Hutchison (Haz) 6-2
126: Jorven Rodriguez (Haz) dec Nino Cinti (Cou) 3-1
132: Jordan Miale (Cre) dec Christian Kislan (Haz) 8-4
138: Jamie Pahler (Cou) pinned Randy Bonitz (WS) 4:45
145: Garrett Walsh (WS) maj dec Ryan Hartman (Wal) 13-5
152: Bryce Molinaro (Haz) dec James Brown (AH) 3-2
160: Jaylon Brunson (WVW) dec Dante Matarella (Haz) 3-1
170: Jake Kabonick (Hon) pinned Len Kelley (Dal) 2:01
182: Jason Henderson (DV) dec Jayson Brielmeier (Haz) 11-5
195: Seth Hunsinger (Haz) dec Dave White (WVW) 3-1
220: Taylor Bolesta (Dal) dec Joel Trioche (WS) 4-2
285: John Shnipes (VV) pinned RJ Knott (AH) :34
