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YATESVILLE — Just two years ago, Wyoming Valley West and Pittston Area were the bottom-feeders in Division 1 of the Wyoming Valley Conference. This was just a few years removed from meeting in the District 2 Class 3A Duals final.
Both programs have had a remarkable turnaround this season and they met on Thursday night with both controlling their own destiny for a berth in the district duals event, which starts next week.
In a close dual, the Spartans pulled out the 43-26 victory getting pins from two of their tough outs in Ian Ratchford and Cadden Kucek at 113 and 120 pounds, the last two bouts of the night.
“We started with our better part of the lineup and we ended with the best part of my lineup, and I think it played well in our favor to kinda know where we stand coming in to the last three matches,” Spartans coach Ryan Vassello said. “I was pleased with finishing there.”
The Patriots (4-3 Division) now wait and see what happens with seeding. The Spartans (4-2) can either be the No. 2 seed from the WVC or not be in the tournament at all, depending on tiebreakers.
Valley West meets Wilkes-Barre Area (5-1) Friday night at Coughlin. Crestwood (3-3) is also in the mix for a D2 duals berth and closes out their divisional schedule on Monday with a match against Nanticoke (1-5).
Hazleton Area (7-0) is the Division 1 champion and will host three teams on Wednesday. Wilkes-Barre Area can be no lower than the No. 3 seed. If Valley West, Pittston Area and Crestwood all end with three losses, one of the teams will be sitting home next week.
“I feel like it’s what keeps me motivated, knowing day in and day out what we need to do, and we’re just gonna keep plugging,” Vassello said about the tight race to get into the postseason team tournament. “So yeah, I love it.”
Valley West got a good start Thursday with three straight bonus-point wins to open the dual from Zander Remakus (126), J.J. White (132) and Joe Rivas (138) for a 17-0 lead.
The Patriots started to chip away and got a pin from Jimmy Spindler (145) and a decision from CJ Demark at 152 to cut the deficit to 17-9.
Eventually, the Patriots took a 26-23 lead with four weights to go after a win by decision from Adrian Colon at 220. But the Spartans were too much at the end.
No matter what happens for Pittston Area, coach Dave Krantz knows his team will be ready. The Patriots have come a long way this season after having just one divisional win in the previous three seasons, especially with five freshmen in the starting lineup.
“Tonight, if they won that match the fate was in our own hands and it just didn’t go our way tonight,” Krantz said. “This is the first year we could have a winning season in a long time. So I tell the kids to keep their heads up on that and look forward to that.
“Three years ago when we started, there was eight kids here. And it’s come a long way. Rome wasn’t built in a day. The program’s getting better and better, but it takes time.”
One of the biggest wins of the night for the Spartans came from Ethan Scott at 160. In a match that could have gone either way, the senior pinned Eric Paxton in the second period to extend the Spartans’ lead to 23-9 at that point for a huge possible 12-point swing.
“I just wanted to do what was best for me team and get out there and get the pin, get the points up and give us a little bit of an advantage early on in the match,” Scott said.
Wyoming Valley West 43, Pittston Area 26
106: Dorian Hoffman (WVW) dec Keegan Bucci 5-3; 113: Ian Ratchford (WVW) pinned Joi Phillips 3:04; 120: Cadden Kucek (WVW) tech fall Kevin Robey 17-2, 2:35; 126: Zander Remakus (WVW) tech fall Jacob Granahan 5:47, 15-0; 132: J.J. White (WVW) pinned Nico Solano 5:11; 138: Joe Rivas (WVW) pinned Felix Mendez :48; 145: Jimmy Spindler (PA) pinned Rob Napersky 1:51; 152: CJ Demark (PA) dec Matt Giza 13-6; 160: Ethan Scott (WVW) pinned Eric Paxton 2:48; 170: AJ Gorto (PA) maj dec Jason Pearson 19-5; 182: Alex Anastasi (PA) maj dec Jaden Swainbank 14-4; 195: John Symons (PA) pinned Luis Rivera :39; 220: Adrian Colon (PA) dec Jordan Evans 13-11; 285: Jamir Murphy (WVW) won by forfeit
Note: Match started at 126 pounds