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HAZLE TWP. — Connor Lee watched two of his Wilkes-Barre Area teammates fall in the finals of the District 2 Class 3A Tournament.
Then the 220-pounder had a scare of his own when it was his turn to take to the mat. He was almost pinned by Abington Heights’ Gavin Drake before he reversed lateral drop of his own and pinned Drake in 50 seconds to become the first-ever district champion for the Wolfpack wrestling team on Saturday at Hazleton Area High School.
“It’s huge. I can’t believe it myself. The first Wolfpack wrestler to win districts, and on top of everything, to pin doing it. So I thought it was amazing,” Lee said.
Lee and Drake both went for lateral drop to start the match. Drake caught Lee with the move, but both were still locked up. That led to Lee being able to move off of his back and reverse into a fall of his own.
“I just followed through with the momentum and put him on his back.”
Lee was one of five first-time district titlists in Class 3A as he was joined by Hazleton Area’s Oscar Zamudio at 120 pounds and Bryce Molinaro at 160, Crestwood’s Garrett Swank at 145, and Dallas’ Taylor Bolesta at 285 pounds.
But it was the multiple-time champions that took the spotlight.
Wyoming Valley West’s J.J. White became just the 30th member of the four-time champions club. The 126-pounder won twice on Saturday and beat West Scranton’s Tony Caramanno in the finals by major decision as he left the gym with the tourney’s Outstanding Wrestler Award. White also ran through the district tournament without losing a match to a District 2 opponent throughout his career. It’s a feat that has not occurred in Class 3A since Crestwood’s Josh Roosa in 2008. Meyers’ Colin Pasone achieved the mark in 2017 in Class 2A.
“It makes me feel pretty good about myself,” White said about his accomplishments. “I didn’t even know about it until last year. Then once my coaches and parents told me about it, I made it a goal to not lose to anyone in District 2. It seems like a pretty big accomplishment to do it since no one has done it in years.”
Berwick’s Nick Yule (138) picked up his third district gold, while Hazleton Area’s Charles Everdale (152) and Jake Marnell (182) claimed their second crowns.
Yule, a senior, won titles as a freshman and sophomore in Class 2A. Last year, the Bulldogs bumped up to 3A and he finished with a medal, but not the one he wanted. He got back to the top of the podium on Saturday by holding off Crestwood’s Trey Zabroski 11-9 in the final.
“Last year was upsetting and this year I was coming and hoping to at least make regionals and states after that and it feels really good to take first after that long season,” Yule said.
Right after Yule defeated Zabroski, Swank stepped on the mat and became Crestwood’s first district champion since 2015. He knocked off Wilkes-Barre Area’s Jamie Pahler 5-3 to improve on his finishes of second and third the previous two seasons. The title was the end of a big day for Swank, who also picked up career win No. 100 in the semifinals with a quick first-period fall.
“Finally, after four years all the hard work has paid off and I’m excited to go another week,” Swank said. “It’s a big relief because the hard work pays off and wrestling is a sport that if you don’t put the hard work in, you’re not gonna get the results you want. It shows that it means something to go to practice everyday, work your (butt) off and it’s finally paying off.”
Zamudio might have had the best tournament of any wrestler, and might have come close to White in the race for OW. The sophomore entered the tournament with a .500 record as the No. 6 seed at 120. After defeating the third seed on Friday to reach the semis, he knocked off the No. 2 seed MJ Turri from West Scranton by major decision in the semis. Then he pinned the No. 1 seed Cadden Kucek from Wyoming Valley West with a cradle in second period of the finals.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know if I was gonna place or not and next thing you know I took the gold. I think I did pretty good,” said Zamudio, who has wrestled at higher weights for most of the season before dropping to 120 for the postseason. “Hopefully, I can place (at Regionals) and make it states.”
Even though the Cougars crowned four champions, they still finished a distant second to Delaware Valley in the standings. Hazleton Area scored 215.5 points, which could have been good enough to win in some years. The Warriors however, broke the tournament record by scoring 252.5 points by also crowning four champs.
District 2 Wrestling Championships
Class 3A
Outstanding Wrestler: J.J. White, Wyoming Valley West
Team Scores: 1. Delaware Valley (DV) 252.5; 2. Hazleton Area (Haz) 215.5; 3. West Scranton (WS) 179; 4. Wilkes-Barre Area (WBA) 128; 5. Honesdale (Hon) 119; 6. Wyoming Valley West (WVW) 113; 7. Abington Heights (AH) 109; 8. Crestwood (Cre) 97; 9. Dallas (Dal) 93.5; 10. Wallenpaupack (Wall) 87; 11. Nanticoke Area (Nan) 80; 12. Pittston Area (PA) 66; 13. Berwick (Ber) 43; 14. Scranton (Scr) 35; 15. Valley View (VV) 29; 16. North Pocono (NP) 12
Finals
106: Zachary Jacarusso (DV) dec Austin Fashouer (WS) 6-1
113: Tristyn Bodie (Hon) dec Connor Crescimano (DV) 5-2
120: Oscar Zamudio (Haz) pinned Cadden Kucek (WVW) 3:15
126: JJ White (WVW) maj dec Tony Caramanno (WS) 9-0
132: Preston Machado (DV) pinned Nino Cinti (WBA) 2:29
138: Nick Yule (Ber) dec Trey Zabroski (Cre) 11-9
145: Garrett Swank (Cre) dec Jamie Pahler (WBA) 5-3
152: Charles Everdale (Haz) pinned Garrett Walsh (WS) 4:38
160: Bryce Molinaro (Haz) dec Machias Magill (DV) 3-2
170: Gavin Brazanskas (DV) pinned Kier (Wall) 5:46
182: Jake Marnell (Haz) pinned Tim Dailey (Hon) 3:10
195: Jason Henderson (DV) dec Seth Hunsinger (Haz) 13-11
220: Connor Lee (WBA) pinned Gavin Drake (AH) :50
285: Taylor Bolesta (Dal) dec John Shnipes (VV) 3-2
Third Place
106: Luke Sirianni (AH) maj dec Jaden Colwell (Wall) 10-1
113: Ian Ratchford (WVW) pinned Johnny Corra (Haz) 3:44
120: Travis Norman (DV) maj dec MJ Turi (WS) 11-2
126: Jorven Rodriguez (Haz) dec CJ Ross (DV) 3-2
132: Jordan Miale (Cre) maj dec Ty Wilmot (AH) 15-1
138: Joe Casella (DV) dec Hutch Lynott (AH) 7-0
145: Jimmy Spindler (PA) dec Jay Shauger (DV) 5-2
152: Thad Mead (Dal) dec Cooper Kidd (DV) 4-0
160: Dylan Hartman (Wall) pinned Adam Eckhart (Nan) 2:53
170: Len Kelley (Dal) maj dec Carl Johnson (WBA) 11-2
182: Sean Cordaro (Scr) pinned Alex Romanoski (Cre) 3:54
195: Cam Butka (WS) maj dec Isaiah Johnson (Nan) 16-4
220: Dante Matarella (Haz) dec Nick Parella (Wall) 7-1
285: Shannon Core (WS) pinned Noah Taylor (WBA) 7:48
Fifth Place
106: Josh Warman (WBW) maj dec TJ Martin (Hon) 18-8
113: Dwight Abram (Scr) dec Aiden Kologe (WS) 9-8
120: Justin Benscoter (Dal) pinned Aidan Ryan (AH) 2:17
126: Pete West (Hon) pinned Justin Sterling (Cre) 2:08
132: Beck Hutchison (Haz) dec Ben Yanchick (Dal) 6-2
138: Joe Rivas (WVW) dec Devin Youngcourt (Haz) 4-1
145: Randy Bonitz (WS) maj dec Matt Giza (WVW) 13-3
152: James Brown (AH) maj dec Trystyn English (Ber) 10-0
160: AJ Gorto (PA) pinned John Fuller (WS) 2:09
170: Collin Kudrako-Kashatus (Nan) pinned Jesus Gonzalez (WS) 2:30
182: Jaden Swainbank (WVW) dec Tyler Dezinski (Dal) 7-6
195: John Symons (PA) pinned Zack Wilken (Hon) 4:45
220: Mike Ehrlich (Hon) pinned Joel Trioche 3:59
285: Seth Pelton (Nan) pinned David Chapman (Wall) 4:51
Semifinals
106: Fashouer (WS) dec Sirianni (AH) 2-1; Jacaruso (DV) pinned Warman (WBA) 1:46
113: Crescimano (DV) maj dec Corra (Haz) 12-4; Bodie (Hon) maj dec Ratchford (WVW) 16-4
120: Kucek (WVW) pinned Benscoter (Dal) 2:57; Zamudio (Haz) maj dec Turi (WS) 9-1
126: Caramanno (WS) pinned Ross (DV) 1:45; White (WVW) dec Rodriguez (Haz) 5-0
132: Machado (DV) maj dec Wilmot (AH) 12-1; Cinti (WBA) dec Miale (Cre) 2-1
138: Yule (Ber) dec Rivas (WVW) 1:40; Zabroski (Cre) dec Casella (DV) 7-0
145: Pahler (WBA) dec Spindler (PA) 3-2; Swank (Cre) pinned Shauger (DV) 1:50
152: Everdale (Haz) tech fall Mead (Dal) 15-0 4:58; Walsh (WS) dec Kidd (DV) 3-0
160: Magill (DV) maj dec Eckhart (Nan) 16-5; Molinaro (Haz) pinned Gorto (PA) 1:03
170: Kier (Wall) dec Kelley (Dal) 6-5; Brazanskas (DV) pinned Kudrako-Kashatus (Nan) 3:05
182: Marnell (Haz) pinned Cordaro (Scr) 1:31; Dailey (Hon) pinned Romanoski (Cre) 3:19
195: Henderson (DV) maj dec Johnson (Nan) 17-6; Hunsinger (Haz) dec Butka (WS) 8-7
220: Drake (AH) dec Trioche (WS) 11-4; Lee (WBA) pinned Erlich (Hon) 3:39
285: Bolesta (Dal) pinned Taylor (WBW) :44; Shnipes (VV) pinned Chapman (Wal) :40