High School Wrestling: Spartans pin Shamokin in season opener
North Schuylkill wrestlers warm up prior to Tuesday night's dual meet against Shamokin. The Spartans won 57-17. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)
FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — North Schuylkill’s wrestlers had one question after the Spartans thumped Shamokin 57-17 in a non-league season opener Tuesday night at Cesari-Hope Gymnasium.
Who gets the belt?
That’s the championship belt — think pro wrestling — that goes to the Spartan with the fastest fall of the night.
North Schuylkill (1-0) had plenty of candidates. Bryce Kile (145), Nate Sterner (152), Jaden Meyer (172), Gaige Mentusky (107), Easton Edwards (121) and Stanley Padakowski (127) notched falls, all of them in the first period.
The honor went to Meyer, who turned Trent Walters and stuck him in 32 seconds.
“It’s good to get back in the swing of things. The kids were excited,” North Schuylkill coach Corey Fetterolf said. “It was a nice crowd here tonight for a non-league match. … You could see the conditioning will come over time. The belief in themselves will come. That’s what we said at the beginning of the year: The goal is to get better as the season goes on.”
Kile opened the night by cradling Guillermo Rivera in 40 seconds, and Sterner decked Jayce Ginck in 1:26 for a quick 12-0 lead. Meyer added his pin and Cadyn McGraw (215) picked up a forfeit, but the Indians hung tough and trailed just 24-17 after seven weights.
The Spartans then swept the final six weights to turn a close dual meet into a rout.
Mentusky used armbars to stop Ashton Hughes in 44 seconds; Edwards threw Logan Pensyl to his back for a 41-second pin; and Stanley Padakowski used legs and a power half to wrench Shawn Conrad onto his back for a pin at 1:59.
In the closest match of the night North Schuylkill’s Alex Deritis (114) fell into a 10-1 hole in the first period but battled back for a 17-10 decision over Xavier Carr. With the new three-point takedown and four-point near fall, no lead is safe. Trailing by nine, Deritis piled up a reversal, two takedowns and two sets of four-point near falls.
Shamokin (0-1) got pins from Rhyan Henz (189) and Robert Whitmer (285) and a technical fall from Chase Pensyl (160).
“There’s definitely some things to work on, but I think overall it was a good opening match against (Shamokin),” Fetterolf said. “They’re better than they’ve been in years. That’s a nice lineup.”
