HS Wrestling: North Schuylkill captures team title at Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships

North Schuylkill captured the team title Saturday at the Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships. The title is the Spartans' 14th overall and first since the 2004-05 season. (Photo by Eli Doyle)

ORWIGSBURG — North Schuylkill needed something special to finally fend off Blue Mountain on Saturday at the Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships.

How about five individual champions, a second, four thirds and a fifth? How about a 10-1 record in the medal rounds? How about scoring bonus points in six of those 10 victories?

The Spartans did all of that — and needed most of it — to overtake the Eagles with 212 team points. Blue Mountain, this year’s host school, finished second with 198. Pine Grove (173.5), Tri-Valley (135.5) and Tamaqua (109) rounded out the top five.

The team title marked the 14th in North Schuylkill school history but its first since the 2004-05 season.

Blue Mountain and North Schuylkill separated themselves from the field early as the Eagles advanced 10 wrestlers to the semifinals and the Spartans moved nine into the round of four. Then Blue Mountain and North Schuylkill advanced six wrestlers apiece to the finals. At that point, Blue Mountain held a slim 143-141 lead over North Schuylkill.

After three consolation rounds, the Eagles maintained their lead with 173 points. The Spartans stayed right on their heels with 172. Pine Grove stood third with 151.5 points, with Tri-Valley (116.5) in fourth and Mahanoy Area and Williams Valley tied for fifth with 98.

Then the Spartans went to work.

At 114 pounds, sophomore Alex Deritis became North Schuylkill’s first champion of the day with a 12-2 major decision over Pottsville’s Stephen Karinch. Four takedowns, including two in the first period, enabled Deritis (17-5) to steadily pull away.

Freshman Easton Edwards (19-3) made it two in a row for the Spartans by posting a 13-5 major decision over Blue Mountain’s Cooper Leibold in the 121-pound final. In the only North Schuylkill-Blue Mountain head-to-head matchup in the finals, Edwards took control with a pair of first-period takedowns, then used a reversal and two near-fall points down the stretch to get the major and the extra team point.

“A lot of heart,” Edwards said. “I was really tired at the end, but I got him on his back and ended up winning. … It means a lot, especially to get that major, get those four points instead of three. It means a ton.”

North Schuylkill junior Stanley Padakowski (127) lost in the finals to Tamaqua’s Aiden Schlier, but Padakowski’s two victories, including one pin, added valuable team points.

In one of the most anticipated finals at 145, North Schuylkill senior Nate Sterner edged Tri-Valley’s Noah Hanlon 1-0. After a scoreless first period, strong leg riding enabled Sterner to keep Hanlon (21-4) down for the entire second period. Sterner (21-5) escaped with 1:07 left in the bout, then barely fended off a Hanlon takedown attempt in the final seconds by hanging onto Hanlon’s leg and scrambling through some odd north-south positions. With the win, Sterner became a two-time league champion.

“That was a big one,” Sterner said about the team race. “Our team needed that. North Schuylkill and Blue Mountain are really going at it, with 2-and-a-half, three points (difference) the whole time. So we really need every point we can get.”

At 215, North Schuylkill junior Cadyn McGraw avoided disaster, reversed Pine Grove’s Robbie Schaeffer to his back and pinned him in 2:47. McGraw (19-9) had just given up a four-point near fall before his stunning comeback.

“I was on bottom. I stood up, he picked me up, put me right to my back,” McGraw said. “I thought, ‘Well, I’m already on my back, there’s nothing else I could do.’ I tried to roll him, caught him and stuck him. It feels amazing because I was down so much.

“It feels great, first time in 20 years,” McGraw added about the team title. “We’re a good team. We’ve had our ups and downs, but I believe we’re the best team in this tournament.”

If that weren’t enough, North Schuylkill senior Sander Stokes (17-8) knocked off top-seeded Camron Green (23-2) of Williams Valley in the 285-pound final. Clinging to a 2-1 lead, Stokes got a takedown and four back points in the third period to hand Green a 9-3 defeat.

In addition to the finalists, the Spartans went 4-0 in the bronze-medal bouts. Junior Gaige Mentusky (107), freshman Bryce Kile (139), sophomore Kaden Tavares (152) and senior Jaden Meyer (172) prevailed in third-place matches to boost their team’s point total. Kile and Meyer scored pins in the medal round.

At 160, North Schuylkill junior Ben Carr took fifth by outlasting Mahanoy Area’s Racer McGuire 6-3 in the overtime tiebreaker. Pine Grove’s Austin Martin (22-3) won the gold at this weight with three pins, including a 59-second fall over Williams Valley’s Colin Crisswell in the finals. Legs, a body press and a chin hook enabled Martin to stick Crisswell.

In the team race, North Schuylkill needed those victories because Blue Mountain crowned four champions among its 11 placewinners.

Junior Owen Woll (152) led the way, pinning Mahanoy Area’s Jah Bushati in 47 seconds in the finals. Woll (29-3) notched his 100th career win with that fall; the coaches voted Woll the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

At 133, Blue Mountain freshman Brian Brobst became a champion with an 8-6 decision over Williams Valley’s Xzavion Tennis. Two takedowns, an escape and a penalty point gave Brobst (22-9) the victory.

The Eagles went back-to-back when junior Bryce Bodenberg (22-5) took the 139-pound title with a 10-2 major decision over Pine Grove’s Aaron Osatchuck. Bodenberg scored one takedown in each period to pull away.

Blue Mountain senior Bradley Renninger won his first league gold with a 5-0 decision over Mahanoy Area’s Kyler Quick in the 189-pound final. Renninger (31-4) made a first-period takedown and a third-period reversal stand up in the win over Quick.

In addition to the four champions, sophomore Cooper Leibold (121) and senior Hunter Blankenhorn (172) finished second for the Eagles. Junior Preston Whalen (160), took a third; freshman Keenan Hall (114), sophomore Troy Mady (127) and junior Thomas Herring (145) placed fourth; and freshman Tristan Lazur (107) finished fifth.

“Every place, every match matters,” Woll said. “Every point matters.”