HS Wrestling: Road to Hershey opens this weekend
Panther Valley's Brenda Banks stands atop the awards podium after winning the 235-pound title at the PIAA Girls' Wrestling Championships on March 9 ,2024, at the Giant Center in Hershey. The road back begins Sunday at the District 11 Girls' Wrestling Championships. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)
With the regular season for local teams drawing to a close earlier this week, let’s highlight some wrestlers who have emerged as consistent winners and look ahead at what’s next.
What’s on tap
It’s tournament time!
The postseason begins in earnest this weekend with a big slate of tournament action.
On the boys’ side, the Ray Nunemaker Memorial District 11 Junior Varsity Tournament will be held today and Sunday at East Stroudsburg South High School. District officials moved Day 2 of the tournament from Saturday due to expected wintry weather.
The event gives wrestlers who won’t compete in varsity districts a chance to gain some mat time, end their season on a positive note and build some momentum going into the offseason.
The full District 11 Class AA and 3A tournaments will be held Feb. 21-22 at Bethlehem Freedom and Liberty High Schools. More on individual districts next week. Districts that have sectionals begin that action this weekend.
Meanwhile, the Tony Iasiello Memorial District 11 Junior High Tournament (for boys and girls) will be held Sunday and Monday at Parkland High School. The tournament shifted from Saturday-Sunday due to wintry weather in the forecast.
The big event of the weekend is the District 11 Girls’ Wrestling Championships, set to run all day Sunday at Easton Area Middle School.
Action will begin at 9 a.m. on three mats with pigtails, followed by preliminaries, championship quarterfinals, first-round consolations, second-round consolations, championship semifinals, third-round consolations and fourth-round consolations in Session I.
After clearing the gym, the bouts for first, third and fifth places will begin at 7:05 p.m. on three mats.
The top three placewinners in each weight class will advance to the Southeast Regional, set for Feb. 23 at Quakertown High School. The top three from District 11 will gather with the top five from District 1 in an eight-girl bracket. The top four from regionals will move on to the PIAA Wrestling Championships on March 6-8 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Top wrestlers to watch include defending state champion Brenda Banks (26-1) of Panther Valley, Panthers teammate Alisa Williams (27-5) and Pine Grove’s Geanna Lemke (25-5), Eve Kurtz (25-4) and Samantha Eisenhauer (25-10).
Most improved (team)
That honor will be shared by Mahanoy Area and Pine Grove.
The Golden Bears improved from 3-13 to 13-6, with dual-meet victories over the likes of Tamaqua (twice), Brandywine Heights, Dieruff and Twin Valley.
Mahanoy Area has co-op wrestlers from Marian, which previously had a co-op with Panther Valley, and Shenandoah Valley. Twenty-four different wrestlers competed in at least one varsity match, and the Bears’ junior high numbers are strong. With an offseason of work, Mahanoy Area could be even better next season.
Meanwhile, Pine Grove rose from 9-7 to 13-6, but the Cardinals also swept their way to the Schuylkill League Division II title, the program’s first Schuylkill League division crown since 2001. Pine Grove ended Tri-Valley’s four-year run as division champs by beating the Dawgs 35-34 on criteria. The Cards also topped North Schuylkill, Kennard-Dale and Littlestown in dual meets.
The Cards placed third at the Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships with one champ (Austin Martin), two runners-up, four thirds, two fourths, a fifth and a sixth.
North Schuylkill (12-3) won its first Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships team title since 2005 and captured the league tourney/division title double for the first time since 2002. The Spartans have a young squad with just three seniors. Five juniors, six sophomores and five freshmen also saw varsity action this season. Three freshmen and three sophomores were starters. There’s a slew of junior high talent on the way, too.
Blue Mountain (12-6) had four seniors, six juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen see action with three freshmen and three sophomores consistent starters.
Tri-Valley (13-6) had just three seniors on its varsity roster, along with eight juniors, six sophomores and three freshmen. The Dawgs had two freshman and five sophomore starters.
The offseason will be crucial for all of these teams to try to close the gap on the Lehigh Valley.
Most improved (individual)
A lot of wrestlers took positive steps this season, particularly with underclassmen at North Schuylkill, Pine Grove and Tri-Valley.
Pine Grove sophomore Aaron Osatchuck made one of the biggest jumps, improving from 14-20 last season to 22-9 this winter. North Schuylkill sophomore Alex Deritis rose from 18-17 to 21-8 and captured his first Schuylkill League Tournament championship last month.
