Wrestling: North Schuylkill soars to 2nd at junior high districts

North Schuylkill's junior high wrestling team placed second in a field of 39 at the Tony Iasiello Memorial District 11 Junior High Wrestling Championships on Monday at Parkland High School. The Spartans had 10 placewinners, including six in the finals. Bode Gates won the 138-pound title. (Photo courtesy of North Schuylkill Athletics)

That’s an uptick from last season, when the league had four finalists and three champions.

For his efforts, North Schuylkill coach Shane McGrath was named District 11 Class AA Junior High Coach of the Year.

North Schuylkill had a rough round in the finals, going 1-5. Other placers stepped up for the Spartans, though, as Bobby Holmes took third at 115 with a fall in 3:46 over Palmerton’s Steele Zalik, and Brian Torres finished fifth at 210 by edging Pleasant Valley’s J.J. Mihalichko 3-2 in the overtime tiebreaker. Those points proved crucial in holding off Parkland.

Gates, trailing Easton’s Logan Young 6-3 with 22 seconds left in regulation, hit a seven-point throw — three-point takedown and four near-fall points — to pull out a 10-6 victory in the 138-pound final.

North Schuylkill had five runners-up in Brock Holmes (122), Otilio Lopez-Montz (145), Chase Slotcavage (190), Taylor Javier (210) and Nelson Berger (250).

Holmes dropped a 7-0 decision to Easton’s Tanner Milburn;  Lopez-Montz got pinned in 1:04 by Saucon Valley’s Taylor Rohn; Slotcavage lost 4-1 to Parkland’s Jayden Santiago; and Javier (210) got pinned by Pocono Mountain East’s Zakai Chambers in 1:27.

The 250-pound final pitted local wrestlers against each other, and Pine Grove’s Daniel Shadle earned a 4-2 decision over Berger.

In other finals, Tamaqua’s Rylan Reitz dropped a 7-0 decision to Whitehall’s Dionte Wheeler at 108; Blue Mountain’s Joey Frey fell by technical fall, 20-4 in 3:59 to Whitehall’s Mason Hopkins at 155.

In addition to Holmes, placing third were Tri-Valley’s David Wehry (94) and Landon Horoschak (130) and Blue Mountain’s Caden Fenstermacher (101).

3rd Place

5th Place