High School Wrestling: Wide-open race in new-look Division I
Pottsville's Terrell McFarland returns as one of the most accomplished wrestlers in the Schuylkill League.
Division I of the Schuylkill League will have a new champion this season.
Lehighton, which knocked off Pottsville, Blue Mountain and North Schuylkill en route to a 5-0 league slate, has departed for the Colonial League. So has Jim Thorpe, another longstanding Schuylkill League member.
The loss of those two teams has reduced the Schuylkill League to 10 teams. To fill the void and create two five-team divisions, Panther Valley has moved up to Division I, while Blue Mountain, North Schuylkill, Pottsville and Tamaqua remain.
With or without Lehighton and Jim Thorpe, Division I shaped up as a wide-open race.
“Losing teams like Lehighton and Jim Thorpe is unfortunate, but I still believe the league is strong, and adding Panther Valley to Division I this year will help balance things out,’’ North Schuylkill coach Corey Fetterolf said.
North Schuylkill finished one move away from capturing the division championship. The Spartans fell 35-34 to Lehighton in the league dual meet, then defeated the Indians 36-27 four days later at the District 11 Duals.
Losing 11 seniors to graduation has to hurt, but North Schuylkill returns enough firepower and adds five newcomers who were placewinners at the District 11 Junior High Championships.
The Spartans have just three seniors, but they’re quality. Nate Sterner (33-8) and Jaden Meyer (21-15) placed fifth at districts last season, and Sander Stokes is a mauler who is coming off a dominant football season.
Juniors Gaige Mentusky (22-15) and Cadyn McGraw (22-18) and sophomore Kaden Tavares (20-16) are others poised for a big jump this winter. In all, the Spartans have seven starters back and three others with varsity experience. Then they add nine sophomores and five freshmen to the varsity for 24 total. In addition, 18 other freshmen have signed up to bolster the junior high and add depth to the varsity if needed.
“Our outlook is always to compete for a Schuylkill League Division I title and qualify for District Duals,’’ Fetterolf said. ‘We are a young team, since graduating 11 seniors last year, but we are a talented bunch, and we expect to see them utilize their talent to become more competitive as the season goes on. We hope to be wrestling our best down the stretch.
“We have a lot of individuals who have been putting the work in throughout the offseason,’’ he added, “so they have lofty goals for themselves.’’
Challenging the Spartans will be Blue Mountain, Pottsville and Tamaqua. A change for the Eagles will be moving up to Class 3A this season.
Blue Mountain have one of its deepest rosters in years, and eliminating those forfeits will make the Eagles even tougher to handle. Leading the way is junior state qualifier Owen Woll (40-12), who injured his ankle in the district final but still found a way to get to Hershey.
Seniors Brad Renninger (36-13) and Hunter Blankenhorn (28-14) solidify the 172-189 classes, and junior Bryce Bodenberg (19-9) is a middleweight who lost some time to injury last season. Senior Lukas Kauffman and sophomores Cooper Leibold and Troy Mady were full-time starters last season, too, with 10 total who saw varsity action.
Blue Mountain adds four freshmen and five sophomores to fill in the lineup. One of those sophomores is Vaughn Helverson, a 285-pounder who captured gold at the District 11 Junior High Championships last season.
“Our biggest challenge the last couple seasons has been our numbers and filling the lineup in the lower weights,’’ Blue Mountain coach Alex Gosch said. “That shouldn’t be the case this year with the additions of some incoming freshmen and sophomores that were down at the junior high level last season.’’
Pottsville has a new head coach in Brad Leonard, and despite graduation losses, returns 11 wrestlers with varsity experience.
Junior Terrell McFarland (41-4) tops the list. A state qualifier as a freshman, McFarland placed third at districts and fifth at regionals last season. He’s 61-8 in his career.
Senior Brayden Evans (23-12) adds leadership after a successful football season.
Seniors Chris Dembinsky, Drew Seaman, Lukas McNamara and Jasir Jones; juniors Sean Pinho and Kaiden Renn; and sophomores Stephen Karinch, Colin Kline and Ronald Peleschak are back as well.
“A lot of people are counting us out, saying Pottsville had their run,’’ Leonard said. “We’re just gonna have fun. Let it rip! Nothing to lose!’’
Tamaqua isn’t deep, but the Blue Raiders have 10 wrestlers with varsity experience. Sophomores Evan Temarantz (24-12) and Brody Schlier (24-12) qualified for regionals last season, and senior Aiden Schlier (25-12) placed fifth to give Tamaqua lot of power in the lightweights. Senior Jacob Hehn (20-16) has had some quality wins and projects at 189.
Seniors Brody Boyce, Levi Kunkel, Bradley Whalen and Chase Zeigenfuss return to provide leadership. Juniors William Behun and Angelo Cerimele should contribute, too. Tamaqua is thin at both ends of the lineup, so finding a way to fill one or two of those spots will be key.
“Improving 1% every day. Intentional focus on the controlables in order to get 1% better every day,’’ Tamaqua coach Jim McCabe said. “Doing the things others don’t want to do because it’s tedious and boring. We will have a set of principles that need to be met twice a day, and if they are met and we have intentional focus on that, then we will be better in March than we were in November.’’
Not only does Panther Valley move up to Division I, but the Panthers also lost their co-op with Marian that strengthened their lineup. Marian wrestlers are in a co-op with Mahanoy Area now.
Sophomores Landon Hunsicker and Hayden Matula are the only returning starters. The good news is that the Panthers have a roster of 18, including eight sophomores. Senior Josue Marciglio and freshman Spencer Schirer are others to watch.
“With the dissolving of the co-op with Marian, we are replacing almost our entire varsity lineup. … While this is a rebuilding season for the program, they have an enthusiasm and work ethic that is expected from Panther Valley wrestlers,’’ coach Kris Nalesnik said.
