Area wrestlers bring home titles
Eight area wrestlers captured championships at wrestling tournaments on Saturday. Palmerton, Northwestern, Northern Lehigh, Lehighton and Tamaqua all came away from their respective tournaments with individual champs.
WRESTLINGJim Thorpe, Panther Valley at Jim Thorpe DualsThe Panther Valley wrestling squad took part in the Jim Thorpe Duals and came away with some impressive individual showings on its way to a 1-3 record in the pigtail round, before defeating host Jim Thorpe in the placement round.Individually, the Panthers got great showings from Len Ogozalek, Nick O'Donnell and Kory Lopata, who all won all five of their matches.Dieruff 46, Panther Valley 36103 - Len Ogozalek (PV) won by forfeit112 - Nick O'Donnell (PV) pinned Joe Kennedy in 1:32119 - Demarcus Holley (D) won by forfeit125 - Kory Lopata (PV) pinned Ken Nguyen in 1:47130 - Javier Rivas (D) pinned Brandon Gurka in 2:15135 - Jose Morales (D) pinned Dustin Marblestone in :48140 - John Villanueva (D) pinned Jared Eickhoff in 3:08145 - Ricky Stokes (D) won by forfeit152 - Josh Vega (PV) pinned Steve Luna in 1:22160 - Mike Weaver (PV) pinned Dennis Rivas in 1:49171 - Keith Hird (D) pinned Steve Snyder in 1:44189 - Jovon Reyes (D) major dec. Alex Lorkowski, 9-0215 - Coty Muthard (PV) pinned William Beltran in 2:14285 - Steve Farr (D) pinned Nick German in :49North Schuylkill 42, Panther Valley 21103 - Len Ogoazalek (PV) won by forfeit112 - Nick O'Donnell (PV) won byforfeit119 - Double forfeit125 - Kory Lopata (PV) won by forfeit130 - Jordan Shinkus (NS) pinned Elijah Hibbler in 1:23135 - Jesse Picklo (NS) pinned Brian Gurka in 1:09140 - Austin Hummel (NS) pinned Dustin Marblestone in 1:08145 - Scott Houser (NS) pinned Jared Eickhoff in 3:04152 - Shawn McGrath (NS) dec. Josh Vega, 6-2160 - Brett Paul (NS) dec. Mike Weaver, 3-0171 - Matt Maurer (NS) dec. Steve Snyder, 6-4189 - Alex Lorkowski (PV) dec. Kody Newberry, 6-5215 - Tanner Dean (NS) dec. John Horvath, 11-6285 - Tyler Dean (NS) won by forfeitPanther Valley 54, Jim Thorpe 27103 - Len Ogozalek (PV) pinned Ben Mazzella in 1:22112 - Nick O'Donnell (PV) pinned Mike Helmer in 1:02119 - Brian Ohl (JT) won by forfeit125 - Kory Lopata (PV) won by forfeit130 - Brandon Gurka (PV) pinned Tom Ford in :37135 - Adam Rex (JT) pinned Dustin Marblestone in 4:55140 - Jared Eickhoff (PV) pinned Josh Guth in :35145 - Justin Mazzella (JT) won by forfeit152 - Josh Vega (PV) pinned Akeeno Stewart in 2:25160 - John Fritz (JT) dec. Mike Weaver, 19-13171 - Steve Snyder (PV) pinned Christian Gavornik in 2:33189 - Alex Lorkowski (PV) pinned Shane Edwards in 1:54215 - Tyler Mangold (JT) pinned John Horvath in 1:16285 - Nick German (PV) pinned Ryan Ruberto in 1:21Radnor 51, Panther Valley 30103 - Len Ogozalek (PV) won by forfeit112 - Nick O'Donnell (PV) pinned Joe Sorkin in 1:46119 - Alex Kim (R) won by forfeit125 - Kory Lopata (PV) pinned Hang Hee Lee in 1:32130 - Bob Myers (R) won by forfeit135 - Dariel Peniazek (R) pinned Brian Gurka in 3:04140 - Troy Makous (R) pinned Dustin Marblestone in :43145 - Dan Partin (R) pinned Jared Eickhoff in 3:41152 - Matt Pelton (R) dec. Josh Vega, 9-7160 - Mike Weaver (PV) pinned Kody Whipple in :43171 - Steve Snyder (PV) pinned Conner Ellis in 1:45189 - Jeremy Kim (R) pinned Alex Lorkowski in 5:37215 - Asad Ahmed (R) pinned Coty Muthard in 2:56285 - James Hong (R) pinned Nick German in 1:27PLACEMENT ROUNDPanther Valley 45, Jim Thorpe 24103 - Len Ogozalek (PV) pinned Ben Mazzella in 1:19112 - Nick O'Donnell (PV) pinned Mike Helmer in :14119 - Double forfeit125 - Kory Lopata (PV) dec. Brian Ohl, 11-4130 - Brandon Gurka (PV) pinned Tom Ford in :27135 - Adam Rex (JT) dec. Dustin Marblestone, 5-0140 - Jared Eickhoff (PV) won by forfeit145 - Josh Guth (JT) won by forfeit152 - Justin Mazzella (JT) dec. Josh Vega, 5-2160 - John Fritz (JT) pinned Mike Weaver in 3:58171 - Steve Snyder (PV) pinned Quinn Boswell in 1:33189 - Alex Lorkowski (PV) pinned Shane Edwards in 2:28215 - John Horvath (PV) won by forfeit285 - Tyler Mangold (JT) won by forfeitPalmerton at New Hope-Solebury TournamentPalmerton placed two individuals in the finals and three more in the consolation matches over the weekend in the New Hope-Solebury Tournament.The Bombers' Josh Evans took home gold in the 112 weight class while Cody Grohotolski picked up a silver at 140.Sam Oberlander (130) and Jarrett Kleintop (189) had third-place finishes while Dillon Masington ended up with a fourth-place finish.Upper Dublin captured the team tournament title with 175 1/2 points, while Palmerton ended up in eighth place with 112 points.Northwestern atNazareth InvitationalNorthwestern crowned two individuals champions and just missed out on two more at the Nazareth Invitational.Bobby Clymer (152) and Kyle Sorensen (160) led the Tigers by capturing tournament titles in their respective weight classes, while Michael Ortiz (130) and Levi Veppert (171) just missed out falling in the finals.Dustin Badesso (135) and Michael Hontz (140) traveled back to New Tripoli with third-place finishes.Host Nazareth earned the team title with 225 points while Northwestern finished 100 points behind for a fourth-place finish.Lehighton, Northern Lehigh at Brandywine HeightsBullet InvitationalNorthern Lehigh's Lucas Dise and Brandon Loch, along with Lehighton's Anthony Farole, walked off the mats with tournament titles at the Bullet Invitational this weekend.Farole knocked off the Bulldogs' Connor Hedash in the semifinals with a wild 4-2 decision in three overtimes before winning his title. Hedash recovered to finish in third-place.Northern Lehigh's Colin Hedash spoiled Lehighton's Michael Balliet chance of wrestling for a title at the 189 weight class. Hedash scored a 21-4 tech. fall to earn the bid in the final, but had to settle for a silver medal. Meanwhile, Balliet won his consolation match to finish with a bronze medal.A trio of Bulldogs Zane Heller (125), Nikko Stevens (140) and Ty Herzog (145) and the Indians' Jacob Hoats all had second place finishes.The Indians' Keith Cheadle grabbed a fourth-place finish at 215.Northern Lehigh couldn't catch up to team tournament champion Central Dauphin and finished in second place as a team. Lehighton ended up in fourth place.Tamaqua atBloomsburg TournamentTamaqua collected the Sportsmanship Award on its way to a fourth-place finish as a team at the Darren Klingerman Memorial Tournament at Bloomsburg High School.Garth Lakitsky (215) and Kolby Mashack (140) led the Blue Raiders with tournament championships. Matt Edmonds (171) and Colin Mashack (103) finished second.Lakitsky recorded three falls en route to the 215 pound title. He pinned Bloomsburg's Ryan Longenberger in 3:40 in the finals to go with two other pins, one of 18 seconds and the other in 35 seconds.Kolby Mashack won the 140 pound crown with a 9-1 major decision over Pottsville's Joe Bickleman in the finals.Tamaqua's Brandan Silkowski recorded a fourth place finish, while Evan Mashack, Kyle Boyer and Travis Veronsky all grabbed fifth-place finishes.Susquehanna Township won the team title with 170.5 points while the Raiders ended with 132.BOYS BASKETBALLJim Thorpe-Panther Vy.In the consolation final of the Panther Valley Tip-Off Tournament, the hosts fought off the Olympians and posted a 60-42 win. The victory snaps a 19-game winning streak that JT held over the Panthers that dated back to Feb. 2, 2001.The winners held a four-point lead after one quarter, but utilized a 18-6 second frame to pull away. Joe Revell's eight points and seven from Zach Stanko led the second quarter surge.The winners received a well-rounded effort as Nate Mathewson led the way with 16 points on the night, while Stanko scored 15 and Brock Mitchell pounded in 12.For JT (0-2), Dean DiBonifazio lit it up with 22 points, including four treys.JIM THORPEMarshall 0-0-0-0, DiBonifazio 8-2-2-22, Prontnicki 1-0-2-2, Moranta 0-2-2-2, Moore 0-0-0-0, Ciavarella 2-0-0-4, Otto 3-0-0-6, Brown 1-1-2-3, Clark 1-1-2-3, Coleman 0-0-2-0, Valentin 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-6-12-42.PANTHER VALLEYKing 1-0-0-2, Hadesty 0-0-0-0, Dunn 0-0-0-0, Stanko 6-2-2-15, McArdle 1-0-0-2, Ogozalek 1-0-0-3, Santiago 0-0-0-0, Dalessio 0-1-2-1, Revell 3-1-2-9, Kerschner 0-0-0-0, Mathewson 6-4-5-16, Mitchell 4-4-7-12. TOTALS: 22-12-18-60.Jim Thorpe 13 6 13 10 - 42Panther Valley 17 18 11 14 - 60Three pointers: JT - DiBonifazio 4; PV - Revell 2, Ogozalek, Stanko.GIRLS BASKETBALLPleasant Vy.-Scranton P.Pleasant Valley dropped a tough non-league game to Scranton Prep, 41-37.Leading by one at the break, the Bears saw the hosts erupt for a 17-point third frame to take control.For the locals, Rachel Sisco had eleven, Kelicia Harris had ten and Kasey Meckes aided with seven.The Lady Prepsters also took the JV contest, 44-16.PLEASANT VALLEYMeckes 2-3-4-7, Chieffo 2-0-0-5, Sisco 4-3-4-11, Harris 4-2-2-10, McGill 0-0-0-0, Hardy 1-0-1-2, Kregeloh 0-0-0-0, Salmon 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 14-8-12-37.SCRANTON PREPBurke 0-4-5-4, M. Byrne 0-0-0-0, Dellissandro 1-0-0-3, T. Byrne 2-2-6-8, Pritchyk 0-0-0-0, Schultz 7-1-5-15, Ware 1-1-3-4, Dibileo 3-0-0-7. TOTALS: 14-8-19-41.Pleasant Valley 9 8 8 12 - 37Scranton Prep 12 4 17 8 - 41Three pointers: PV - Chieffo; SP - T. Byrne 2, Ware, Dibileo.Jr High Basketball8th gradeTamaqua-ShenandoahTamaqua routed Shenandoah, 50-13.Zach Wargula led the Raiders (1-0) with nine points. Brett Kosciolek and Jake Humes added eight points apiece.9th gradeTamaqua-ShenandoahTamaqua defeated Shenandoah, 68-25.Chris Hartung had a game high 13 points while Mike Weinert added 12 for the Raiders (1-0).