As the calendar flips to February, attention begins to turn to the postseason.

Most schools are wrapping up their regular season schedules, with the District 11 team tournament on tap for later this week.

Four area teams qualified for the Class 2A tournament and will wrestle preliminary matches on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Lehighton, the No. 6 seed will face No. 11 Palmerton at North Schuylkill in the preliminary round.

Tamaqua, which earned the seventh seed, will face No. 10 Schuylkill Haven at Northern Lehigh.

Jim Thorpe, the No. 8 seed, takes on No. 9 Wilson in a match that will be held at Liberty.

The winner of the Lehighton-Palmerton match will wrestle No. 3 North Schuylkill in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Top seed Saucon Valley will face the winner of the Jim Thorpe-Wilson match, while No. 2 Notre Dame Green Pond will take on the Tamaqua-Schuylkill Haven winner.

Action resumes Saturday at Freedom’s Joseph J. McIntyre Gymnasium with consolation quarterfinals at 9 a.m. The championship and consolation finals are set for 5:30 p.m.

A true second-place match, if necessary, will be held at 7:30 p.m.

The top two in each class advance to the PIAA team tournament, which begins Feb. 7.

Bout minimum: 10

Each wrestler must have a .500 or better record

(through Feb. 1)

106 - 1. Aiden Schlier, Tamaqua, Fr. (20-11), 2. Jacob Hall, Lehighton, So. (19-7), 3. Levi Kunkel, Tamaqua, Fr. (12-5). Honorable mention

- Trey Dieter, Northern Lehigh, So. (8-8), Henry Snyder, Jim Thorpe, Fr. (13-11).

113

- 1. Gabe Erbe, Tamaqua, So. (21-10).

120

- 1. Aidan Gruber, Lehighton, So. (24-6), 2. Josh Merkel, Palmerton, Fr. (12-11), 3. Edward Lauritsen, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (11-8).

126 - 1. Ridge Snyder, Jim Thorpe, Jr. (23-9), 2. Everett Lata, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (18-8), 3. Austin Rex, Northern Lehigh, Jr. (13-10). Honorable mention

- Dillon Lombardi, Palmerton, Fr. (9-6).

132

- 1. Derek King, Palmerton, Fr. (15-6), 2. Aldin Vukel, Pleasant Valley, Fr. (16-11).

138 - 1. Jacob Schlier, Tamaqua, Jr. (18-9), 2. Josh Griffith, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (16-11), 3. Elijah Dellicker, Northwestern, Sr. (14-14). Honorable mention

- Jacob Ferguson, Lehighton, (11-8).

145 - 1. Dennis Lombardi, Palmerton, Sr. (24-6), 2. Michael Steigerwalt, Tamaqua, Sr. (13-4), 3. Lukas Ferguson, Lehighton, Sr. (14-8). Honorable mention

- Matt Hedrick, Tamaqua, Jr. (12-12).

152

- 1. Gabe Heaney, Jim Thorpe, Sr. (25-4), 2. Dalton Clymer, Northwestern, So. (18-6)., 3. Ethan Barachie, Lehighton, Jr. (8-6).

160

- 1. Mason Brensinger, Northwestern, Sr. (8-2), 2. Cameron Tinajero, Jim Thorpe, Sr. (30-6), 3. Daniel Lucykanish, Palmerton, Jr. (12-2).

172

- 1. Jared Newhall, Jim Thorpe, Sr. (18-7), 2. Cole Eberts, Tamaqua, Sr. (22-11), 3. Lucas Miller, Northwestern, Jr. (24-11).

189 - 1. James Syracuse, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (23-2), 2. Caleb McDermott, Jim Thorpe, Sr. (14-2), 3. Deven Armbruster, Lehighton, Fr. (17-9). Honorable mention

- John Buday, Tamaqua, Sr. (12-12), Nate Peters, Northwestern, Sr. (11-11), Brok Solt, Lehighton, Fr. (7-6).

215 - 1. Matthew Frame, Northern Lehigh, Sr. (11-5), 2. Noah Schlofer, Northwestern, So. (23-10), 3. Wyatt Sherer, Lehighton, So. (17-10). Honorable mention

- Gauge Hartney, Lehighton, Sr. (6-5), James Barruzza, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (13-11), Donavin Albert, Tamaqua, Jr. (9-9),

285

- 1. Ricky Houser, Lehighton, Sr. (11-7), 2. Reese Balk, Lehighton, So. (8-4), 3. Sam Frame, Northern Lehigh, So. (13-4).

NOTES: Aiden Schlier posted a sixth-place finish at the Coal Cracker Tournament last month. He won four straight consolation matches before falling to Parkland’s Blake Dergham in the consi semis, and Selinsgrove’s Landyn Lukens in the fifth-place match ... Hall bounced back at the Coal Cracker after of tough losses to win the 106-113-pound bracket in the JV tournament, posting two pins in the process ... Kunkel enters the rankings after going 5-2 in his last seven matches since the previous edition. He pinned Henry Snyder at the Jim Thorpe Christmas Tournament in December ... Erbe lost two matches at the Line Mountain Duals over the weekend to a pair of wrestlers that placed in the postseason a year ago. Erbe was pinned by Alex Reed (Shikellamy) at 113 pounds and Kyle Winter (Berwick) at 120. Reed was third in District 4 at the Class 3A level last year, while Winter was sixth in District 2 in Class 2A ... Gruber entered the week with back-to-back wins, with a major decision against Pine Grove’s Austin Martin and a pin over Southern Lehigh’s Cole Long ... Merkel went 3-0 at the Coal Cracker JV Tournament with three pins to place first in the 120-126-pound bracket ... Lauritsen returned to action Jan. 26, pinning East Stroudsburg North’s Manny Lopez in 1:12 in his first match since Jan. 6 ... Rex jumps to third ahead of Dillon Lombardi at 126 pounds after posting a 1-0 decision win in their match on Jan. 26 ... Dellicker drops down to 138 pounds, where he has wrestled his last nine matches, which includes a pin over Jacob Ferguson at the Coal Cracker Tournament ... Ferguson also drops down from 145 pounds to 138 ... Lombardi comes down from 152 pounds to 145, where he was second at the Coal Cracker Tournament as the No. 3 seed. He opened with three straight pins to reach the quarterfinals. Lombardi, who was seeded third, rolled past Corbin Christiano (Palisades) in 1:05 before topping Anthony Curra of Abington Heights in 2:56 and Wyoming Area’s Rocco Pizano (5:30) to advance to the quarters. He posted a 13-11 decision over Hazleton’s Devin Youngcourt in the quarterfinals and an 11-10 win over Kennett’s Tyler Maier in the semis. His run ended with a loss to top seed Jaryn Hartranft of Catasauqua in the final. Lombardi received a forfeit against Northern Lehigh on Jan. 26 ... Heaney was seventh at the Coal Cracker Tournament ... Clymer moves down to 152 pounds from 160, where he has wrestled his last two matches, posting a 13-9 decision over Bangor’s Caidan Poff and pinning Catasauqua’s Miles Melendez in 1:13. Clymer did not wrestle at the Coal Cracker ... Hedrick joins the rankings this week. The junior was 2-1 at the Coal Cracker JV Tournament, placing second at 145 pounds ... Barachie was first at 152 pound bracket at the Coal Cracker JV Tournament ... Brensinger joins the rankings after returning the lineup and placing seventh at the Coal Cracker Tournament. Brensinger posted a 9-8 decision over Tinajero, who was No. 1 in the rankings, in the seventh-place match. Brensinger’s losses this season were close calls at the Coal Cracker. He dropped a 2-0 decision to Gettysburg’s Jacob Cherry, a state qualifier in Class 3A last year, and a 7-5 decision in sudden victory overtime to Porter Dawson (Sullivan County) ... Lucykanish suffered a 3-0 setback to Sal Schiavone (Abington Heights) at the Coal Cracker. Schiavone was a District 2 champion in Class 3A last season ... Newhall jumps to the top spot at 172 pounds after an eight-place finish at the Coal Cracker, where he pinned Eberts in 2:34 in the consolation round ... Syracuse suffered his second loss of the season, a 4-2 setback to Wayne McIntyre (East Stroudsburg North) on Jan. 26. McIntyre was third at districts and regionals in Class 3A last year, and qualified for states. Syracuse bounced back, pinning Dylan Osorio (East Stroudsburg South) in 3:24 on Jan. 29 ... Buday placed second at the Coal Cracker JV Tournament at 189 pounds ... Armbruster picked up a 1-0 decision against Charlie Schuster (Pottsville) on Jan. 25, and pinned Aaron Crumrine (Pine Grove) in 3:12 the following day ... Frame enters the rankings and goes to the top spot at 215 after placing seventh at the Coal Cracker Tournament. Frame finished the event with a 5-1 decision over Honesdale’s Zackary Wilson in the seventh-place match. Wilson was fourth in District 2 in Class 2A last year ... The heavyweights gain Balk, who pinned Frame at the Coal Cracker Tournament in the consolation round. Balk was first at 285 pounds at the Schuylkill League JV Tournament last month ... Houser

currently occupies the heavyweight spot in the Indians’ lineup, and has won three matches in a row.

Compiled by Patrick Matsinko