Lackawanna Trail won its fifth tournament title of the season Jan. 22 at the Coal Cracker Invitational in Lehighton.
Submitted Photo
Lackawanna Trail won wrestling tournament titles on three straight January weekends making the Lions 5-for-6 on taking championships in tournament competition this season.
The Lions won the Stan Elinsky Tournament in Deposit, N.Y. Jan. 8; the Dan Wickham Classic in Unadilla, N.Y. Jan. 15, then the Coal Cracker Invitational in Lehighton Jan. 21-22.
Lackawanna Trail had opened the season in December by winning the Rough Rider Invitational in Catasauqua. The Lions won the Lackawanna League Tournament at Wallenpaupack.
The only time the Lions came up short was in the MyHouse Trojan Wars in Chambersburg Dec. 29-30 when they placed 19th out of 49 teams in the high-powered field.
A look back at the January tournaments, including one that Abington Heights also entered:
Coal Cracker Invitational
Cole Henry won the 113-pound title to lead the way as Lackawanna Trail outscored Gettysburg, 190½-184½, to conquer the 43-team field.
Abington Heights was fourth with 175½ points.
Henry pinned four straight opponents to get to the final where he decisioned Mark Ortiz from Stroudsburg, 11-7.
Robbie Schneider also made the final and finished second at 160 when he lost a 12-9 decision to Jacoby Cherry from Gettysburg.
Deegan Ross placed third at 152 with a 53-second pin of Bethlehem Freedom’s Connor Bevan in the consolation final.
Seth Ross, at 189, and Jonah Houser, at 215, lost decisions in the consolation finals and finished fourth.
Ethan Lee was sixth at 132 while Max Bluhm and Michael Bluhm were eighth at 138 and 145, all losing close decisions in their final bouts.
Luke Sirianni, at 106, and Caleb Marzolino, at 172, each won titles for Abington Heights.
Sirianni pinned Sullivan County’s Colton Wade in 54 seconds in the final, completing a tournament in which he had three pins and a technical fall in four bouts.
Sam Stevens won by pin in 1:52 in the 132-pound consolation final to take third.
Austin Smith was fourth at 138, Sal Schiavone fifth at 152, Brian Heard sixth at 138, John Gorrick sixth at 285 and Hutch Lynott seventh at 172.
Dan Wickham Classic
Lackawanna Trail’s second straight trip across the border resulted in the Lions dominating the field, winning more than half the titles at Unatego High School while scoring more points than any other two teams combined.
The Lions took seven individual championships and nearly doubled the scoring of second-place Marathon, N.Y. to win, 284-144.
Deegan Ross and Schneider won consecutive titles by pins at 152 and 160.
Henry posted a major decision in his 118-pound final.
Lee (132), Michael Bluhm (145), Tyler Rozanski (160) and Seth Ross (189) all won titles with decisions in the final.
Max Bluhm finished second at 138.
The Lions went 10-1 in the final rounds.
Jonah Houser took third at 215 with a pin in the consolation final.
Brayden Clarke, in the third-place match at 110, and Mason Zajac, in the third-place match at 215, each won one-point decisions.
Stan Elinsky Tournament
Lackawanna Trail and Maine-Endwell (N.Y.) separated themselves from the rest of the 15-team field and the Lions wound up on top, 308-307½, with the help of five individual titles, four of them produced with the bonus points for pins.
Henry (118), Deegan Ross (152), Schneider (160) and Seth Ross (189) won their titles by pin.
Lee pulled out a 3-2 decision over Lucas DeMott from Sidney, N.Y. at 132.
Michael Bluhm (145), Rozanski (172) and Houser (215) all placed second.
Max Bluhm was third at 138 and Garet Fowler took fifth at 126.
