One of the biggest weekends of the Wyoming Valley Conference wrestling season is here. The conference tournament kicks off Friday and Saturday at Lake-Lehman High School.
Some wrestlers would even argue that this weekend is more important than the District 2 Individual Championships because this event is where rivalries are guaranteed to be brewed or renewed with grapplers facing opponents they’ve see plenty of throughout the season.
This weekend features 16 wrestlers who have been to the finals of this tournament in previous seasons with seven returning champions, and a combined 25 appearances in the gold medal match.
Eight of those 25 appearances are in just two weight classes this weekend, at 126 and 132 making competition in those brackets extremely tough.
A pair of state qualifiers in Meyers’ Colin Pasone and Hazleton Area’s Chris Lasecki are on opposite ends of the 126 bracket, which also includes Coughlin’s Jake Brown, a tournament runner-up last year and District 2 Class 3A third-place finisher from last year.
At 132, Lake-Lehman’s RJ Driscoll, a state qualifier in 2015 and returning event titlist, is the No. 3 seed behind Hanover Area’s Jeff Bennett and Tunkhannock’s Tommy Traver. Bennett is a two-time tournament finalist with a gold in 2015, while Traver’s 17-0 record is the only undefeated wrestler with double-digit wins in the whole tournament.
Both weights should be extremely competitive and worth the price of admission.
Here’s a few predictions, along with, the full list of returning champions and runners-up:
Stats and Predictions
Returning Champs: Colin Pasone, Meyers (2); Jimmy Hoffman, Hazleton Area (2); David Krokowski, Wyoming Valley West; Jeff Bennett, Hanover Area (2015); Jake Maurer, Hazleton Area; R.J. Driscoll, Lake-Lehman; Carson Kinney, Hazleton Area
2016 Returning runners-up: David Gavek, Tunkhannock; Jeff Bennett, Hanover Area; Jake Brown, Coughlin; Jeremy Bergold, Meyers; Noah Rakowski, Hanover Area; Sam Rice, Tunkhannock; Nick Hannon, Hanover Area; Preston Perkins, Meyers
Previous Runners-up returning: Chris Lasecki, Hazleton Area (2015), Kendrick Beyer, Wyoming Area (2015, 2014), Maurer, Hoffman, Kinney, Hannon (2015)
Race for the team championship
2016 winner: Tunkhannock
Top 6 prediction: 1. Hazleton Area; 2. Dallas; 3. Hanover Area; 4. Meyers; 5. Tunkhannock; 6. Lake-Lehman
Dark horse: Coughlin
The skinny: It’s a little hard to call defending champion Tunkhannock a surprise when every team mentioned above could be in contention for the title. The Cougars are the favorite, but if they run into some bad matchups, anything can happen. Don’t be shocked to see Crestwood or Wyoming Valley West jump into the top five if those squads get good matchups.
106
2016 winner: David Krokowski, Wyoming Valley West
Top seed: Brandon Lopez, Pittston Area
Top 3 Prediction: 1. J.J. White, Wyoming Valley West; 2. David Evans, Tunkhannock; 3. Brandon Lopez, Pittston Area
Dark Horse: Joe Rowley, Hanover Area
The skinny: White is coming off a seventh-place finish at the tough Bethlehem Holiday Classic. He’s the fourth seed here, but he’s been on a roll. Evans has also been tough to beat, including a win by major decision over Rowley last week.
113
2016 winner: Jake Maurer, Hazleton Area
Top seed: Jake Maurer, Hazleton Area
Top 3 Prediction: 1. Maurer; 2. David Gavek, Tunkhannock; 3. Caden Strobel, Meyers
Dark Horse: Jamie Pahler, Coughlin
The skinny: Maurer is a two-time event finalist, while Gavek was a finalist last year at a different weight. These two appear to be on a collision course.
120
2016 winner: Colin Pasone, Meyers
Top seed: David Krokowski, Wyoming Valley West
Top 3 Prediction: 1. Krokowski; 2. Anthony Kasper, Meyers; 3. Gavin D’Amato, Tunkhannock
Dark Horse: Charles Everdale, Hazleton Area
The skinny: There’s a lot of youth in this bracket with the only senior being Kasper. Lake-Lehman’s Bobby Long is the No. 2 seed here, but has been in limited action this season with just five matches, while Kasper has been in 17 bouts. The two could meet in the semis. D’Amato is one of the up-and-coming freshmen in the conference and is the No. 4 seed.
126
2016 winner: RJ Driscoll, Lake-Lehman
Top seed: Colin Pasone, Meyers
Top 3 Prediction: 1. Pasone; 2. Chris Lasecki, Hazleton Area; 3. Jake Brown, Coughlin
Dark Horse: Ryan Lombardo, Pittston Area
The skinny: Perhaps the toughest bracket in the whole tournament with two-time state qualifiers Pasone and Lasecki, and a District 2 Class 3A third-place finisher from last year in Brown. That’s not counting Matt Galasso from Lake-Lehman, a promising freshman. Add in Lombardo, who pinned Galasso last week, and Tunkhannock’s Josh Beeman, who has 12 wins, the second most in the bracket, and this bracket is stacked.
132
2016 winner: Dakota Quick, Tunkhannock
Top seed: Jeff Bennett, Hanover Area
Top 3 Prediction: 1. Tommy Traver, Tunkhannock; 2. Bennett; 3. R.J. Driscoll, Lake-Lehman
Dark Horse: Kevin Huertero, Meyers
The skinny: Traver and Bennett met in the finals of last week’s Tunkhannock Holiday Wrestling Tournament with Traver pulling out the win. Driscoll, a state qualifier from 2015, beat Traver in the semis of last year’s event by two points. Coughlin’s Josh Brown, a district third last year, is seeded third with the second-most wins this season in the weight.
138
2016 winner: Jimmy Hoffman, Hazleton Area
Top seed: Jimmy Hoffman, Hazleton Area
Top 3 Prediction: 1. Hoffman; 2. D.J. Erickson, Hanover Area; 3. Garrett Kolb, Lake-Lehman
Dark Horse: Travis Dent, Berwick
The skinny: Hoffman is on a warpath this season and everyone in this bracket is just going to be the next to fall. The competition will be for second and third with Erickson likely to lead the others.
145
2016 winner: Keith Lowery, Hazleton Area
Top seed: Bob Lipski, Lake-Lehman
Top 3 Prediction: 1. Bob Lipski, Lake-Lehman; 2. Ron Grevera, Crestwood; 3. Alec Talanca, Berwick
Dark Horse: Frankie Castano, Coughlin
The skinny: Lipski pinned Grevera earlier this season in a dual. The rest of the bracket could be in a real battle for third. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see any of the other 11 come through to take third.
152
2016 winner: Bill Manley, Tunkhannock
Top seed: Alec Sampson, Dallas
Top 3 Prediction: 1. Sampson; 2. Saige George, Crestwood; 3. Zakee Nettles, Hanover Area
Dark Horse: Jake Tomolonis, Lake-Lehman
The skinny: Sampson defeated George via decision in a dual last month. Tomolonis is the No. 3 seed and didn’t see George in the dual between the teams last month. That could be a very interesting semifinal.
160
2016 winner: Mike Manley, Tunkhannock
Top seed: Jeremy Bergold, Meyers
Top 3 Prediction: 1. Bergold; 2. Steven Newell, Dallas; 3. Noah Rakowski, Hanover Area
Dark Horse: Justin Lukashewski, Crestwood
The skinny: The only two in this weight that have a history are Rakowski and Bergold with the Hawkeye senior winning a match last year. Both were runners-up last year, but they are on opposite sides of this bracket. Newell is on a bit of a roll and will give both of them good bouts.
170
2016 winner: Dalton Ray, Tunkhannock
Top seed: Xavier Barber, Dallas
Top 3 Prediction: 1. Barber; 2. Jake Cole, Coughlin; 3. Justin Joseph, Wyoming Area
Dark Horse: Shane Noonan, Hazleton Area
The skinny: Possibly a very underrated weight, there’s plenty of tough competition. All but one of the 11 grapplers in this bracket have a winning record. In addition to the four names above, Berwick’s Matt Maczuga is unbeaten at 6-0, while Crestwood’s Liam Stone has just two setbacks.
182
2016 winner: Cole Dixon, Dallas
Top seed: Adam Buczynski, Wyoming Area
Top 3 Prediction: 1. Buczynski; 2. J.J. Hooper, Hanover Area; 3. Ryan Black, Crestwood
Dark Horse: Jake Stephens, Tunkhannock
The skinny: Hooper pinned Buczynski in the semifinals of last week’s tournament in Tunkhannock. Black is one of the most improved wrestlers in the whole conference this season.
195
2016 winner: Carson Kinney, Hazleton Area
Top seed: Carson Kinney, Hazleton Area
Top 3 Prediction: 1. Kinney; 2. Sam Rice, Tunkhannock; 3. Paul Ashton, Crestwood
Dark Horse: Chris Malys, Coughlin
The skinny: Kinney has had Rice’s number in their careers winning all of their three meetings last year. Meyers’ Lucas Borum is the No. 3 seed and shouldn’t be overlooked or he can pull off an upset of Rice in the semis.
220
2016 winner: Mike Slivinski, Lake-Lehman
Top seed: Preston Perkins, Meyers
Top 3 Prediction: 1. Stone Force, Bewick; 2. Preston Perkins, Meyers; 3. Nick Lynch, Pittston Area
Dark Horse: Lynch
The skinny: Perkins was runner-up at this event last year, but Force, the No. 2 seed has been wrestling very well this season while participating at 285. Being at a different weight should help considerably.
285
2016 winner: John Sheridan, Hanover Area
Top seed: Nick Hannon, Hanover Area
Top 3 Prediction: 1. Hannon; 2. Kaleb Konigus, Lake-Lehman; 3. Damon Barhight, Wyoming Area
Dark Horse: Corey Harrison, Coughlin
The skinny: Hannon took second last year at 220, while Konigus is the No. 2 seed; both have wrestled tough opponents this season. Harrison has been in the most matches of anyone in the weight.
