Abington Heights captured two titles, qualified four wrestlers for the state tournament and finished fifth of 42 teams March 1-2 in the Class 3A Northeast Regional Wrestling Championships at Bethlehem Liberty High School.
Brian Heard and Caleb Marzolino won titles at 172 and 215 pounds.
Austin Smith was third at 152 and Mason Whitney fourth at 121 in an event where the top four finishers in each weight class make it to Hershey.
The Comets finished 22 points better than any other District 2 teams. Their 101 points ranked behind only District 11 powers Bethlehem Catholic (184½), Nazareth (168½), Easton (155½) and Northampton (104).
Heard defeated Nazareth’s Brayden Zuercher 6-1 in the final, then Marzolino decisioned Pocono Mountain West’s Brandon Stiehler 9-2.
Smith pinned Parrish McFarland from Pottsville in 3:34 of the consolation final where Whitney lost to West Scranton’s Tyson Cook 6-1.
Colin Price added a sixth-place finish at 160.
Heard reached the final with a pin and a major decision.
Marzolino destroyed the quarterfinal and semifinal competition with technical falls in the first and second periods. He needed just 5:17 to outscore them 31-1.
Smith recovered from a quarterfinal loss to McFarland to qualify for the state tournament by outscoring his first three consolation opponents 59-17 in two technical falls and a major decision. He then avenged the loss to finish in third.
Whitney had a longer route because instead of starting in the quarterfinals, he began in the preliminary round where he won a decision on the way to going 4-2 in the tournament.
Price won three of his first four bouts before losing his last two.
Connor Beck, at 107, and Mark Lynott, at 145, each won twice before being eliminated in the third consolation round when they suffered their second defeats.
Keith Yusinski went 1-2 at 189 where his losses were a one-pointer in overtime and a two-pointer.
John Gorrick went 0-2 at 285, losing both bouts by decision.
CLASS 2A
Scranton Prep’s Louis Paris finished fourth at 215 pounds to advance from the Class 2A Northeast Regional at Williamsport into the state tournament.
The Cavaliers finished 30 th out of 38 teams in the tournament.
Paris recovered from a quarterfinal loss to post two straight wins, one of them by pin, before losing to Warrior Run’s Connor Parker for the second time.
Max Shnipes won by pin in his first consolation bout at 285, but then was eliminated with a disqualification and forfeited his final bout to end up sixth.
Jake Barrett lost twice at 127.
All five Lackawanna Trail entries – Brayden Clarke (121), Garet Fowler (145), Isaac Ryon (160), Demetrius Douglas (172) and Kaylix Douglas (215) – went 0-2.
Most Popular
Comments / 0