WYOMING AREA GOLFBelza, Pugliese return to lead Warriors

Mario Belza and Kristian Pugliese, who each finished among the top 25 Class 3A boys golfers in District 2 last season, are back to lead the Wyoming Area team into the season.

The first official day of practice is Monday. The Wyoming Valley Conference moves right into league play Thursday with a new schedule format, making golf the first sport allowed to hold competition this school year, according to Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association rules.

Wyoming Area was 10-4 to finish third of eight teams in Division 1 last season. This season, every WVC team will compete in one league, facing each other once.

Belza and Pugliese each made it through the WVC qualifier to get into the District 2 Tournament where they posted scores of 86 and 87.

Fellow senior Jeremy Layland also returns for Wyoming Area, which graduated four seniors. The three seniors and junior Robbie Yatsko all made frequent appearances in the starting lineup.

Sophomores Hunter Hosier, Joey Onda and Mitchell Rusinchak were also in the program a year ago.

Marco Altavilla, another sophomore, and freshmen Austin August, Jaxon Brydon and Lane Wesley are newcomers to the team.

The 15 teams in the WVC will compete in a 14-match schedule.