Published February 11. 2021 11:36AM
Welcome to Round 2 of the Times News Wrestling Report.
There’s a much larger sample size to pull from in this second edition.
Jim Thorpe has wrestled a whopping 14 matches (through Tuesday) since that time, while each of the other area teams has competed at least twice.
There is no area team with fewer than six matches under its belt this season.
There have been milestones reached, and some familiar faces returning to the fray since then.
With the calendar flipped to February and the postseason not too far away, let’s take a look at some of the highlights from the past few weeks.
106
Tamaqua’s Gabe Erbe has picked up three wins to run his record to 9-4, while Lehighton’s Andrew Versuk
now sits at 5-5. Erbe pinned Tri-Valley’s Brenton Harner in 3:18 on Feb. 5.
113
Lehighton’s Aiden Gruber bounced back from his first loss of the season to go 3-0 during the evaluation period and now has a record of 9-1. The freshman pinned Pen Argyl’s Hennessey Ruppert in 5:25 on Feb. 5. Northern Lehigh’s Brenden Smay continues to dominate, picking up four wins to run his record to 6-0. The senior has three tech. falls and a decision since Jan. 27 … Northwestern’s Josie Wehr
has gone 1-1, pinning Parkland’s Georgi Butch in 3:05 on Jan. 30.
120
Jim Thorpe’s Ridge Snyder owns an 8-7 record, while Lehighton’s Reese Scaturro is 4-4. Snyder won by tech. fall against Scaturro on Feb. 4… Pleasant Valley’s Logan Segeda
is 3-3.
126
Lehighton’s Nicholas Zeigenfuss has gone 3-0 during this cycle and is 7-3 overall. The sophomore earned a 7-3 decision against Palmerton’s Aaron Gardner (5-6) on Feb. 4, and pinned Pen Argyl’s Alex Moser in 0:34 on Feb. 5 … Pleasant Valley’s Josh Griffith
is 4-0 overall this season, with all of those wins coming over the last two weeks. And he’s earned them. Griffith has two decisions and two pins.
132
Lehighton’s Lukas Ferguson remains unbeaten at 10-0. Ferguson pinned Palmerton’s Westin Horn in 0:45 and received two forfeits during this stretch … Pleasant Valley’s Everett Lata
is 3-3.
138
Lehighton’s Steven Fritzinger (8-1) suffered his first loss of the season Feb. 5 against Pen Argyl. Fritzinger fell 5-1 to Lorenzo Reto, a district placewinner. He earned a 6-4 decision over Palmerton’s Dennis Lombardi, another district medalist, the day before. He also posted a major decision against Jim Thorpe’s Robert Murphy the same day during a tri-match … Northwestern’s Eli Dellicker went 1-1, getting pinned by Whitehall’s Ty Cunningham Jan. 29, before pinning Parkland’s Nathan Kresge the following day to even out his record at 5-5 … After his loss to Fritzinger, Lombardi posted back-to-back wins to push his record to 6-5. He pinned Jim Thorpe’s Gavyn Dechert, and earned a 5-3 decision over Salisbury’s Braedon Alder … Tamaqua’s Jacob Schlier went 3-1, improving his overall record to 5-5, while teammate Michael Steigerwalt
is 3-2.
145
Jim Thorpe’s Robert Murphy is 5-4, while Lehighton’s Jon Ahner is 5-5 … Northwestern freshman Dalton Clymer picked up two more wins – a tech fall and a pin – to run his record to 5-0 … Pleasant Valley’s Blake Walters is 3-2, while Bryce Kibler is 2-1 … Tamaqua’s Aaron Coccio
has wrestled his last three matches at 145, with pins in each of them. The senior is currently 13-0.
152
Jim Thorpe’s Gabe Heaney has been on a tear this season, posting a 14-1 record. Heaney has seven pins and two major decisions. His only setback was a 6-3 decision against Pequea Valley’s Dustin Huber at 160 pounds on Jan. 30. Huber was fourth in his section, and sixth at the District 3 Class 2A tournament to advance to regionals last year … With a pin in his last outing, Northern Lehigh’s Trevor Amorim, a district runner-up last season, has evened his record at 3-3 … Northwestern’s Ben Griffith has split his last two matches, and is now 6-3 … Tamaqua’s Randy Steigerwalt
is 8-2.
160
Pleasant Valley’s Gentry Knapp is 5-1, and has won four straight with two pins and two decisions … With five more wins, Tamaqua’s Reese Szabo
has pushed his record to 12-1. Two of those victories were pins.
172
Lehighton’s Richard Fronheiser now owns a 10-0 record this season. The senior registered a major decision and a pin among his three victories over the past two weeks … Pleasant Valley’s James Syracuse (5-1) has won four straight since dropping his second match of the season. He has two pins and a tech fall during that stretch … Tamaqua’s Cole Eberts
has also won four straight to push his record to 9-3.
189
Pleasant Valley’s Robert Dominick suffered his first loss of the year Jan. 30 against Pocono Mountain West’s Charlie Maloy, getting pinning in 0:41. Maloy placed sixth in Class 3A at districts last season. Dominick (5-1) bounced back by pinning Pocono Mountain East’s Dillon Brunetti in 0:45 in his next match … Tamaqua’s John Buday
has won two straight and is now 6-3.
215
Jim Thorpe’s Caleb McDermott is currently 9-5, while Lehighton’s Gauge Hartney is 5-5. McDermott earned a 7-0 decision over Hartney on Feb. 4. Still splitting time between 215 pounds and heavyweight … Northwestern’s Isaiah Johri is 6-3 … Chris Frable is another Pleasant Valley wrestler on a winning streak. Frable has won five in a row and now sits at 5-1 overall. He has three pins and two decisions … Tamaqua’s Nate Wickersham
just keeps winning. The senior is 13-0 this season, and recorded the 100th victory of his career against Blue Mountain on Jan. 27. Wickersham earned a 3-2 decision over Blue Mountain’s Logan Holland for his 99th-career win, and also topped Tri-Valley’s Jacob Scheib 5-4 on Feb. 5. Scheib was a district runner-up, placed fifth at regionals and qualified for states last season. Wickersham owns wins over three state qualifiers from last season this year.
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Lehighton’s Michael Yeakel is 7-2 this season … Northern Lehigh’s Josh Schaffer flattened Southern Lehigh’s Michael Martin in 1:26 in his season debut on Feb. 6. Schaffer was a district runner-up, placed fourth at regionals and qualified for states last season … Northwestern’s Elijah Johri
is 3-3 this season.
(Compiled by Patrick Matsinko)
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