Four wrestlers from Wyoming Area, two from Pittston Area and Avoca’s Ivan Balavage, representing Scranton Prep, all advanced to the District 2 Wrestling Championship semifinals with their performances Friday at the 109th Field Artillery Armory.
Justin Joseph from Wyoming Area joined Balavage among the four semifinalists at 195 pounds in Class 2A. Corey Mruk (160), Adam Buczynski (182) and Damon Barhight also made it through for the Warriors.
Pittston Area put Ryan Lombardo (120) and Jason DeBaoard (160) in the Class 3A semifinals.
The tournament was being completed Saturday.
Wyoming Area, which failed to make the top eight teams for the district dual meet tournament, came out of the first day in seventh place out of 15 in the team standings.
Buczynski stormed into the semifinals with two first-period pins. He improved to 25-7 on the season by finishing off Nanticoke’s Seth Pelton in 1:15 and Blue Ridge’s Chris Graf in 0:46.
Joseph and Balavage also advanced with a pair of pins. Joseph (22-4) stopped Nanticoke’s Shane Reposky in 1:03 and Honesdale’s Beau Freiermuth in 3:17. Balavage beat Western Wayne’s Joseph Tufano in 27 seconds and Hanover Area’s Tom Mercadante in 2:13.
Mruk, a freshman, and Barhight each received a bye then won by pin in the quarterfinals in their only bout of the opening day. Mruk beat Scranton Prep senior Tommy Carroll in 5:02. Barhight defeated Valley View’s John Shnipes in 2:20.
The first day of action limited the field to four title contenders and four others in the consolation bracket of each weight class, attempting to work their way back to third place.
The top three wrestlers in Class 2A and the top four in Class 3A in each weight class advanced to next weekend’s Northeast Regionals.
Wyoming Area also had Charlie Banashefski (138), Tyler Martin (132) and Jaryn Polit-Moran (170) alive in the consolation rounds when Saturday’s action started. Banashefski had a pair of pins Friday.
Pittston Area’s Lombardo and DeBoard each followed up a bye with a quarterfinal win.
Lombardo, the seventh seed with a 13-9 record, upset second-seeded Machias Magill from Delaware Valley, 3-2.
DeBoard, who is 7-5 after missing part of the season with an injury, pinned Hazleton Area’s Jeremy Aquino in 1:10.
The Patriots also had Brandon Lopez (106), Josh McGilvary (152) and Nathan Lombardo (220) alive in the consolations when Saturday’s action started. McGilvary was the only one of those three to open with a win Friday before losing in the quarterfinals.
Pittston Area was ahead of Wyoming Valley West and in 11th place of 12 teams at the midway point in the tournament.
The week ahead
Class 3A wrestlers try to qualify for the state championships throughout the Northeast Regional in Bethlehem while Class 2A wrestlers compete in their Northeast Regional in Williamsport.
Both tournaments are scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
