Some of the biggest surprises every year come before the individual postseason begins: Scratches, weight descents (and ascents), injuries and wrestle-offs.
This season is no different. Here is a sampling:
Three absences and a notable wrestle-off
Pocono Mountain East’s Cael Harmon is out at 139. He would have been the No. 7 seed after finishing sixth last season at districts. The junior hasn’t competed since getting hurt Jan. 21.
Nazareth’s Noah Okamoto is out at 189. He’s battled injuries throughout his varsity career. The senior was a district and regional runner-up as a sophomore, then missed last year’s postseason with a shoulder injury. He was 8-2 this season.
Freedom’s Noah MacIlroy (11-0) is not competing. He’s battled a shoulder injury all season.
Also, James DeLuise won a wrestle-off at 189 for Bethlehem Catholic against two-time district and regional runner-up and 2021 state medalist Landon Muth, who has been wrestling up some 25 pounds this year.
Low seeds, high expectations
Keanu Dillard is the latest Bethlehem Catholic standout to get a low seed because of a limited varsity resume. Two injuries kept the freshman to only five eligible matches, so the nation’s No. 1-ranked 107-pounder is seeded 13th in Class 3A.
Returning state champion and teammate Nate Desmond is seeded second at 114. He is ranked third nationally.
Seeding is based on a computer formula that considers matches except those in league tournaments (Colonial, Schuylkill), team postseason events, etc.
Three years ago, highly touted Golden Hawks freshman Tyler Kasak missed most of the regular season because of injury and was the last seed. He won district and regional titles and finished fifth in the state at 106 pounds.
Saucon Valley’s Travis Riefenstahl, a two-time district 2A third-place finisher who did not compete in the postseason last year and missed all of the 2022-23 regular season, is the 19th (last) seed at 145. The senior will have a preliminary-round match. He was 6-2 in the 2023 team postseason.
Palmerton’s Danny Lucykanish is seeded 17th of 18 at 152 after missing all but five matches this season because of injury. The 2022 district 2A runner-up also will have a preliminary-round match.
Two-time 2A state qualifier Joey LaPenna is seeded fourth at 160 after missing a chunk of the regular season because of injury.
Going down
Northampton’s line-up from 121 to 172 pounds dropped down for the postseason, including top seeds and returning state medalists Carson Wagner (114) and Dagen Condomitti (152) plus freshman Trey Wagner (121).
Easton’s Chris Kelly also dropped from 121 to 114.
Liberty’s core crew also bumped down, including returning regional fifth-place finisher Ryan Santiago (145).
Going up
Nazareth bumped down for the team postseason, then went back up for individuals including returning state champion Sonny Sasso. The Virginia Tech commit will finish his high school career as a 215-pounder. He is 16-0 this year with 13 pins. His last two PIAA team tournament matches were at 189.
Fellow senior Marco Malerba will compete at 189 in place of Okamoto.
The Blue Eagles’ bump-up starts at 127 with Tahir Parkins, who missed weight at 121 on the first day of the state team tournament in Hershey.
Charlie Bunting goes back to 133, where he’s the third seed after finishing third last season at states.
Back in action
Saucon Valley’s Ty Pfizenmayer (215) missed the team postseason because of injuries but is back for individuals. Returning district champion Hector Mateo (133) was attempting to return but was scratched earlier this week.
Pfizenmayer was a third-place finisher last year at regionals.
The seeds
District 11’s Class 2A and 3A wrestling championships are Friday and Saturday at Freedom and Liberty, respectively. Here are the top eight seeds in each class at each weight:
CLASS 2A
107: 1. Noah Gilgore, North Schuylkill; 2. Santino Micci, Wilson; 3. Brock Schneiderwind, Palisades; 4. Tanner Berkenstock, Notre Dame-GP; 5. Evan Reed, Catasauqua; 6. Ethan Nothstein, Lehighton; 7. Owen Wolfgang, Tri-Valley; 8. Cole Fry, Blue Mountain
114: 1. Ayden Smith, Notre Dame-GP; 2. Cole Hubert, Saucon Valley; 3. Aidan Gruber, Lehighton; 4. Colin Seefeldt, Blue Mountain; 5. Giovanni DiBiagio, Wilson; 6. Steven Korte, Jim Thorpe; 7. Xzavion Tennis, Williams Valley; 8. Jaxon Bruso, Tri-Valley
121: 1. Aiden Grogg, Saucon Valley; 2. Cooper Feltman, Notre Dame-GP; 3. Gabe Erbe, Tamaqua; 4. Mihail Hartranft, Catasauqua; 5. Kaden Casey, North Schuylkill; 6. Aiden Knorr, Pen Argyl; 7. Bryce Bodenberg, Blue Mountain; 8. Cody Mazzocca, Northern Lehigh
127: 1. Collin Ramsay, Pen Argyl; 2. Ryan Fisher Mahanoy Area; 3. Brendan Nye, Catasauqua; 4. Nathern Sterner, North Schuylkill; 5. Blake Muffley, Lehighton; 6. Gavyn Kelton, Notre Dame-GP; 7. David M’Balla, Wilson; 8. Wyatt Leitzel, Tri-Valley
133: 1. John Haubert, Palisades; 2. John Samy, Salisbury; 3. Hunter Troutman, Tri-Valley; 4. Evan Wentz, Lehighton; 5. Ridge Snyder, Jim Thorpe; 6. Kaden Brish, Blue Mountain; 7. Rider Heckman, Wilson; 8. Dillon Lombardi, Palmerton
139: 1. Bryson Vaughn, Notre Dame-GP; 2. Jackson Albert, Saucon Valley; 3. Owen Woll, Blue Mountain; 4. Derek King, Palmerton; 5. Jimmy Weikel, North Schuylkill; 6. Nick Zeigenfuss, Lehighton; 7. Hunter Greenawalt, Northwestern; 8. Danny Thatcher, Wilson
145: 1. Vince Bouzakis, Notre Dame-GP; 2. Gavin Fehr, Catasauqua; 3. Andrew Zimmerman, Schuylkill Haven; 4. Zander McElhenny, North Schuylkill; 5. Austin Martin, Pine Grove; 6. Bryce Smith, Palmerton; 7. Richard Kenna, Jim Thorpe; 8. Stephen Kieffer, Tamaqua
152: 1. Liam Scrivanich, Saucon Valley; 2. Keegan Ramsay, Notre Dame-GP; 3. Jacob Schlier, Tamaqua; 4. Cade Schneck, Pine Grove; 5. Chase Stephen, Tri-Valley; 6. Jacob Ferguson, Lehighton; 7. Braydon Kessler, North Schuylkill; 8. Alex Moser, Pen Argyl
160: 1. Luke Fugazzotto, Northwestern; 2. Jared Rohn, Saucon Valley; 3. Ricky Halford, North Schuylkill; 4. Joey LaPenna, Notre Dame-GP; 5. Brad Whalen, Tamaqua; 6. Nuallan King, Pen Argyl; 7. Toby Linn, Salisbury; 8. Kyler Quick, Mahanoy Area
172: 1. Holden Garcia, Notre Dame-GP; 2. Danny Haubert, Palisades; 3. Dalton Clymer, Northwestern; 4. Brad Renninger, Blue Mountain; 5. Chase Moffit, Northern Lehigh; 6. Kris Kessler, Pen Argyl; 7. Jacob Hehn, Tamaqua; 8. Mason Beckowski, Saucon Valley
189: 1. Jake Jones, Saucon Valley; 2. Jake Scheib, Tri-Valley; 3. Lucas Miller, Northwestern; 4. Gian Greggo, Pen Argyl; 5. Jakub Gloc, Salisbury; 6. Connor Smalley, Notre Dame-GP; 7. Aiden Myers, Schuylkill Haven; 8. Jack Tosh, Northern Lehigh
215: 1. Ty Pfizenmayer, Saucon Valley; 2. Jared Blobe, Notre Dame-GP; 3. Chad Beller, Catasauqua; 4. Niko Carestia, Schuylkill Haven; 5. Noah Schofer, Northwestern; 6. Joe Lagaza, Mahanoy Area; 7. Braxton Schwartz, Tri-Valley; 8. Sam Krauss, Salisbury
285: 1. Aiden Compton, Notre Dame-GP; 2. Justis Troutman, Tri-Valley; 3. Mitch Miller, Salisbury; 4. Reese Balk, Lehighton; 5. Sam Frame, Northern Lehigh; 6. Evan Leibert, Saucon Valley; 7. Yerrick Tlacuatl, North Schuylkill; 8. Jeremius Molina, Mahanoy Area
CLASS 3A
107: 1. Wilmont Kai, Whitehall; 2. Remy Trach, Nazareth; 3. Nick Salamone, Easton; 4. Jasiah Pagan, Liberty; 5. Griffin King, Southern Lehigh; 6. Matt Sommer, Northampton; 7. Eli Russ, Parkland; 8. Hunter Brown, Stroudsburg
114: 1. Carson Wagner, Northampton; 2. Nate Desmond, Bethlehem Catholic; 3. Chris Kelly, Easton; 4. Zack Berwick, Stroudsburg; 5. Blake Dergham, Parkland; 6. Dominic Rizzotto, Nazareth; 7. Kade Pascoe, Whitehall; 8. Carter Smith, Bangor
121: 1. ;C.J. Horvath, Freedom 2. Trey Wagner, Northampton; 3. Aaron Ciampittiello, Parkland; 4. Ryder Campbell, Bethlehem Catholic; 5. Jake Brown, Stroudsburg; 6. Eddie Lauritsen, Pleasant Valley; 7. Brendan Bowman, Easton; 8. Scotty Raymond, Pocono Mountain East
127: 1. Connor Demcher, Pottsville; 2. Tahir Parkins, Nazareth; 3. Aidan Micheli, Northampton; 4. Ben Fanelli, Easton; 5. Shane McFillin, Bethlehem Catholic; 6. Phoenix DelVecchio, Parkland; 7. Jack Evans, Liberty; 8. Logan Armstrong, Emmaus
133: 1. Cael McIntyre, Bethlehem Catholic; 2. Keegan Demarest, Pocono Mountain East; 3. Charlie Bunting, Nazareth; 4. Austin Noe, Northampton; 5. Kam Abboud, Liberty; 6. Luke Sterns, Pottsville; 7. Leo Kern, Parkland; 8. Jayvon Simms, Easton
139: 1. Kollin Rath, Bethlehem Catholic; 2. Oliver Fairchild, Easton; 3. Jack Campbell, Nazareth; 4. Blake Bender, Pottsville; 5. Mason Basara, Northampton; 6. Adriaan DeLeon, Liberty; 7. Seth Pascoe, Whitehall; 8. Xayden Sallitt, Emmaus
145: 1. Jake Doone, Nazareth; 2. Marco Albanese, Emmaus; 3. Dalton Monger, Pottsville; 4. Charlie Scanlan, Bethlehem Catholic; 5. Ryan Santiago, Liberty; 6. Joey Bodnar, Freedom; 7. Devlin Chevere, Northampton; 8. Braedon Alder, Southern Lehigh
152: 1. Dagen Condomitti, Northampton; 2. Jake Dailey, Bethlehem Catholic; 3. Parrish McFarland, Pottsville; 4. Cade Campbell, Nazareth; 5. Juan Moya, Parkland; 6. James Geiger, Easton; 7. Hudson Saylor, Whitehall; 8. Jesse Scott, Emmaus
160: 1. Andrew Harmon, Bethlehem Catholic; 2. Brayden Zuercher, Nazareth; 3. Nolan Krazer, Easton; 4. Victor Carrasquilla, Parkland; 5. Robbie Bibeau, East Stroudsburg North; 6. Josh Montesino, Dieruff; 7. Ivan Bonilla, Freedom; 8. Preston Saylor, Whitehall
172: 1. Dom Wheatley, Nazareth; 2. Luke Thomas, Bethlehem Catholic; 3. Jared Karabinus Freedom; 4. Christian London, Stroudsburg; 5. Terrell McFarland, Pottsville; 6. Marcus McNeill, East Stroudsburg South; 7. Jayden Hazzard, Easton; 8. Reilly Bechtel, Emmaus
189: 1. Adrian Gacek, Parkland; 2. Melquan Warren, Whitehall; 3. Marco Malerba, Nazareth; 4. Aaron Kirby, Stroudsburg; 5. Aidan Hutchison, Easton; 6. James DeLuise, Bethlehem Catholic; 7. Ron Davis, Pocono Mountain West; 8. Jason Schubert, Pleasant Valley
215: 1. Sonny Sasso, Nazareth; 2. Brandon Stiehler, Pocono Mountain West; 3. Michael Fluck, Southern Lehigh; 4. Jake Gross, Emmaus; 5. James Hopkins, Whitehall; 6. James Barruzza, Pleasant Valley; 7. Auggie Warke, Bethlehem Catholic; 8. Joe Doumat, Northampton
285: 1. Sean Kinney, Nazareth; 2. Elijah Thompson, Bethlehem Catholic; 3. Michael Gavrilesku, Parkland; 4. Malachi Walters, Pocono Mountain West; 5. Anthony Embardino, Easton; 6. Nicholas Khamis, Stroudsburg; 7. Seth Kolb, Liberty; 8. E.J. Boney, Emmaus
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