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First Posted: 2/19/2014 YATESVILLE &#8212; Two state qualifiers, a pair of district runners-up and one of the hottest wrestlers in the entire district.
In most years, those are five wrestlers who are pretty much guaranteed district championships this weekend.
But in 2014, that&#8217;s a quintet of grapplers all in the same weight class as the seeds for the upcoming District 2 wrestling tournaments were released on Wednesday night.
Yes, the 132-pound weight class in the District 2 Class 3A Tournament is by far going to be the toughest of all 28 combined in both classifications.
Earning the top seed in the weight is Wyoming Valley West senior Travis Roper, who is 31-3 this season and qualified for the PIAA Championships a year ago. No. 2 seed is Delaware Valley&#8217;s Jalen Palmer, a three-time D2 3A champ with a mark of 28-6 and placed eighth at states last season.
It doesn&#8217;t get easy for those two because sitting at No. 3 is Wallenpaupack junior Chase Gallik (32-2), who is a two-time district second-place finisher and was a win away from wrestling in the state-qualifying bout at regionals last season. Gallik is coming off one of the biggest wins of his career when he defeated Palmer in the finals of last weekend&#8217;s Lackawanna League Tournament.
Sitting at No. 4 seed in the bracket in Tunkhannock sophomore Bill Manley, who is 31-5 this season having won 14 of his last 15 matches with the loss in that time coming in overtime. Then the No. 5 seed is Crestwood junior Dan Ritz (21-11), who was D2 runner-up last season and, like Gallik was a win away from the state-qualifying bout at regionals. Palmer, Roper and Ritz were all in the same weight class last season as well.
Roper&#8217;s teammates James Wright (106), Nathan Cheek (145) and Cody Cordes (160) also grabbed top seeds in their brackets to pace the WVC teams. Dallas picked up two No. 1 seeds in Connor Martinez and 170 and Ryan Monk at 285.
Hazleton Area freshman Jimmy Hoffman (120) and Pittston Area&#8217;s Tyler Lutecki (126) round out the top seeds for the WVC in Class 3A.
In Class 2A, the Wyoming Valley Conference pinned down 12 of the 14 top seeds led by Lake-Lehman&#8217;s four. Three-time district champion Austin Harry (132) is seeded No. 1 for the Black Knights, as is Bobby Wright (160), Derek Dragon (170) and Brady Butler (182). GAR and Wyoming Area each have three wrestlers seeded at the top of their respective weights.
For the Grenadiers, returning state qualifier AJ Luton (113) leads the way with Zac Faust (220) and Saul Wilkins (285) also pulling in top seeds. The Warriors&#8217; No. 1 draws are defending district champion Pat Heck (120), Charlie Johnson (126) and Zachary Briggs at 152.
Meyers is represented with two top draws in freshman Colin Pasone at 106 and Gino Setta at 145.
Both events will be held simultaneously at the Kingston Armory beginning at 5 p.m. Friday and continuing 10 a.m. on Saturday. The finals, third-place and fifth-place bouts will also be held Saturday at approximately 3 p.m.
Junior High districts discussed
Another topic of conversation at Wednesday&#8217;s meeting is the possibility of bringing back the District 2 junior high tournament, which has not been held for the last four years. Delaware Valley coach Lou Delauro brought up the idea and several coaches discussed the options. District 2 wrestling chair Jay Starnes said that the reason the tournament was dropped is because several principals didn&#8217;t want the added expense.
There are many more steps to go before the event is brought back, but it&#8217;s looking good right now.
***
District 2 Class 3A Top Two Seeds
106: 1. James Wright, Wyoming Valley West (24-10); 2. Tom Bachman, Tunkhannock (16-17)
113: 1. Jimmy Forsette, West Scranton (31-3); 2. Joe Walsh, Honesdale (18-12)
120: 1. Jimmy Hoffman, Hazleton Area (30-5); 2. Patrick Testino, Delaware Valley (23-8)
126: 1. Tyler Lutecki, Pittston Area (25-4); 2. Bobby Hawkins, Coughlin (31-5)
132: 1. Travis Roper, Wyoming Valley West (31-3); 2. Jalen Palmer, Delaware Valley (28-6)
138: 1. Frankie Carrozza, Delaware Valley (33-5); 2. Bill Poray, Coughlin (28-5)
145: 1. Nathan Cheek, Wyoming Valley West (33-3); 2. Chris Lovallo, Scranton (28-7)
152: 1. Niyaz Bakradze, Scranton (31-3); 2. Matthew Judge, Valley View (21-7)
160: 1. Cody Cordes, Wyoming Valley West (33-2); 2. Matthew Carr, Abington Heights (25-0)
170: 1. Connor Martinez, Dallas (28-8); 2. Colin Irwin, Delaware Valley (25-9)
182: 1. Jared Wehrmann, Wallenpaupack (33-2); 2. Steve Longazel, Hazleton Area (26-8)
195: 1. Matt Wagner, Delaware Valley (28-6); 2. Tyler Robinson, Crestwood (21-8)
220: 1. Jason Manning, West Scranton (30-5); 2. Ian Moran, Wyoming Valley West (18-15)
285: 1. Ryan Monk, Dallas (33-2); 2. Kamron VanWert, West Scranton (31-3)
District 2 Class 2A Top Two Seeds
106: 1. Colin Pasone, Meyers (33-3); 2. Jacob O&#8217;Brien, Montrose (25-2)
113: 1. AJ Luton, GAR (28-4); 2. Ronald Mrsich, Westwen Wayne (18-17)
120: 1. Pat Heck, Wyoming Area (23-13); 2. Brad Glazenski, Hanover Area (19-10)
126: 1. Charlie Johnson, Wyoming Area (30-4); 2. Evan Grimm, Western Wayne (12-10)
132: 1. Austin Harry, Lake-Lehman (32-1); 2. Kendrick Beyer, Wyoming Area (24-12)
138: 1. Morgan Fuller, Western Wayne (35-5); 2. Dalton Hogle, Blue Ridge (27-7)
145: 1. Gino Setta, Meyers (25-10); 2. Billy Lee, Lackawanna Trail (32-8)
152: 1. Zachary Briggs, Wyoming Area (25-10); 2. Quince Hutchings, Meyers (18-15)
160: 1. Bobby Wright, Lake-Lehman (26-7); 2. Johntae Nelson, Meyers (21-6)
170: 1. Derek Dragon, Lake-Lehman (25-7); 2. Addison Parsons, Blue Ridge (17-11)
182: 1. Brady Butler, Lake-Lehman (31-2); 2. Blaise Cleveland, Elk Lake (26-5)
195: 1. Austin Swoyer, Western Wayne (32-8); 2. Phil Hettes, Lake-Lehman (13-4)
220: 1. Zac Faust, GAR (33-1); 2. Thor Balavage, Scranton Prep (26-7)
285: 1. Saul Wilkins, GAR (25-8); 2. John Shaffer, Montrose (20-6)

In Class 3A, 132 is a loaded weight class