Pens’ Boak battles for roster spot

OUR OPINION: POLICING RIVERFRONT PARKS Safety near levee a joint concern

First Posted: 1/29/2014 HAZLETON &#8212; All but two of the slots for Saturday&#8217;s District 2 Duals were set on Wednesday morning.It just so happens that the two needing to be decided were squaring off Wednesday night, as Pittston Area and Hazleton Area battled for the Wyoming Valley Conference&#8217;s No. 2 and No. 3 seeds for the Class 3A portion of the event.In the longest dual of the season so far for either team &#8212; it lasted just about two hours &#8212; the Patriots came out victorious, 43-25 to claim the No. 2 spot. It was important for the tournament because it means Pittston Area faces Wallenpaupack in the first round, while the Cougars take on red-hot West Scranton, which has won 16 in a row, including a convincing win over Wallenpaupack.That&#8217;s a good stat for the Patriots (5-1 Division I), who lost their first divisional dual of the season back in December to Wyoming Valley West, but haven&#8217;t lost since.&#8220;I think in a lot of ways we&#8217;re doing better. Some of the guys are really coming on now,&#8221; Pittston Area coach James Woodall said. &#8220;We usually do look to peak at the end of the year. Districts, regionals, that&#8217;s the idea. That&#8217;s what matters.&#8221;The Cougars (4-2 Division I) may have settled for the No. 3 seed from the conference, but they are in the duals tournament for the first time since capping off four straight duals titles in 2010. They also have a solid, young nucleus and won four in a row prior to Wednesday.&#8220;I really would&#8217;ve liked the two-seed but we&#8217;re the three seed. That&#8217;s the fact and we gotta go for it,&#8221; Hazleton Area coach Keith Maurer said. &#8220;I&#8217;m looking forward to it. We didn&#8217;t qualify last year. So we&#8217;re back in it and I didn&#8217;t want it as a wild card so I&#8217;m proud of my kids. Hopefully they&#8217;re proud of themselves and we rise to the occasion.&#8221;Hazleton Area got off to a good start on Wednesday winning three of the first four bouts to open a 15-6 lead. During the run, the Cougars got pins from, Jacob Maurer at 120 and Jimmy Hoffman at 126.The Patriots got rolling at 132 when reigning district champion Tyler Lutecki picked up a major decision. Dave DeLeo followed with a fall at 138 before a huge overtime pin from Dan Gambini at 145.His opponent Keith Lowery held a 2-1 lead in the third period before Gambini took a 3-2 advantage with a takedown and Lowery tied the match with a late escape. The Pittston Area junior worked a takedown in overtime and could have been content just getting the win there, but he stayed with the move to notch the fall turning a possible three team points for Hazleton Area into six for his team and putting the Patriots ahead 22-15.&#8220;That was right at a turning point of the match,&#8221; Woodall said. &#8220;Gambini&#8217;s been doing good all year coming through with wins. It&#8217;s not the first time he&#8217;s won in overtime like that. He&#8217;s looking tough this year.&#8221;After Gambini&#8217;s win, the Cougars couldn&#8217;t get much closer than 22-19 after Derek Spachman won via major decision at 152. They were hurt by giving up a forfeit at 160, but also got decisions from Steve Longazel at 182 and Justice Agramonte at 195 to pull within 32-25.&#8220;At this level if you&#8217;re going to compete, giving up six is really, really difficult to do,&#8221; Maurer added. &#8220;I thought we wrestled really well. I can&#8217;t complain. I thought we did OK. Do I think they&#8217;re that much better? No. I think if we wrestled them again, it&#8217;s a different result.&#8221;Any chance Hazleton Area had of winning was gone when Pittston Area&#8217;s Jake Vaxmonsky picked up a tech fall at 220 to put the score out of reach. The Patriots&#8217; Jon Armitage closed out the meet with a pin at 285.Honesdale 39, Meyers 31TJ Cistrunk (182) and Kyle Krepich (285) earned the only falls in the Mohawks&#8217; effort against Honesdale.Delaware Valley 36, Coughlin 26Adam Giovanelli earned a fall in the 182-pound bout as the Crusaders came up short against visiting Delaware Valley.Tim Pilch (220) and Pat Pilch (285) both earned victories by pin for Coughlin.Scranton Prep 45, Hanover Area 36The Hawkeyes&#8217; effort was led by pins from Anthony Eck (160) and Isiah Taylor (170).***Pittston Area 43, Hazleton Area 25106 &#8212; Chris Lasecki (Haz) dec Chris Starinsky 9-2; 113 &#8212; Zack Meckes (PA) pinned Carlos Cruz 1:26; 120 &#8212; Jacob Maurer (Haz) pinned Tony Halat 1:55; 126 &#8212; Jimmy Hoffman (Haz) pinned Braulio Garcia 1:50; 132 &#8212; Tyler Lutecki (PA) maj dec Anthony Martoccio 14-5; 138 &#8212; Dave DeLeo (PA) pinned James Breimier :56; 145 &#8212; Dan Gambini (PA) pinned Keith Lowery 6:24; 152 &#8212; Derek Spachman (Haz) maj dec Ryan Joyce 11-0; 160 &#8212; Matt Romanoski (PA) won by forfeit; 170 &#8212; Kevin Wesolowski (PA) maj dec Carson Kinney 16-6; 182 &#8212; Steve Longazel (Haz) dec Chris Cummings 6-4; 195 &#8212; Justice Agramonte (Haz) dec Troy Platukus 1-0; 220 &#8212; Jake Vaxmonsky (PA) tech fall Jesus Castillo 15-0, 5:23; 285 &#8212; Jon Armitage (PA) pinned Dewel Tejeda 5:35.
Note: Match started at 106 pounds
Honesdale 39, Meyers 31106 &#8212; Brennan Philips (MEY) won by forfeit; 113 &#8212; Colin Pasone (MEY) maj. dec. Troy Russell, 20-7; 120 &#8212; Joe Walsh (HON) pinned Michael Dempsey, 5:53; 126 &#8212; Anthony McDevitt (HON) pinned Daniel Semanek, 2:32; 132 &#8212; Ben Ruteledge (HON) pinned Eric Hernandez, 0:14; 138 &#8212; Evan Kennedy (HON) dec. Tyler Patronick; 145 &#8212; Gino Setta (MEY) dec. Nick Johannes, 7-3; 152 &#8212; Tim Russell (HON) won by forfeit; 160 &#8212; Quince Hutchings (MEY) dec. Kevin VanSickle, 9-5; 170 &#8212; Johntae Nelson (MEY) dec. Josh Burkavage, 11-6; 182 &#8212; TJ Cistrunk (MEY) pinned Nathaniel Martin, :46; 195 &#8212; Damian Foshay (HON) pinned Miles Davis, 0:53; 220 &#8212; Brent Dailey (HON) pinned Alejandro Velazco, 1:07; 285 &#8212; Kyle Krepich (MEY) pinned Justin McMillen, 1:00.
Scranton Prep 45, Hanover Area 36106 &#8212; AJ Sluko (PREP) won by forfeit.; 113 &#8212; Jeffrey Bennett (HAN) won by forfeit; 120 &#8212; Bryce Waters (HAN) won by forfeit; 126 &#8212; Brad Glazenski (HAN) won by forfeit; 132 &#8212; Biagio D&#8217;Apolonio (PREP) won by forfeit; 138 &#8212; Tommy Carroll (PREP) won by forfeit; 145 &#8212; Jonathan Martines (PREP) pinned Ya&#8217;Sir Jones, 1:19; 152 &#8212; Nick Yanmi (PREP) won by forfeit; 160 &#8212; Anthony Eck (HAN) pinned Matt Soliman, :40; 170 &#8212; Isiah Taylor (HAN) pinned John Hinton, 1:01; 182 &#8212; Justin Weckel (PREP) won by forfeit; 195 &#8212; Zach Shaffer (HAN) won by forfeit; 220 &#8212; Thor Balavage (PREP) dec. Khalil Lewis, 6-3; 285 &#8212; Joe Holmes (PREP) pinned Rob Thompson, :52.
Delaware Valley 36, Coughlin 26106 &#8212; No Contest; 113 &#8212; Dominicu Divigilio (DV) won by forfeit; 120 &#8212; Patrick Testino (DV) won by forfeit; 126 &#8212; Bob Hawkins (COU) maj. dec. Kyle Stoll, 21-11; 132 &#8212; Mike Brown (COU) maj. dec. Tyler Moraski, 11-2; 138 &#8212; Frank Corrozza (DV) dec. Bill Poray, 1-0; 145 &#8212; William Pearn (DV) pinned Dan McCarroll, 3:13; 152 &#8212; Shawn Jones (DV) dec. Derrick Nunez, 7-1; 160 &#8212; Colin Irwin (DV) pinned James Dankovitch, 1:47; 170 &#8212; Christopher Duncan (DV) dec. Brandon Butry, 7-0; 182 &#8212; Adam Giovanelli (COU) pinned Ethan Storms, 3:21; 195 &#8212; Matt Wagner (DV) dec. Paul Cole, 5-2; 220 &#8212; Tim Pilch (COU) pinned Andrew James-Sieber, 5:53; 285 &#8212; Pat Pilch (COU) pinned Thomas Lamb, :30.
Note: Match started at 145 pounds

Patriots lock up No. 2 seed for duals