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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; For the last three years, Jon Lagoski showed in spurts that he has potential to be one of the best wrestlers, not only in the Wyoming Valley Conference, but in the entire state.</p><p>He always seemed to run into a roadblock along the way, but the Wyoming Valley West senior may finally be getting past all the obstacles.</p><p>Lagoski, a 160-pounder pulled off two of the biggest upsets on the first day of the Flo X-calibur Tournament to reach the semifinals, which will be held on Saturday.</p><p>&#8220;It feels like my freshman year again cuz my sophomore and junior years weren&#8217;t that good,&#8221; the senior said.</p><p>Lagoski started his day in the round of 16 by winning via major decision over the 160-pound No. 2 seed Anthony DiNallo from New York&#8217;s Shenendehowa H.S.</p><p>&#8220;He was strong, I just kinda used my speed against him,&#8221; Lagoski said. &#8220;I was keeping it at my match, doing the things that I do best.</p><p>&#8220;I just try to go out and wrestle, I don&#8217;t care who I have.&#8221;</p><p>After reaching the quarters, Lagoski then topped No. 7 seed Paul Pinto from Stroudsburg in dominating fashion, 10-3 to advance to the final four of his bracket. In the quarter, Lagoski took a 6-1 lead after the first period with the help of two takedowns and two back points. He added two more for nearfall in the second period and got his final points on a third-period reversal.</p><p>After not wrestling at last season&#8217;s event, Lagoski is focused on the task at hand this time around. And he&#8217;s not letting the fact of not being seeded bother him.</p><p>&#8220;Just wrestle like I did (Friday), hopefully I win and make it to the finals,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If not, wrestleback for third.&#8221;</p><p>Lagoski is the lone Wyoming Valley Conference wrestler of the four teams from the conference to reach the semifinals, which will begin after a round of consolations when wrestling begins at 9:30 a.m. Following the semis, the finals are slated for approximately 3:30 p.m. at Wilkes University&#8217;s Marts Center.</p><p>But there are plenty of other grapplers from area schools heading to the consolations.</p><p>Wyoming Seminary, the host for the event, advanced 12 to the semis, including No. 2 seed at 120 pounds Jack Davis from the Hanover area. And Mike Doggett, a Blue Knight freshman from the Back Mountain, pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament defeating the No. 1 seed in the 170-pound bracket winning in dominating fashion, 10-1.</p><p>Doggett&#8217;s win over Jake Duggan from St. Francis was the only contested victory over a No. 1 seed on the first day of action. Doggett&#8217;s teammate Patrick Munn at 138 pounds had to forfeit out of the event after winning via tech fall in the first round.</p><p>&#8220;We knew that weight (170) was going to be very competitive and that there are no super standouts in it and I thought he wrestled very well,&#8221; Sem coach Scott Green said about his freshman. &#8220;He&#8217;s very technical. He&#8217;s strong kid, giving up a little bit of weight, but we&#8217;re pleased with his progress.&#8221;</p><p>Those two Blue Knights are joined in the semis by 10 others, Justin Hoyle (106), Tyler Vince (106), Benny Baker (113), Jake Riegel (126), Trent Olson (132), Jake Hendricks (145), Andrew Munn (152), Will Verallis (160), Christian Dietrich (195) and Will Hilliard (220). All these semifinalists despite missing a handful of wrestlers due to several different reasons.</p><p>&#8220;This is a good event, it&#8217;s growing. It&#8217;s not quite where we want it to be competition level wise, but it&#8217;s good for our guys to kida feast a little bit,&#8221; Green said.</p><p>From Benton, which is in a cooperative program with Northwest, four wrestlers advanced to this morning&#8217;s semifinals with Joe Klock (106), Alan Diltz (113), Mike Stuart (138) and Dylan Womelsdorf at 285.</p><p>Scranton, the defending District 2 Class 3A duals champion, and advanced three wrestlers in the semifinals paced by Josh Rivera (113), Will Evanitsky (120) and Andrew Burgette (170).</p><p>There are a total of nine wrestlers from the WVC remaining in the consolation round looking to secure a medal with a win in the round on Saturday morning. Those wrestlers include five from Lake-Lehman and two each from Pittston Area and Wyoming Valley West.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Tyler Vince flips Nick Onea of Pottsville over his shoulder during the 106-pound second round match in Friday&#8217;s X-calibur Wrestling Tournament at Wilkes University. Vince reached the semifinals later in the day. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_xcalibur01.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Tyler Vince flips Nick Onea of Pottsville over his shoulder during the 106-pound second round match in Friday&#8217;s X-calibur Wrestling Tournament at Wilkes University. Vince reached the semifinals later in the day. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_xcalibur02.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Cole Rhone of Benton, top, battles Ethan Samuel of West Chester East in the 120-pound second-round match during Friday&#8217;s X-calibur Wrestling Tournament at Wilkes University. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_xcalibur02.jpg</photo1><caption1>Cole Rhone of Benton, top, battles Ethan Samuel of West Chester East in the 120-pound second-round match during Friday&#8217;s X-calibur Wrestling Tournament at Wilkes University. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dave Rosengrant</p><p>drosengrant@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Dave Rosengrant at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @tldrosengrant</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Valley West’s Jon Lagoski reaches X-calibur semis; 12 from host Sem advance to semis