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H.S. boys basketball: Ryan Gilgallon comes up big as Meyers tops Holy Redeemer

Wyoming Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament at a Glance

<p>LEHMAN TWP &#8212; The top seeds in every bracket walked away from the first day of the Wyoming Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament still at their respective posts.</p><p>The same can&#8217;t be said for Nos. 3 and 4 seeds though as four No. 3 seeds fell on Friday and three No. 4 seeds were ousted into the consolation bracket.</p><p>The weight that saw the wackiest scenarios play out was at 132-pounds when No. 3 seed Josh Brown was dealt a setback by Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Cory Yashinski, 2-1 just minutes after the tournament started in the preliminary round.</p><p>That opened the door for Crestwood&#8217;s Ron Grevera to make a run into the semis. After pinning Nanticoke&#8217;s Austin Cheslaw in the first round, Grevera went on to defeat Yashinski, 1-0 in the quarters to reach Saturday morning&#8217;s semifinals, which begin at 9:30 at Lake-Lehman High School. Grevera rode out Yashinski for the whole third period to advance.</p><p>&#8220;I just knew I could win. I had to ride him tough on top and knew I had to go a whole 2 minutes there to get the win,&#8221; Grevera said. &#8220;I think I had a better chance (when Brown lost), but I think can beat anyone in this bracket.&#8221;</p><p>Grevera, a sophomore has been in position before to make a run at titles, but after a pair of big wins, he&#8217;s feeling confident as he heads into a match with Wyoming Area&#8217;s Pat Heck, the bracket&#8217;s No. 2 seed, in a bout consisting of two grapplers who have never met. But Heck was runner-up last year after finishing in third the year before.</p><p>&#8220;I never wrestled him, but I&#8217;m looking forward to the match,&#8221; Grevera said. &#8220;I just have to stay on my offense, keep moving and create some angles.&#8221;</p><p>While that match could be one of several close semifinal matches, the closest race appears to be in the team standings where Tunkhannock holds a 103.5-92.5 edge over Hazleton Area. But the title is far from secured.</p><p>The Tigers and Cougars will only go head-to-head twice in the semifinals when Hazleton&#8217;s No. 1 seed Jake Maurer faces Tunkhannock&#8217;s Josh Beeman at 113, then again at 132 when the Tigers&#8217; top seed Dakota Quick and the Cougars&#8217; Anthony Martoccio go at it. They can also meet in the finals of four other weights if things go as planned for the teams.</p><p>What helps the Cougars is they have 10 semifinalists to the Tigers nine, and already won a pair of head-to-head clashes with their rival when Steve Longazel defeated Jarod Bernosky, 9-2 in the 182-pound quarters and Collin Gunsser knocked off Ricky Stevens 8-6 in the 220-pound quarters.</p><p>&#8220;We really can&#8217;t worry about what Hazleton is doing,&#8221; Tigers coach Bob Hegedty said. &#8220;We just gotta take care of our own matches. If they have 10 or 12 it doesn&#8217;t matter, we just have to do our jobs ourselves.&#8221;</p><p>The Tigers have an advantage because they pulled lucky draws all over the board wrestling in eight preliminary bouts with seven wins and six being by pins to get bonus points. Hazleton Area meanwhile, only wrestled in five prelims going 3-2.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s good for us,&#8221; Hegedty said about the preliminary round advantage. &#8220;They&#8217;re always nice to have in early matches when you can pick up pin points. It&#8217;s just where kids fall in the bracket and how the bracket is drawn out.&#8221;</p><p>In addition to Maurer, Longazel and Gunnser, the Cougars&#8217; semifinalists are Carlos Cruz (106), Anthony Martoccio (132), Jimmy Hoffman (138), Keith Lowery (145), Shane Noonan (152) and Carson Kinney (195).</p><p>Meyers is third in the team race with 79 points and equals the Tigers&#8217; nine semifinalists, while Lake-Lehman is fourth with 68 points and seven in the semis. Hanover Area rounds out the top five with 55 points and four semifinalists.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">David Gavek (left), of Tunkhannock, squares up against Tyler Shaud, of Crestwood, in the 106-pound quarterfinals of the Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament held at Lake-Lehman High School on Friday night. Gavek won the match 9-3 to reach Saturday morning&#8217;s semifinals. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL010916Wrestling1.jpg</photo0><caption0>David Gavek (left), of Tunkhannock, squares up against Tyler Shaud, of Crestwood, in the 106-pound quarterfinals of the Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament held at Lake-Lehman High School on Friday night. Gavek won the match 9-3 to reach Saturday morning&#8217;s semifinals. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL010916Wrestling2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jake Maurer, of Hazleton Area, latches onto Austin Schuler of Lake-Lehman in the 113-pound quarterfinals during the Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament at Lake-Lehman High School on Friday night. Maurer won by major decision 20-9 to advance to Saturday morning&#8217;s semifinals. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL010916Wrestling2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Jake Maurer, of Hazleton Area, latches onto Austin Schuler of Lake-Lehman in the 113-pound quarterfinals during the Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament at Lake-Lehman High School on Friday night. Maurer won by major decision 20-9 to advance to Saturday morning&#8217;s semifinals. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL010916Wrestling3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Travis Dent, of Berwick, puts a hold on Dallas&#8217; Kade Kravitz in the 113-pound quarterfinals of the Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament at Lake-Lehman High School on Friday night. Dent won via pin in overtime. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_TTL010916Wrestling3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Travis Dent, of Berwick, puts a hold on Dallas&#8217; Kade Kravitz in the 113-pound quarterfinals of the Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament at Lake-Lehman High School on Friday night. Dent won via pin in overtime. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Tunkhannock has slim lead over Cougars in team score</subheadMeta></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>

Top seeds make it through Day 1 of WVC Wrestling Tournament; Tunkhannock leads Hazleton Area in team race