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Noah Rakowski leads Hanover Area wrestling to District 2 finals

Lehman reaches final, knocks out Western Wayne

<p>L.J. Wesneski had other choices.</p><p>But when Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s premier pass-catching tight end ran a route to the University at Albany, the atmosphere snagged him.</p><p>&#8220;I was up there about four times,&#8221; Wesneski said. &#8220;It just had that &#8216;home&#8217; feeling. That was one of the things I wanted to look for.&#8221;</p><p>Wesneski joined a handful of Wyoming Valley athletes who picked national letter of intent day to announce they&#8217;ve found new homes at Division I colleges.</p><p>Wyoming Seminary field hockey standout Sarah Denion became the first player from the Blue Knights program to sign a national letter-of-intent with Big East-bound Quinnipiac on Wednesday, while Sem football player Dmitry Smith picked Lafayette College and his Blue Knights teammate Tomas Wright picked Bryant University.</p><p>Coughlin girls soccer standout Mary Tona plans to sign a letter-of-intent with St. Bonaventure Thursday.</p><p>&#8220;St. Bonaventure is a smaller school. It&#8217;s a really family-oriented team. That&#8217;s what I was looking for,&#8221; said Tona, also a District 2 champion in track and field. &#8220;When I met the team, I thought all the girls were very nice, and nice to each other, which I thought was important.&#8221;</p><p>Denion became an important part of a relatively young Sem field hockey team that won the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 4 and advanced to the District 2 Class 2A semifinals this past season. She&#8217;ll head to a Quinnipiac squad that will play its first season in the Big East in the fall.</p><p>&#8220;Actually, I&#8217;m the first one from (Seminary) to play field hockey at Quinnipiac, which is really cool,&#8221; Denion, from Mountain Top, said. &#8220;When I went out to take a visit and went to a game, there wasn&#8217;t anything I didn&#8217;t like about it. It was incredible.&#8221;</p><p>Wesneski proved to be one of the most head-turning weapons on a Spartans football team that went unbeaten while winning the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 4A and played for its first District 2/4/11 championship.</p><p>The 6-foot-4 tight end hauled in 78 passes for 1,346 yards and 23 touchdowns throughout his career, including 37 catches for 498 yards and nine scores during his senior season.</p><p>&#8220;My size definitely helped, being able to create mismatches,&#8221; said Wesneski, from Forty Fort, who was also recruited by Division I schools including Colgate, William and Mary, Maine and Villanova. &#8220;It seemed catching (passes) came a lot more natural.&#8221;</p><p>But it was his versatility that really took him over the top with the Spartans.</p><p>&#8220;He lined up in the traditional tight end spot, on the perimeter, out on the wing, at fullback,&#8221; Valley West coach Pat Keating said. &#8220;He was so versatile. In my (eight) years here, we&#8217;ve had a lot of good tight ends. L.J. is definitely at the top of the list. You could flex him out, get size matchups on defensive backs, and he&#8217;s more athletic than linebackers. It was definitely an advantage, being able to use him for three years in so many different ways.&#8221;</p><p>Wesneski plans to make an immediate difference at Albany.</p><p>&#8220;Albany likes using a three tight end-set on the field,&#8221; Wesneski said. &#8220;Right now, they have two. It seems like when I get up there, depending how I do in camp and how quickly I can learn the plays, that I&#8217;d be able to jump right in.&#8221;</p><p>Denion jumpstarted Sem&#8217;s field hockey run to the postseason by switching to defense the past two seasons, after spending her younger years playing forward.</p><p>&#8220;She&#8217;s been a very steady player &#8212; not a flashy player,&#8221; Wyoming Seminary coach Karen Klassner said. &#8220;At first, she wasn&#8217;t really looking at Quinnipiac. She loved it when she went to visit. I&#8217;m excited, because we never had a player go there.&#8221;</p><p>During her career, Tona became consumed by soccer, to the point where she rarely took a day off from the sport. Even during track season, she continues to play soccer with travel teams.</p><p>&#8220;She&#8217;s been working really hard throughout her entire career,&#8221; Coughlin girls soccer coach Joe Spagnuolo said. &#8220;She works 365 days a year on her craft. And I think St. Bonaventure is happy to get her. She wanted to play at the highest level she could and get the education she wanted.&#8221;</p><p>Smith, a post-graduate student from Bradenton, Florida, played free safety at Sem. He was recruited by other Division I programs including Syracuse, Villanova, North Carolina, Michigan and Ohio State, but chose Lafayette for its reputation of a rigorous academic program.</p><p>Wright, of St. Augustine, Fla., is also a postgrad student at Sem who aspires to play defensive end for Bryant. He finished with 56 tackles and 10 sacks last season.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s L.J. Wesneski will continue his football career with the University at Albany, a Division I football program that competes in the CAA conference. Pictured: Front row, from left: Joshua Wesneski, brother; Lawrence Wesneski, father; L.J.; Barbara Wesneski, mother; Alexandria Wesneski, sister. Second row, from left, David Novrocki, principal; Sandy MacKay, athletic director; Patrick Keating, head coach; David Robbins, assistant principal; Christopher Barnic, assistant principal. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_WESNESKI.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s L.J. Wesneski will continue his football career with the University at Albany, a Division I football program that competes in the CAA conference. Pictured: Front row, from left: Joshua Wesneski, brother; Lawrence Wesneski, father; L.J.; Barbara Wesneski, mother; Alexandria Wesneski, sister. Second row, from left, David Novrocki, principal; Sandy MacKay, athletic director; Patrick Keating, head coach; David Robbins, assistant principal; Christopher Barnic, assistant principal. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_WyoSem_Denion_SignDay_16.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sarah Denion of Mountain Top, and senior at Wyoming Seminary, will continue her athletic career at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. in the fall. Pictured: seated from left: Jean Denion, mother; Sarah Denion, athlete; and Ernest Denion, father. Standing from left: Karen Klassner, Sem Director of Athletics and head field hockey coach; and Kevin Rea, Sem president. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_WyoSem_Denion_SignDay_16.jpg</photo1><caption1>Sarah Denion of Mountain Top, and senior at Wyoming Seminary, will continue her athletic career at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. in the fall. Pictured: seated from left: Jean Denion, mother; Sarah Denion, athlete; and Ernest Denion, father. Standing from left: Karen Klassner, Sem Director of Athletics and head field hockey coach; and Kevin Rea, Sem president. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_WOLFE.jpg">
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wyoming Valley Conference standouts heading to Division I colleges