web1_suess1-1-.jpg

Bookstore marks Dr. Seuss birthday with story-telling time

web1_basketball-1-1-.jpeg

D2 basketball: Scranton Prep boys wear out Wyoming Area

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; He just escaped the grasp of Hanover Area&#8217;s JJ Hooper. Looking to the sky, Justin Joseph let out a primal scream that was probably heard all the way back in West Pittston.</p><p>Yes, the Wyoming Area senior fulfilled the promise he made to himself and his late grandmother.</p><p>Joseph was one of five champs from the Wyoming Valley Conference Saturday at the District 2 Class 2A tournament held at the Kingston Armory. Berwick&#8217;s Nick Yule and WA&#8217;s Corey Mruk defended their title, while Joseph, Hanover Area&#8217;s DJ Erickson and Lake-Lehman&#8217;s Kaleb Konigus earned their first district golds.</p><p>Honesdale won the team title with 225 points, while Lehman finished second with 186 points. Western Wayne (163), Scranton Prep (136.5) and Wyoming Area (123) rounded out the top 5.</p><p>&#8220;All I wanted when I started this sport as a freshman was to win districts once,&#8221; Joseph said. &#8220;I told my grandma who passed away that I wanted this so much, and she told me that I had it. I&#8217;m a nervous person, so I always thought it wasn&#8217;t going to happen. But she kept telling me that I was going to win. I guess I didn&#8217;t have to worry.&#8221;</p><p>Hooper and Joseph certainly weren&#8217;t strangers to each other. As a matter of fact, the duo had already squared off three times in 2017-2018 with Joseph winning all three bouts, each one closer than the last.</p><p>That&#8217;s why it came as no surprise each one could only garner an escape in regulation, sending the match to overtime. Again, it was knotted at 3-3 &#8211; forcing a 30-second ride-out spot.</p><p>Joseph chose down. Hooper tried to lock in a cradle to keep the Warrior pinned to the mat. And the WA senior slipped right out seven seconds into the ultimate tie-breaker.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m really short and I sweat a lot,&#8221; Joseph said. &#8220;I&#8217;m always wrestling tall kids, and they always look for that cradle. As soon as they lock it in, I shrug it off. It&#8217;s worked so far, so I was hoping it would work one more time. It was go big or go home.&#8221;</p><p>And the first one to greet Joseph on the mat after his victory was Mruk, a sophomore who just won his second district gold.</p><p>Mruk, who kind of flew under the radar last season, put together a dominating tournament with two falls, one major decision and a solid, 7-2 victory over Scranton Prep&#8217;s Alec Buttner, who entered the finals match with a record of 18-1.</p><p>&#8220;I think this tournament was harder for me this year,&#8221; Mruk said. &#8220;Last year, a lot of people didn&#8217;t know who I was. I was just another freshman. But this year, there was a target on me. It was more pressure, but that&#8217;s OK. It&#8217;s nice that people knew who I was this year.&#8221;</p><p>Konigus was in a tight bout in his championship with Valley View sophomore John Shnipes. Each recorded an escape, but the difference turned out to be a penalty point award to Konigus because of an illegal hold by the Cougar as the Lehman senior won 2-1.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s my wrestling style. I&#8217;m a hand fighter, and I&#8217;ll go all three periods and overtime. I feel confident that I can win because I&#8217;m in good shape,&#8221; Konigus said. &#8220;As long as you get the win, that&#8217;s all that matters. It doesn&#8217;t matter if it&#8217;s by one point or a pin.&#8221;</p><p>Two who didn&#8217;t surprise were Yule and Erickson.</p><p>Both regional qualifiers in 2016-2017, the duo put on stellar performances to punch their tickets to Williamsport.</p><p>Yule, who won 106 as a freshman, had no problems with the bump-up in weight to 113. The Berwick junior pinned Honesdale&#8217;s Pete West in the semifinals, and earned a rematch with Hanover Area&#8217;s Joe Rowley. Yule built a 3-1 lead, and allowed a late escape for the 3-2 victory.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s pretty special to win a second one, for sure,&#8221; Yule said.</p><p>Erickson&#8217;s tournament was dominating.</p><p>The Hanover Area junior, after recording a second-period fall in the quarterfinals, continuing his pinning ways Saturday. After sticking Lehman&#8217;s Jake Trumbower in the semifinals, Erickson built a lead and locked up Blue Ridge&#8217;s Adam Roe for a fall in 3:40.</p><p>Erickson, a fourth-place regional finisher and state qualifier one season ago, needs one more victory for his 30th win of his junior campaign.</p><p>&#8220;I felt pretty good this weekend, but I know that I can make improvements,&#8221; Erickson said. &#8220;I wasn&#8217;t as aggressive as I normally am. I should have shot more. For me, the district title feels great, but it&#8217;s another step for me in the postseason. It provides me more momentum going into regionals.&#8221;</p><p>Lehman will send eight to Williamsport &#8212; Zach Stuart (120), Bob Long (126), Garrett Kolb (132), Hunter Burke (138), Jake Trumbower (145), Nick Zaboski (152), TJ Meehan (195) and Konigus (285).</p><p>Wyoming Area&#8217;s Jaryn Polit-Moran and Damon Barhight will round out the four Warriors at regionals, while Hanover sends three &#8212; Erickson, Hooper and Rowley. Meyers&#8217; Jason Carver rounds out the WVC group heading to the Magic Dome.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_d2_AAfinals1_faa-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hanover Area&#8217;s D.J. Erickson puts Blue Ridge&#8217;s Adam Roe on his back during the 145-pound District 2 Class 2A final Saturday at the Kingston Armory. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_d2_AAfinals1_faa-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hanover Area&#8217;s D.J. Erickson puts Blue Ridge&#8217;s Adam Roe on his back during the 145-pound District 2 Class 2A final Saturday at the Kingston Armory. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader  </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_d2_AAfinal2_faa-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Area&#8217;s Corey Mruk takes down Scranton Prep&#8217;s Alec Buttner in the District 2 Class 2A 160-pound final to seal the win on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_d2_AAfinal2_faa-3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wyoming Area&#8217;s Corey Mruk takes down Scranton Prep&#8217;s Alec Buttner in the District 2 Class 2A 160-pound final to seal the win on Saturday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | For Times Leader  </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_d2_AAfinals3_faa-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Area&#8217;s Justin Joseph celebrates his overtime win over Hanover Area&#8217;s J.J. Hooper during the 182-pound final in the District 2 Class 2A Wrestling Championships at the Kingston Armory. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_d2_AAfinals3_faa-3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Wyoming Area&#8217;s Justin Joseph celebrates his overtime win over Hanover Area&#8217;s J.J. Hooper during the 182-pound final in the District 2 Class 2A Wrestling Championships at the Kingston Armory. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | For Times Leader  </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Fox</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta></shirttailMeta></div>

D2 wrestling: WVC crowns five champs in 2A; 17 advance to regionals