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Individual D2-2A Wrestling Championships preview: Lake-Lehman looking for strong showing

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<p>Thousands of wrestlers have put on a singlet and participated in the District 2 Individual Championships over the last 83 years. Only 28 have ever accomplished four district titles.</p><p>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s David Krokowski is trying to become the 29th this weekend in the 126-pound bracket of the District 2 Class 3A tournament.</p><p>Having already accomplished many things over his career being the only four-time Wyoming Valley Conference champion and entering with 135 career wins, Krokowski could do something nobody from the historic Spartans program has been able to do since 2001. While Valley West has three four-time district champs &#8211; the second-most in the entire district to Meyers&#8217; four &#8211; the last wrestler from the Spartans to accomplish the feat was Brandon Romanowski, who completed his feat in 2001.</p><p>More history could be on the way for Valley West in years to come. The Spartans have some of the best lower weights in the whole district.</p><p>Junior J.J. White just picked up career win No. 100 last week and did so without losing to a district opponent. The 132-pounder is looking for his third district title this weekend. Freshman Ian Ratchford is seeded second at 106 pounds and his 32 wins this season are the most in the bracket. Fellow freshman Zander Remakus is at 113 pounds and joins Ratchford as a qualifier in last year&#8217;s PJW Tournament. Cadden Kucek, a junior 120-pounder, is seeded second in his bracket and placed third in the district last year.</p><p><strong>Defending their titles</strong></p><p>If Krokowski is going to make it four straight district titles, he&#8217;s going to have to earn it without a doubt. Seeded second in the 126-pound bracket is Berwick&#8217;s Nick Yule, a two-time district champion the last two years in Class 2A. Yule is one of four athletes in the 3A tourney who are looking for three district titles.</p><p>In addition to White, Dallas&#8217; Steven Newell (182 pounds) and Hazleton Area&#8217;s Shane Noonan (220) are also trying for their third district titles. If Newell is going to win his third, he will likely have to do it against West Scranton&#8217;s Jeremy Seymour, who is a returning district titlist and state qualifier and seeded second in the bracket. Scranton&#8217;s Jeremiah Oakes (152) and Dallas&#8217; Shawn Henniger (285) are also looking to repeat the feat.</p><p>Not a defending district champion, but a two-time state qualifier is Wallenpaupack&#8217;s Tyler Neglia, who has taken second the previous two years losing to Noonan both times.</p><p><strong>A Cougars sweep?</strong></p><p>Earlier this month, Hazleton Area claimed its record seventh district duals title by knocking off Delaware Valley in the final. The previous five times that the Cougars won the duals tournament they ended up winning the team championship as well.</p><p>That will be easier said than done this weekend. Sure, Hazleton Area has the best dual team in the district, but an individual tournament can be a different beast at times. The Cougars enter with just one top seed and three second seeds meaning they will have to pull off upsets if they&#8217;re going to claim the team title.</p><p>Dallas, which finished in this tournament last year, enters three top seeds for the most in the tourney. The Mountaineers also have 13 entries to the Cougars&#8217; 12. Last year&#8217;s Class 2A team champion, Honesdale is now in 3A and has a full lineup. Nanticoke Area and Wallenpaupack also have full lineups. Top team contenders Abington Heights and West Scranton are just one athlete short of having every weight filled and will also be in the running for the team championship.</p><p><strong>A Crusade to the end</strong></p><p>The historic Coughlin program is participating in its last district tournament and has 12 wrestlers entered trying to battle for the highest finish. The team&#8217;s lone top seed in freshman 106-pounder Cooper Price, who currently is the last to win a tournament for the team claiming the WVC Tournament title. Fellow ninth-grader Jayden Pahler (120) has 23 wins this win for the Crusaders to be another top contender for the team to win a district title. Meanwhile, juniors Nino Cinti (126), Jamie Pahler (138) and Connor Lee (220) all have winning records and are seeded in the top four in their respective brackets. Cinti also has a tournament win this season victorious at the Tunkhannock Holiday Classic.</p><p>Seniors Tino Morrow (113), Tanner Smith (160) and Joe Davis (195) have all had big wins at times this season.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s David Krokowski, top, is looking to become just the 29th District 2 wrestler to win four district titles this weekend at the District 2 Class 3A wrestling championships. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_wvc_finals1_faa-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s David Krokowski, top, is looking to become just the 29th District 2 wrestler to win four district titles this weekend at the District 2 Class 3A wrestling championships. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dave Rosengrant</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>UP NEXT</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> District 2 Wrestling Championships</p><p><strong>When:</strong> Friday and Saturday at Hazleton Area High School</p><p><strong>At stake:</strong> The top three finishers in Class 2A advance to next weekend&#8217;s Northeast Regional Tournament at Williamsport H.S. The top four placewinners in Class 3A move on to the regional tournament at Bethlehem&#8217;s Liberty High School.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Individual D2-3A Wrestling Championships preview: WVW’s David Krokowski looking to join elite company