District 2 Girls Basketball: Felix free throws lift Williamsport over Wilkes-Barre in girls basketball

Doncic, Mavericks notch another road win, 122-106 at Magic

HAZLE TWP. &#8211; It&rsquo;s a rare occurrence for an unseeded wrestler to reach the semifinals of a tournament.
				So the extraordinary feat happening three times in the same tournament is downright unheard of.
				But it happened on Friday in the District 2 Class 3A Tournament. Even more rare is that two of them came from the same team.
				Crestwood&rsquo;s Jordan Miale and Alex Romanoski, and Wilkes-Barre Area&rsquo;s Noah Taylor all reached the tournament semifinals on Friday at Hazleton Area High School after not even being seeded in their respective brackets.
				Miale finished second in the tournament as a freshman in 2017 and appeared to be headed for stardom.
				Injuries and sickness plagued the 132-pounder so much over the last three seasons that he wrestled in 36 bouts as a freshman and just 36 total the next three seasons prior to Friday.
				All that didn&rsquo;t matter to the Crestwood senior as he pulled off a pair of upsets on Friday to advance to today&rsquo;s semifinals.
				&ldquo;If you look at it just by watching the wrestling, you obviously don&rsquo;t see all the behind the scenes and injuries &#8230; Coming back from injuries is (tough),&rdquo; Miale said. &ldquo;It feels good (to return to the semifinals). I expected those matches to be tough because I haven&rsquo;t wrestled all year. It gets my confidence back up after winning these two to come in here tomorrow and give it my all.&rdquo;
				Finally healthy after wrestling in just five matches this season, Miale knocked off sixth-seeded Ben Yanchick from Dallas in the round of 16 before sending No. 3 seed Beck Hutchison from Hazleton Area into the consolations with a win in the quarters. Miale defeated Yanchick by major decision prior to beating the Cougar 10-5.
				&ldquo;Obviously, I want to win, but with injuries I just want to do my best, and I&rsquo;ll feel good as long as I know I gave it my all,&rdquo; said Miale, who has three district medals on his resume with fourth- and third-place finishes the last two years.
				Miale will look for another upset in the semis when he faces Wilkes-Barre Area&rsquo;s Nino Cinti, the No. 2 seed, when the tournament resumes at 10 a.m.
				Romanoski, a first-year wrestler and football player, won twice on Friday and was unseeded in the 182-pound bracket. He defeated the No. 6 and 3 seeds in consecutive rounds, beating Delaware Valley&rsquo;s Matt Daub, the third seed by major decision to reach the semis where he meets No. 2 seed Tim Dailey from Honesdale. Romanoski, a junior, started off the season rough, but has now won five of his last seven matches.
				&ldquo;It&rsquo;s crazy to think that this is my first year and I&rsquo;m already in the semifinals. I have to give credit to my coach (Darren Testa) who has been helping me all year and my teammates,&rdquo; said Romanoski, who has a losing record this season now at 12-18. &ldquo;My expectations were to win at least one match. I exceeded my expectations by a lot.
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just so stoked. I thought it was gonna take me until at least next year to get here. But I&rsquo;m very happy to be where I am.&rdquo;
				Taylor, a junior unseeded at heavyweight, knocked off the fifth and fourth seeds to advance to the semis. Taylor, also a first-year wrestler and football player, won both of his matches by decision to reach the semis, where he will now meet top-seed Taylor Bolesta from Dallas.
				Hazleton Area&rsquo;s Oscar Zamudio also pulled off an upset for the Wyoming Valley Conference at 120 pounds. Zamudio, who has pulled off big wins forthe Cougars all season, entered the tournament with a .500 record and the No. 6 seed in the bracket. He turned in a pin in 5:25 over Delaware Valley&rsquo;s Travis Norman, the No. 3 seed, to reach the semis after pinning Pittston Area&rsquo;s Jake Granahan in the first round in 58 seconds.
				That win has also helped his team get big points in the team standings. The Cougars are currently in second place with 93 points, 28 behind first-place Delaware Valley, which has 10 semifinalists to the Cougars&rsquo; seven.

District 2 Class 3A Wrestling: Plenty of surprises in first day of competition