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PIAA wrestling preview: A look at all 11 WVC entrants in Hershey

Long lines frustrate Houston voters in black neighborhoods

HERSHEY &mdash; About a year-and-a-half ago, Cael Sanderson instructed a clinic held at Wyoming Valley West.
				Before the Penn State wrestling coach showed moves, he yelled to the students &ldquo;Bonomo&rsquo;s son, get out here.&rdquo;
				At that point, Josh Bonomo, son of Rocky Bonomo &mdash; a famous wrestling aficionado in the area for many years &mdash; stepped forward to work out with the iconic Sanderson.
				That is one of many perks of being the son of one of the only brothers in District 2 history to win state titles, while also being a successful Division I wrestling coach and being a multiple-time All-American on the Division I level.
				&ldquo;It makes me proud. I love hearing that,&rdquo; Josh said when asked about his father&rsquo;s legacy. &ldquo;It makes me feel pretty good because he was obviously a great wrestler and it makes me proud that he&rsquo;s my dad.&rdquo;
				But this weekend at Giant Center, Josh Bonomo is looking to make a name for himself in the state along with 10 other Wyoming Valley Conference wrestlers at the PIAA Championships.
				&ldquo;I just feel like I&rsquo;m wrestling for my own reputation and my own legacy,&rdquo; the Black Knight junior said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel like there&rsquo;s any passing of the torch. I&rsquo;m just excited to go down there.
				&ldquo;Everyone&rsquo;s goal is to win it. Going in unseeded, I have a pigtail the first match. I&rsquo;m just going there to upset some kids, turn a few heads. I like to attract the attention of the crowd, that&rsquo;s fun.&rdquo;
				The Lake-Lehman 145-pounder is joined by teammate Zach Stuart (138 pounds), the Tunkhannock duo of Dave Evans (126) and Gavin D&rsquo;Amato (145) and Wyoming Area&rsquo;s Jaden Pepe (106) in the Class 2A tournament.
				Participating from the WVC in the Class 3A Tournament are all newcomers to the tournament in Wyoming Valley West&rsquo;s Cadden Kucek (120), Dallas&rsquo; Taylor Bolesta (285) and the fearsome foursome from Hazleton Area &mdash; Charles Everdale (152), Bryce Molinaro (160), Jake Marnell (182) and Seth Hunsinger (195). All 11 will be trying to become the first state champion from the conference since 2007 when Nate Eachus and Scott Davis left Hershey with gold medals.
				While Rocky Bonomo has been around the sport for most of his life and is now 56, Josh Bonomo didn&rsquo;t start wrestling until five years ago. And when he secured a trip to the state tournament by winning 6-5 over Line Mountain&rsquo;s Bryce Carl in the blood round of last weekend&rsquo;s Northeast Regional, there wasn&rsquo;t anyone happier than his dad, who was a nervous wreck the entirety of the state-qualifying match. Even though he showed an emotional side, Lehman coach Jay Konigus said Rocky can still can beat anyone in the school&rsquo;s wrestling room during practices.
				&ldquo;Having two Bonomos in the room is pretty funny. Rock&rsquo;s tough. He still moves like he&rsquo;s a 20 year-old. He has a massive grip. Josh can&rsquo;t handle him,&rdquo; Konigus said. &ldquo;The Bonomos are impressive athletes. Rock&rsquo;s a student of the game. He teaches me a lot. I learn a lot from him and he&rsquo;s a great guy to have in there teaching things. He&rsquo;s got a lot to bring. We&rsquo;re lucky to have him in the room.&rdquo;
				A RETURN TRIP
				The only two returning state qualifiers from the WVC are Evans and D&rsquo;Amato. Evans will be in the event for the third straight year with the last two being in Class 2A.
				There were only three returning state qualifiers from this conference this season. But next season, there will be five since there are five underclassmen from the conference participating this weekend with Bonomo, Stuart and Hunsinger being juniors, Molinaro a sophomore and Pepe a freshman.
				GOING STREAKING
				When Dallas&rsquo; Taylor Bolesta qualified for states last week, he made it seven straight years that Dallas has produced a state qualifier. That stretch is tied with Hazleton Area for the longest current streak in the WVC. Tunkhannock is next highest with five straight seasons.
				The longest stretch of at least one state qualifier each year in WVC history goes to Meyers when it produced a state participant 11 straight years from 1994 to 2004.
				Hanover Area will not appear in the PIAA Championships for the first time since 2015, ending a run of four straight years.
				When Pepe qualified, he became the first state qualifier for Wyoming Area since 2015.
				The longest current stretch in the WVC of not having a state qualifier goes to Nanticoke Area, which has been in a drought since Jason Mitkowski won state gold in 2003.
				PEPE&rsquo;S QUEST
				When Wyoming Area freshman Jaden Pepe qualified for the PIAA Championships, he made history by becoming the first freshman in school history to reach states. Now, the 106-pounder has a chance at a little more history.
				There have been several ninth graders to advance to the state tournament in recent years from the WVC. But the last one to medal at the state tournament was Wyoming Valley West&rsquo;s John Brennan in 1976. In fact, it&rsquo;s only been done a total of three times for programs from the WVC.
				The two most recent to do it from District 2 were from the Lackawanna League in Abington Heights&rsquo; Evan Craig (Class 3A, 2007) and Valley View&rsquo;s Kyle Davis (Class 2A, 2002).
				PREP&rsquo;S PRESENCE
				Antonio D&rsquo;Apollonio qualified for the PIAA Class 2A Championships for Scranton Prep last weekend, becoming the first qualifier for the school since the Balavage brothers, Thor and Ivan, combined for four straight appearances ending in 2018. The Balavages, from Avoca, are currently wrestling for Newman University in Wichita, Kansas.
				D&rsquo;Apollonio, from Laflin, finished second at 132 in the District 2 Tournament and followed that with a fourth-place showing at regionals to advance to states for the first time.

PIAA wrestling preview: Lake-Lehman’s Josh Bonomo seeking to carve out his own legacy