The Lehigh Valley flexed their muscle in Hershey this weekend as both the AA and AAA final featured District 11 rematches in the title bout. Bethlehem Catholic took down Nazareth for the third time this year in the AAA final. On the AA side Saucon Valley pulled a huge upset defeating Notre Dame-Green Pond. Notre Dame defeated Saucon Valley in the league match 35-15 and 50-5 in the District 11 final.

AA

Coming into the championships you couldn’t be sure what you were going to see from Saucon Valley. They have battled numerous injuries throughout the season and didn’t even have a full roster available on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers weren’t exactly 100%, but they were very close. 

Ryan Crookham(SV) made his debut for Saucon Valley on Monday in the wrestle-in match against Canton. Crookham performed like the two-time PIAA Champion he is. He created a 10 point swing from the dual win Notre Dame had in January as Crookham picked up a major decision over Bryson Vaughn in the opening match at 138lbs.

At 172lbs Jacob Jones(SV) turned a 3-2 decision in the January dual into a fall. If you’re from Pennsylvania, you know the home run hitting capability of Jones. After picking up two turns in the second period to take a 6-3 lead I thought Jones should take top in the third. He and the Saucon Valley staff quieted my criticism by escaping and taking Garrett Tettemer(NDGP) directly to his back from his first takedown of the match. Jones secured the fall at 4:39.

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

Tyler Pfizenmayer(SV) created the next big swing in the Panthers favor as he turned a decision loss from January into a 3-0 decision in his favor, defeating Jared Blobe(NDGP) at 215lbs.

Notre Dame coach Matt Veres identified bonus points at 120-132lbs as a key when I talked to him before the dual. In the January dual Notre Dame picked up 16 points at the three weights with two falls and a major decision. Freshmen Jackson Albert(SV) and Hector Mateo(SV) had different plans for the outcome in Hershey. Notre Dame needed 14 points in the final three weights as they trailed by 13 and Saucon Valley held criteria with seven bout wins. 

Albert really put the pressure on as he was able to hold Adam Schweitzer(NDGP) to an 8-4 decision. This was a huge momentum builder as Schweitzer had pinned Albert twice this season. It was a hard fought match with Schweitzer putting a punishing ride on Albert looking to lock up a pinning combination. Albert fought throughout and brought the Panther crow into the dual. 

Mateo had twice been majored by Jacob Wehr(NDGP) this season. They traded takedowns and Mateo fed off the crowd’s energy as he waved them to their feet between periods. A lateral drop at the end of the second period virtually iced the dual as Wehr needed a technical fall or a fall for Notre Dame to have a chance in the final bout. Mateo held on for the 10-5 victory and made the improbable reality for the Panthers. 

Saucon Valley came out a little flat on Thursday against a tough Quaker Valley team. A come from behind fall for Connor Nicholas(SV) secured the dual for the Panthers as it looked liked it would be a tied dual going into the final match. Cael Markle(SV) also had a huge pin when he was in the process of losing by major decision. Markle hit a flying cement job to secure the fall with just 55 seconds remaining in the bout.

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

Chestnut Ridge and Boiling Springs rounded out the medal podium as Chestnut Ridge took the third place match 38-17.

Saucon Valley 29    Notre Dame-Green Pond 22

138 - Ryan Crookham (SV) maj. dec. Bryson Vaughn(NDGP), 11-1 (4-0)

145 - Evan Maag(NDGP) dec. Cael Markle (SV), 5-0 (4-3)

152 - Liam Scrivanich (SV) dec. Keegan Ramsay(NDGP), 5-2 (7-3)

160 - Holden Garcia(NDGP) pinned Mason Beckowski(SV), 2:41 (7-9)

172 - Jacob Jones (SV) pinned Garrett Tettemer(NDGP), 4:39 (13-9)

189 - Ty Csencsits (SV) dec. Joseph Lapenna(NDGP), 5-2 (16-9)

215 - Tyler Pfizenmayer (SV) dec. Jared Blobe(NDGP), 3-0 (19-9)

285 - Dante Mahaffey(SV) dec. Mason Ludlow(NDGP), 7-3 (22-9)

106 - Ayden Smith(NDGP) maj. dec. Cole Hubert(SV), 8-0 (22-13)

113 - Aiden Grogg(SV) maj. dec. Cooper Feltman(NDGP), 13-2 (26-13)

120 - Adam Schweitzer(NDGP) dec. Jackson Albert(SV), 8-4 (26-16)

126 - Hector Mateo(SV) dec. Jacob Wehr(NDGP), 10-5 (29-16)

132 - Brandan Chletsos(NDGP) won by forfeit (29-22)

AAA

Bethlehem Catholic or Nazareth has made every final since 2016 with the exception of last season. They even squared off against each other in the 2017 final. Bethlehem Catholic ran through the WPIAL knocking off Canon-McMillan, Connellsville, and Greater Latrobe. On the other half Nazareth finished off the WPIAL with a 38-17 win over 2021 champion Waynesburg.

Just like the AA side Bethlehem Catholic and Nazareth met twice prior to Saturday’s championship match. Bethlehem Catholic took both of those duals (30-24 and 32-22). Both sides were able to flip some individual bout results, but it was a third victory for Bethlehem Catholic 34-22. Nazareth wasn’t without chances. They wrestled really well, but Coach Crowell put it best “you’ve got to win the close ones.”

Nicholas Foster (NAZ) first swung the momentum in favor of the Blue Eagles avenging a decision loss to Charlie Scanlan (BECA) with a 3-1 victory at 145lbs. 

Landon Muth (BECA) won a rubber match over Dominic Wheatley (NAZ) 6-4 in sudden victory at 160lbs. This match was a strange match with a misapplied rule and a whistle from an adjacent mat that stopped both wrestlers. The official on the mat failed to stop the action when both guys quit wrestling and allowed Muth to score the tying escape before letting the wrestlers know it wasn’t his whistle. 

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

Nathan Desmond (BECA) is ranked second in the country at 106lbs. He bumped up to take on seventh ranked Tahir Parkins (NAZ) at 113lbs. The Golden Hawks made this same move in the District 11 final with Parkins coming out with a 6-5 decision. Both wrestlers were able to get away during regulation. However, both rode for 30 seconds in tiebreaker one and two. Desmond had choice from the second period escape and chose the bottom position. He stuffed Parkins and almost secured a nearfall count in tiebreaker one. He proved bottom to be the correct choice as he scored a reversal to knock off Parkins a weight class up from where he normally competes.

I highlighted 120lbs and 126lbs as matches that Nazareth had lost in both duals this season, but they held the career advantage at 120lbs and going into saturday 126lbs had an even 5-5 split over their high school career. Charlie Bunting (NAZ) was able to get back in the win column against Cael McIntyre (BECA) with a 3-2 decision. However, Dante Frinzi (BECA) shut the door on any final bout suspense as he defeated Braxton Apello-Fries (NAZ) 4-3 to ice the dual. 

2021 PIAA Champions Waynesburg defeated Williamsport for the third place medals.

Bethlehem Catholic 34    Nazareth 22

138 - Tyler Kasak (BECA) pinned Ayden Rader(NAZ), 1:59 (6-0)

145 - Nicholas Foster(NAZ) dec. Charlie Scanlan(BECA), 3-1 (6-3)

152 - Andrew Harmon(BECA) maj. dec. Vinny Hebel(NAZ), 10-1 (10-3)

160 - Landon Muth(BECA) dec. Dominic Wheatley(NAZ), 6-4 SV (13-3)

172 - Luke Thomas(BECA) dec. Ryan Fairchild(NAZ), 6-2 (16-3)

189 - Chase Levey(NAZ) maj. dec. James Deluise(BECA), 17-6 (16-7)

215 - Sonny Sasso(NAZ) pinned Jacob Lance(BECA), 0:57 (16-13)

285 - Sean Kinney(NAZ) pinned Elijah Thompson(BECA), 0:41 (16-19)

106 - Shane McFillin(BECA) pinned Dominic Rizzotto(NAZ), 0:50 (22-19)

113 - Nathan Desmond(BECA) dec. Tahir Parkins(NAZ), 3-1 UTB (25-19)

120 - Charlie Bunting(NAZ) dec. Cael McIntyre(BECA), 3-2 (25-22)

126 - Dante Frinzi(BECA) dec. Braxton Appello-Fries(NAZ), 4-3 (28-22)

132 - Kollin Rath(BECA) pinned Jake Doone(NAZ), 2:58 (34-22)

The PIAA Individual qualification tournaments get underway this week. The PIAA Individual State Championships are back live on FloWrestling March 10-12. March sure to checkout the event hub the week of the tournament for preview content prior to the first whistle Thursday morning.