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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2011
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THE TIMES LEADER
www.timesleader.com
W YO M I N G VA L L E Y C O N F E R E N C E W R E S T L I N G P R E V I E W
Easy matches few and far between
WVC shaping up to be competitive in both divisions By DAVE ROSENGRANT drosengrant@timesleader.com
When it comes to high school sports, it can be easy to look into the future and have a good idea of which team has the best chance of winning a division or district championship. That’s not the case for the 201112 Wyoming Valley Conference wrestling season. Many teams have a legitimate shot of walking away at the end of the season with a title in Division I or Division II, or glory in District 2’s Class 2A or 3A, as parity has been prevalent all over during the preseason. “Anybody will be able to beat anybody on any given night,” Coughlin coach Steve Stahl said. “There will be a lot of exciting bouts to see who’s going to come out, and who’s going to wrestle who, and see what’s going to happen.” Coughlin participates in Division I and Class 3A. Last year, a close loss to Pittston Area in the last dual of the regular season kept the Crusaders from being co-division champs with the Patriots and Crestwood. All three teams have many competitive wrestlers back from a year ago. Then factor in that Wyoming Valley West had four division losses last season -- with three being decided in the last bout. The Spartans lost just three seniors. And don’t forget about Berwick, which was 3-3 in D-I but really turned things up at the end of the season and has four returning regional qualifiers. “It always makes it more interesting when everyone’s in position to compete,” Berwick coach Ernie Yates said. “It’ll make it fun.” Predicting a Division II winner is as foggy as D-I. Returning champion Meyers should be considered a favorite, but Dallas’ only division loss last year was by two points to the Mohawks. Meyers defeated the Mountaineers by one point in the District 2 Class 2A Duals finals. Both teams should battle again this season. But Lake-Lehman, which struggled to fill weight classes just a few years ago, is looking as a contender once again with a very strong underclassmen group, including sophomore Austin Harry, who was a state qualifier in March. And don’t forget about Wyoming Area or Nanticoke. The Warriors have been on the brink over the last few seasons, and with a new coach and system with first-year man Steve Mytych, they shouldn’t be overlooked. The Trojans have been building to this point for a few years and return a large group from the last few seasons. Then there’s Hanover Area, just two seasons removed from a division championship in 2010. “I think once again our division is going to be very strong with a lot of good returning guys,” Dallas coach Mike Richards said. “It’s going to be a pretty tough divi-
PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER
Dijon Townes of Meyers (left) and Andres Jones of GAR battle to gain control in the 182-pound match during Friday’s high school wrestling meet in Wilkes-Barre.
sion overall.” Returning State Qualifiers Vito Pasone, Meyers, senior: He is a two-time state qualifier and is coming off a seventh-place finish at the PIAA Class 2A Championships. He begins the season with 109 career wins. Kyle Krasavage, Wyoming Valley West, junior: He qualified for states his freshman season and just missed last season with a fourth-place finish at regionals. He’s posted a 64-11record to date. Chad Hoffman, Hazleton Area, senior: Also a standout on the football field, he placed eighth at the PIAA Class 3A Championships a year ago and enters the season with 73 career wins. Austin Harry, Lake-Lehman, sophomore: Harry claimed a district title and finished second at regionals as a freshman. He earned 36 wins, including one at the state event. Top Returning Regional Qualifiers Wyoming Area junior Andy Schutz and Pittston Area senior Jamie Scarantino are two-time district champs. Schutz placed fourth at the Class 2A Northeast Regional as a freshman. Scaranti-
“Anybody will be able to beat anybody on any given night. There will be a lot of exciting bouts to see who’s going to come out and who’s going to wrestle who and see what’s going to happen.”
former head coach at West Hazleton High School and took over the Cougars program when the three Hazleton area schools merged in the early 1990s. After three years as assistant Steve Stahl coach at Hanover Area, Anthony Coughlin coach Mercadante takes over the head role for Mike Ropietski.
no won two matches at the 3A regional last season. Darren Stucker, a senior at Meyers, was fourth at the 2A regional last season after claiming district gold, while Crestwood senior Kyle Hankinson picked up his first district title and was fourth at the 3A regional. Coughlin junior Brad Emerick was hampered with injuries last season yet still posted 21 wins, including three at the 3A regional. Top Freshmen The Wyoming Valley Conference has produced a freshman state qualifier for the last three years. If the streak is extended to four this season, it’s probable one of the following will ninth-graders will fit the bill. Coughlin’s Bobby Hawkins had the most success on this list as a two-time District 2 junior high champion with a 69-2 record.
Lake-Lehman teammates Jimmy Stuart and Josh Sayre were also district champs a year ago. Stuart grabbed a third-place medal in 2010. Crestwood’s Dan Ritz was one of just two junior high unbeatens from the WVC in 2011 with a 35-0 record as he claimed a junior high title. The other undefeated from the conference walking away with a junior high gold medal was Dominic Vitale, from Hanover Area, who was 37-0. Coaching Carousel Successful high school and college wrestler Steve Mytych has taken the reigns at Wyoming Area, replacing John Ratajczak. Mytych graduated from Division I Drexel in 2010. At Hazleton Area, Keith Maurer becomes the third coach in three years for the Cougars, taking over for Jeff Sweda. Maurer is
Milestone approaching Berwick coach Ernie Yates is beginning his 24th year with the program. One of just five coaches in school history (since 1955-56), he needs only three dual wins to get to 300. Yates is also leading the program to a milestone. With15 wins this season, the Bulldogs will get to the 600-win achievement mark. The team picked up 20 wins in 2010-11. Back Points The weight new weight classes have gone into effect this season and are a drastic change. Another transformation that didn’t go too well was that the PIAA put a halt to the District 2 junior high tournament. But the WVC will have a season-ending tournament. Next year, another big change will take place with the revision of the competition points system.
In October, the PIAA Board of Directors adopted a new method for scheduling regular season individual and dual tournaments. The most important ramification to the system is that four points will no longer be given for two-day dual tournament and the two extra points for each additional day has also been eliminated. Instead those events will be just three points. Schools can only participate in regular season tournaments adding up to 22 points. Any postseason event does not use any points. Key Dates Dec. 20: Pittston Area at Delaware Valley (District 2 Class 3A finals rematch); Dec. 29-30: Tunkhannock Kiwanis Tournament; Jan. 4: WVC season begins with six meets including Meyers at Dallas in District 2 Class 2A finals rematch; Jan. 6-7: Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament at Lake-Lehman; Feb. 3-4: District 2 Dual Championships; Feb. 9-11: PIAA Duals Championships at Giant Center, Hershey; Feb. 2425: District 2 Individual Championships; March 2-3: Northeast Regional Championships; March 8-10: PIAA Championships at Giant Center, Hershey
That’s heavy: Coaches shuffling lineups to meet new classes
By DAVE ROSENGRANT drosengrant@timesleader.com
RECENT WEIGHT CLASS CHANGES
There are 14 Wyoming Valley Conference wrestling teams. Of those 14, more than half of the head coaches were asked about the new weight classes that were put into effect this season. The vast majority of the coaches apparently are not very fond of the added upper weight that is now being used. The new system adds a 195-pound class and eliminates 140. Four classes (145, 152, 160, 285) remained the same, while 189 dropped to 180 and 215 bumped up to 220. The rest of the weights weren’t a drastic change only moving by one, two or three pounds.
Here’s a look at the last five weight class changes 2011 106 113 120 126 132 138 145 152 160 170 182 195 220 285
2006 103 112 119 125 130 135 140 145 152 160 171 189 215 285
The change was approved back in April when the National Federation of State High School Associations Wrestling Rules Committee met after surveying high school matches from around the
2003 103 112 119 125 130 135 140 145 152 160 171 189 215 275
1989 103 112 119 125 130 135 140 145 152 160 171 189 HWT
1978 98 105 112 119 126 132 138 145 155 167 185 HWT
country. It came to the conclusion that another upper weight was needed. It marked the first shift in weight classes since 2006. Changes had been infrequent
in the past. In 1989, the 98-pound class was bumped up to 103. There have been more changes since with 215 being added in 2003 as the 14th weight. Then in 2006, the 275 limit was increased to 285. The trend has remained consistent in the previous changes as being one that favors heavier athletes. “I know they did it statistically, but we don’t get the numbers of big kids out,” Berwick coach Ernie Yates said. “But we will play the cards we’re dealt.” Yates, who is the longest tenured WVC coach in his 24th year with the Bulldogs and is just three dual meet wins shy of reaching the 300-win milestone, isn’t the only coach to voice those concerns. His thoughts were echoed
throughout the WVC. “Wrestling is supposed to be for everyone, but some of the little guys are getting screwed,” Coughlin coach Steve Stahl said. There are optimistic sides to the new format. Take Wyoming Valley West for example. Although coach Steve Barber doesn’t have the numbers for the upper weights, he has some depth at 170, which helps out the 182-pound class. In the previous weights, it might have been hard for a coach to bump a grappler from 171 to 189 and give up that much weight to an opponent. Now, instead of an 18pound difference, it is only 12. “It does give you some options there,” Barber said. Another positive is that there
might not be as much moving away from a quality opponent in the middleweights and gives coaches another strategy to take into account in duals. Meyers coach Ron Swingle said the change will also benefit the smaller guys who are upperclassmen. “Overall, I think it’s a good thing,” he said. “I saw a lot better battles the last couple years with guys being at good weights. I think it will work and there’s still a lot of parity here.” The two-pound weight allowance will still kick in on Jan.15, so that will help some teams as well, but won’t help in the higher weights, where most teams may have to forfeit at least one of the weights in every dual.