With 165 team points, Schuylkill Valley High School took the team championship at the District 3-AA Section 2 Wrestling Tournament held at Annville-Cleona this past weekend. The Panthers finished 14.5 points ahead of second place Hamburg.
The two local teams came close to dominating the field, as their closest competitor was Northern Lebanon with 112.5 points.
Individually, the Panthers had two gold medalists and a second place finish, while Hamburg had four champions and one runner-up wrestler.
Each team had several wrestlers who will move on to the District 3-AA Tournament at Hersheypark Arena this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22.
Sean Stanish, Andrew Kochel and Austin Bashore were champions for Hamburg, while Cody Miller took a second place medal. Kerry Mega and Blake Roberts each finished in third place and Nick Oswald was fourth.
For Schuylkill Valley, Josh Giorgio continued his amazing wrestling career with a first place finish. Teammate Ryan Ramich took home a first place medal while Jonathan Tindall was second.
The Panthers’ Mason Shuman and Tanner White each finished in third place while Jethro Solomon and Colby Geisinger were both in fourth place.
Jacob Horst, Elijah Zimmerman and Nick Scheidt each took fifth place for Schuylkill Valley while Ed Shuttleworth and Frank Lisa were each sixth.
In the 120 pound weight class, Stanish earned a 5-3 overtime decision over Hunter Gimbor of Brandywine Heights in the championship bout.
Meanwhile, Kochel also needed an overtime period to defeat Caleb Naylor of Wyomissing at 145 pounds, 6-4, while Hamburg’s Bashore pinned Schuylkill Valley’s Jonathan Tindall in 1:52 of their 195 pound weight class title bout.
Giorgio added another championship to his record when he pinned John Lobeck of Lancaster Catholic in 1:12 of their 126 pound championship bout.
Mega (126) earned his third place medal when he decisioned Matt Darok of Annville-Cleona, 8-0, while Roberts (285) defeated Wes Bankus of Elco, 3-0 in their third place bout.
White nailed down third place with an 11-3 victory over Gavin Arredondo of Wyomissing, while Geisinger settled for fourth place when he lost a 3-2 decision to Chris Eaton of Wyomissing in their 182 pound weight class bout.
Tulpehocken’s Mason Seyfert (113 pounds) will move on with his fifth place finish, as will Nate Fritz who finished sixth in the 195 pound weight class.
