Schuylkill Valley reaches milestone

It was a relatively unimportant non-league match for the Schuylkill Valley High School wrestling team. The Panthers played host to Newport on Friday, a team they were expected to defeat with ease.

That’s exactly what they did, as they defeated Newport, 71-3.

But what made this match special is that it was the Schuylkill Valley wrestling program’s 1,000 match. On top of that, it was the program’s 600th victory.

It was a special win for a team that made the Berks League playoffs last weekend after finishing second in Division 2 of the Berks League with a record of 4-1.

On Jan. 25, the Panthers took on Governor Mifflin in the quarterfinal round of the Berks League playoffs. The Mustangs won their final four bouts to complete a comeback and defeat Schuylkill Valley, 39-27.

The Panthers got two forfeit victories (Josh Giorgio (126) and Ryan Ramich (152), and three decisions in the first six bouts to take a 21-3 lead in the match.

But then they got to the strength of the Governor Mifflin team as the Mustangs three pins in the next four bouts and won seven of the final eight bouts.

The only exception was Colby Geisinger at 182 who pinning his opponent in 3:29.

Winning by decisions for Schuylkill Valley were: Jacob Horst (132), 6-3; Tanner White (138), 1-0; and Dillon James (145), 8-4.

Despite the loss, Schuylkill Valley still qualified for the District 3-AA playoffs, where they were a number five seed.

In the first round, the Panthers had to play on the road at Bermudian Springs on Jan. 29. Schuylkill Valley never had the lead in this match as it lost the match, 52-14.

The Panthers fell behind, 9-0, before Giorgio (126) earned Schuylkill Valley’s first four points on an 11-2 victory.

Bermudian Springs then extended the lead to 22-4 before Ramich (152) pinned his opponent in 3:14.

Jacob Bailey (170) earned the Panthers’ final four points with a 15-7 decision.