Lower Merion’s Jack Lledo captures Central League tourney title

Lower Merion senior Jack Lledo finished first at 172 pounds in the Central League tournament Jan. 22 at Ridley High School, defeating Marple Newtown’s Jimmy Hally, 13-4, in the championship finals.
With the victory, Lledo’s record improved to 18-3 (including 13 falls). His career record at Lower Merion (as of Jan. 24) is 83-26.
Lower Merion wrestling coach Jack Keyser said, “Winning the Central League for the second year in a row is part of Jack’s ultimate goal to be competing for a state championship on Saturday night March 12 at the GIANT Center in Hershey. He has taken his training to another level recently. When you combine that with his wrestling abilities and mental and physical toughness, I have all the confidence in the world in him to accomplish that goal. Nothing rattles him, which is a quality you want to see in your athletes because it is a quality that is shared by the all the best wrestlers.”
Lower Merion junior Hutton Smith (13-4) placed fourth at 215 pounds.
Keyser said, “Hutton didn’t wrestle last year, and only won about three matches as a freshman, so for him to be 13-4 right now with a fourth place finish in the Central League is really impressive and evidence of the fact that he lives in the weight room in the off-season.”
Lower Merion junior Yannick Segal finished fifth at 160 pounds.
“Yannick was one of the guys who was consistently in the weight room and wrestling room throughout the spring and summer – which is really paying off right now,” said Keyser. “He showed a lot of heart when he hit a last-second cradle in the fifth place match to win by a point.
“In an individual sport like wrestling, they say champions come in pairs. It is no coincidence that our three place winners are all in the same weight range and train with each other in the wrestling room. When you have partners in the room to push you everyday, everyone will see that pay off in competition. They work a lot with the younger guys in our room too, and it is only a matter of time before it starts paying off for them as well.”
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Two other Main Line wrestlers finished first at the Central League tournament – Haverford’s Cole McFarland (113 pounds) and Radnor 120-pounder Zach Fluck. In the championship finals, McFarland pinned Ethan Bliss of Garnet Valley in 1:22, and Fluck defeated Nolan Carroll of Garnet Valley, 8-6.
In the team competition, Radnor finished third in the 12-team field with 162 points, behind first-place finisher Garnet Valley (220.5) and Strath Haven (207). Haverford finished sixth, with 112 points, Conestoga was seventh (108.5 points), Lower Merion was 10th with 55 points and Harriton was 12th (32 points).
Radnor had nine top five finishers – Fluck, Anton Skvortsov (second place, 215 pounds), Akahi Heywood (third, 106), Michael Shea (third, 145), Damian Falcone (third, 189), Mason Brown (fourth, 132), Nate Brown (fourth, 138), Keaton Monaghan (fourth, 285) and Gabe Vandevere (fifth, 113).
Haverford had five top five finishers – McFarland, Brennan Kramp (second place, 132 pounds), Jon Harwood (second, 189), Kyle Bell (third, 152) and Ryan Morris (fifth, 126).
Conestoga had five top five finishers – Miles Warkentine (second place, 126 pounds), Mitch Baker (second, 138), Hayden McLellan (third, 160), Bryce Beltrante (third, 172) and Matthew Boye (fourth, 152).
Harriton had one top five finisher – Nadav Nafshi (second place, 106).