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A week ago, the highlight of the Wyoming Valley Conference wrestling slate came in Division 1 when the two top teams, Tunkhannock and Hazleton Area, battled for what could turn out to be division supremacy.
This week, Division 2 takes center stage starting Wednesday night when the three unbeaten teams start a round robin against each other.
Hanover Area (1-0 Division 2) hosts Lake-Lehman (2-0 Division 2) at 7 p.m., and the Black Knights then host defending division and District 2 Class 2A champion Meyers (1-0) on Friday. Well, it’s tentatively scheduled for Friday night, pending the weather. The Hawkeyes host the Mohawks on Saturday, Jan. 30.
The three teams finished in the top five at the WVC Tournament 11 days ago with Lehman taking third, six points ahead of the Mohawks and 43 points in front of the fifth-place Hawkeyes.
Hanover Area may be the least likely of the three to come out on top, but if last year was any indication of what might occur, anything can happen.
The Hawkeyes hung with Meyers last season before falling by seven points, then had an opportunity to upset the Black Knights heading into the last bout of the dual before an injury occurred and Lehman won by 12 points.
At the conference tourney earlier this month, the Black Knights and Hawkeyes went head-to-head just four times with each team winning twice. One of those bouts was perhaps the most entertaining of the 14 finals when Lehman’s Mike Slivinski knocked off the Hawkeyes’ Nick Hannon in the 220-pound title match, 13-10.
Meyers and Lehman wrestlers squared off three times in individual matches at the event with Meyers winning two, while the Mohawks won three of five contested bouts against Hanover Area wrestlers at the tournament.
Turning the century
Reaching the 100-win milestone is an achievement in any wrestler’s career.
It not only means that the athlete has performed at a high level, it also signifies durability and consistency.
Looking back over the last two seasons, 14 Wyoming Valley Conference wrestlers achieved the century mark in victories. So far this season, only two from the conference — Tunkhannock’s Dakota Quick and Bill Manley — have reached the mark, but there’s a chance that the mark of 14 is tied in this year alone with at least 12 wrestlers within 15 wins of getting to 100 before the season ends.
The next wrestler to turn 100 should be Hazleton Area’s Jimmy Hoffman, who currently has 99. The Cougars wrestle at Crestwood on Wednesday night.
Scranton Prep’s Thor Balavage, an Avoca resident, won his 100th last weekend.
Who’s Number One?
Last weekend, a national duals tournament was held at the historic Palestra in Philadelphia with several of the top teams in the country battling in the event named Who’s Number One.
The second-ranked team in the country according to InterMat, Bergen Catholic, was upset in the semifinals by ninth-ranked Bethlehem Catholic, 28-26. That meant No. 2 and No. 3 Blair Academy wouldn’t meet in the finals. Instead, Blair soundly defeated Becahi 38-16.
Wyoming Seminary, which is ranked No. 1 in the country, was not at that event, but will get a shot to prove its ranking in an eight-day period when the team will see both Blair and Bergen. On Saturday, Sem travels to New Jersey to face Blair in what will likely be No. 1 versus No. 2 in the country. On Sunday, Jan. 31 the Blue Knights will host Bergen Catholic.
When Sem and Blair square off this weekend, it will mark the renewal of the heated rivalry. Earlier this season, Sem defeated the Buccaneers by 25 points at the Ironman Tournament in December to take over the top raking in the country.
The Blue Knights also won the dual against Blair last year in Kingston, but the Buccaneers followed that by regaining the Prep National title from the Blue Knights in February, a year after Sem dethroned Blair as champion.
Bartlett’s big honor
Wyoming Seminary has a track record of having great wrestlers in its program. Sem’s next elite wrestler is less than a year away from showing what he can do on a full-time basis for the team.
But so far this season, eighth-grader Beau Bartlett has already been making a name for himself, and this week he earned his biggest accolade to date being named FloWrestler of the Week.
Bartlett, a 113-pounder, won the Eastern States event beating twelfth-ranked Tommy Cox, a North Carolina State commit, in the finals of the high school event that allows eighth-graders to wrestle. Earlier in the tournament, Bartlett won via three tech falls and two pins.
Among four other wrestlers he beat out for the recognition was Benton grad and current Penn State sophomore Zain Retherford.