HS Wrestling: North Schuylkill completes undefeated league season
North Schuylkill's wrestlers and coaches gather for a group photo with their Schuylkill League Division I dual-meet and tournament championship trophies after defeating Pottsville 44-25 on Wednesday night in the Cesari-Hope Gymnasium. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)
FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — North Schuylkill will need to order another banner.
The Spartans also will need to find space on the wall of Cesari-Hope Gymnasium to hang that banner and in the wrestling trophy case to add two new pieces of hardware.
North Schuylkill completed an undefeated run through Division I of the Schuylkill League by defeating Pottsville 44-25 on Wednesday night. Easton Edwards (121), Nate Sterner (145), Ben Carr (160) and Jaden Meyer (172) notched key falls in the victory that gave the program its 24th division crown.
Nineteen wrestlers have taken the varsity mat for the Spartans this season, and just three — Sterner, Meyer and Sander Stokes — are seniors. Those three walked with their parents to be recognized on Senior Night.
North Schuylkill (11-2, 4-0 D-I) also won the team title at the Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships on Jan. 18 at Blue Mountain High School. That marked the Spartans’ 14th league tournament victory, but their first since 2005.
Adding the dual-meet crown gave the Spartans the Schuylkill sweep for the eighth time in school history, but the first time since 2002.
North Schuylkill’s tournament/dual double seasons: 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1995, 2002 and 2025.
“That’s always the goal going in. This dual-meet championship is always our No. 1,” North Schuylkill coach Corey Fetterolf said of the division title. “The icing on the cake was that tournament one. We hadn’t won that in forever.
“I didn’t know, until I read (the t102sportsnow.com) article that this is the first time since I was on the wrestling team wrestling in 2002 that we won both of them,” Fetterolf added. “So that’s pretty neat. It’s been a long time. The kids deserve all of this.”
The Spartans got off to a strong start, building a 42-6 lead after eight weights.
Edwards set the tone by scoring a pair of quick takedowns and taking Chris Dembinsky to his back for the fall in 1:51.
After two forfeits, a scary moment happened when North Schuylkill’s Bryce Kile got called for an illegal slam trying to take down Colin Kline at 139. It took a while for Kline to sit up, but he eventually got back to his feet. Since he was unable to continue, Kline got the win by disqualification just 11 seconds into the bout.
North Schuylkill rebounded from that by running off four straight wins.
Sterner stepped up with three rapid-fire takedowns before flattening Brayden Tokonitz for the fall in 48 seconds.
After a forfeit, Carr made quick work of Pete Scharadin for a pin in 1:01, and Meyer won a dangerous flurry and pinned Brayden Evans in 2:48. In that one, Meyer led 3-0 after the first period and chose top for the second period. Riding with legs, Meyer got high and Evans nearly reversed Meyer to his back. Instead, Meyer rolled through the attempt and created the opening for his fall.
“Without these guys leading the way and holding people accountable …” Fetterolf said of his seniors. “Nate, for example, he’s been sick the last week and a half, and he’s doing everything in his power to stay in that (practice) room and set the example and showing that you can’t take days off. They’re just working hard, and kudos to all of them.”
Pottsville (6-11, 1-3) closed the gap with four straight victories down the stretch.
Drew Seaman (189) used two takedowns and three near-fall points to pull away from Connor Dower in an 11-3 major decision.
In a battle between Schuylkill League Tournament champions, the Tide’s Terrell McFarland bumped up to 215, scored the first takedown and pinned Cadyn McGraw in 1:35.
At 285, Lukas McNamara reversed Sander Stokes to his back in the third period and pinned him in 4:43.
Cole Cook (107) followed with a 6-0 decision over Gaige Mentusky. Single takedowns in the second and third periods made the difference for Cook, who dropped a 2-0 decision to Mentusky in the third-place bout at the Schuylkill League Tournament.
North Schuylkill’s Alex Deritis (114) capped the night with an 11-4 decision over Stephen Karinch. Deritis notched a pair of first-period takedowns to take control, then added a reversal and a third takedown to clinch the decision.
Next up, the District Duals. Today, North Schuylkill will learn the seeds and pairings for Saturday’s District 11 Team Wrestling Championships at Bethlehem Freedom High School.
