HS Wrestling: Spartans, Eagles to battle for Division I crown
Blue Mountain's Owen Woll, right, shoots for a takedown during the 152-pound third-place bout at the District 11 Class 3A Wrestling Championships on Feb. 22, 2025, at Bethlehem Liberty High School. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)
Owen Woll has done the work.
Now he’s ready to reap the rewards.
Blue Mountain’s senior 160-pounder broke through to a higher level last season, going 42-9, capturing his second gold and first Outstanding Wrestler award at the Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships, placing third at districts and second at regionals to qualify for the Class 3A field at the PIAA Wrestling Championships. Woll, 113-31 in his career, also won a bout in Hershey, coming one win away from the medals stand.
“I got a lot of wrestling in, a lot of great offseason tournaments,” Woll said Nov. 12 during Schuylkill League Wrestling Media Day. “It was a great experience. I really feel like I’m prepared this season. … I’m going to give it my all in my last season.”
Woll, who is mulling his options for college wrestling, should have a lot of fun with his team as the Eagles feature a roster of 25 that should enable Blue Mountain to fill all of the weight classes and have depth.
Seniors Bryce Bodenberg (25-9), Thomas Herring, David Renninger and Preston Whalen; juniors Cooper Leibold, Vaughn Helverson and Troy Mady; and sophomores Brian Brobst (27-13) and Keenan Hall are key returners. Brobst and Bodenberg won titles at the Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships last season.
Beyond that, sophomore Jacob Blankenhorn ended his season by capturing a title at the District 11 Junior Varsity Championships.
Freshmen Grayson Freed, Caden Fenstermacher (D-11 JH 3rd) and Joseph Frey (D-11 JH 2nd) will contribute as well.
Blue Mountain had a solid 12-6 season in 2024-25 but must raise its level to compete against the powerhouses from the Lehigh Valley and some of the other strong teams on its schedule. This could be the year the Eagles turn some of those losses into victories. If they do that, they could qualify for the District 11 Duals, too.
“Depth has always been a challenge for us,” Blue Mountain coach Alex Gosch said. “So I’m happy we have a full roster and excited to see how they feed off each other in the (practice) room and push each other toward our goals this season. They worked hard this offseason, and they’re looking forward to showing it on the mat.”
Another team looking forward to showing what it can do on the mat is North Schuylkill. The Spartans pulled off the Schuylkill League double last season, going 12-3 and capturing both the Schuylkill League Division I dual-meet and Schuylkill League Tournament team championships. That marked North Schuylkill’s first dual title since 2022 (and 24th overall), its first tournament team title since 2005 and its first Schuylkill double since 2002.
Look for even more from the Spartans this winter.
They return 10 full-time starters and four others with varsity experience. Leading the way is senior Cadyn McGraw (30-16), who won District 11 Class AA gold and placed sixth at regionals last season. Junior Alex Deritis (26-12) and sophomore Easton Edwards (28-10) also qualified for regionals a year ago. Others coming off strong seasons include seniors Gaige Mentusky (30-12) and Stanley Padakowski (21-16) and sophomore Bryce Kile (27-13). Sophomore Evan Miernicki, a part-time varsity starter, placed fourth at the District 11 JV Tournament.
Joining the 33-member varsity roster are a slew of youngsters who helped the Spartans place second at the District 11 Junior High Wrestling Championships last season. Remember, that tournament is a combined Class 3A/AA event, meaning more than 40 teams competed. North Schuylkill finished behind champion Easton and ahead of third-place Parkland; the Spartans notched 10 placewinners in the tournament.
Leading that group are undefeated junior high champion Bode Gates, a 145/152-pound freshman; and junior high runner-up Brock Holmes, a 139/145-pound freshman. Others who could contribute include sophomores Taylor Javier (D-11 JH 2nd) at 215-285, Bobby Holmes (D-11 JH 3rd) at 133-139 and Nelson Berger (D-11 JH 2nd) at 285.
The tasks for the Spartans are to get everybody to weight, put a deep lineup on the mat and build depth and flexibility behind the starters. Then, start beating the strong teams on the schedule. The goals are the same: Win Division I, win the league tournament, get to the District Duals and challenge for a spot in the state team tournament.
“We feel with a good mix of returners and newcomers, they will all push each other to find their way into the lineup, which should make us a stronger dual team and make them better individuals down the road,” North Schuylkill coach Corey Fetterolf said.
For Pottsville, the buzzword is “health.” The Crimson Tide often had to forfeit four weight classes last season, and usually a 24-0 deficit is too deep a hole to climb out of.
The Tide have nine wrestlers with starting experience, led by senior standout Terrell McFarland (35-8 season, 96-16 career). McFarland will be aiming to become a member of the four-time champions club in January at the Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships.
Sophomore Cole Cook (26-12) will look to build upon a solid debut season, while seniors Kaiden Renn and Cole Cesari, juniors Stephen Karinch, Colin Kline, Ronald Peleschak, Khamari Bailey and Elijah Accardi are back as well. Four freshmen will fill spots on the varsity.
“We have to stay healthy and fill the starting lineup,” Pottsville coach Brad Leonard said.
Tamaqua got hit hard by graduation as seven starters completed their high school careers. The Blue Raiders have a few solid individuals and a veteran coaching staff that will bring the wrestlers along every day. Junior Brody Schlier (25-18) qualified for regionals last season, and junior Evan Temarantz went 19-8 before an injury ended his season. The roster has just three seniors in William Behun, Jonathan Knepper and Angelo Cerimele. Keep an eye on freshman 114-pounder Rylin Reitz, a District 11 Junior High runner-up.
“We want to improve 1 percent every day, with intentional focus on the controllables in order to get 1 percent better every day,” Tamaqua coach Jim McCabe said. “We have to do the things others don’t want to do because it’s tedious and boring. We will have a set of principles that need to be met twice a day, and if they are met and we intentionally focus on that, then we will be better in March than we were in November.”
Panther Valley struggled mightily last season, but head coach Kris Nalesnik still got 30 boys to come out for the team. More than that, just one, IxSaviar Bracero, is a senior. The Panthers have 13 sophomores and nine freshmen. The goal now is to teach them and retain them to build for this year and the future.
Juniors Landon Hunsicker, Hayden Matula, Aydan Watson and Carlos Maldonado-Rosa are returning starters for Panther Valley. Freshmen Dominic Brogan and Nathan Rolon are wrestlers to watch.
“With another year under their belts, this junior class has grown by leaps and bounds,” Nalesnik said. “While we are still very young and still rebuilding, we expect to see some success this season, especially with the massive growth in signups. … These guys are working harder than any team I have had to this point, and I am incredibly excited for what this season will bring.”
