HS Boys’ Wrestling: Bears’ Reyes captures Coal Cracker gold
Arturo Reyes, Mahanoy Area
LEHIGHTON — Last weekend, Mahanoy Area freshman Arturo Reyes earned his first title at the Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships.
That one came at 127 pounds.
Reyes, though, has goals to climb even higher.
During the week, he completed his descent plan to 121 pounds (123 with the growth allowance), and Reyes entered the draw at the lower weight in the 57-team Coal Cracker Invitational Wrestling Tournament at Lehighton Area High School.
All Reyes did was blitz the 121-pound field, sweeping six bouts to capture the gold during Saturday’s finals.
Reyes had two pins, a technical fall and a medical forfeit win Friday to reach Saturday’s semifinals. There, Reyes decked Hazleton Area’s Jacob Benyo 12-1. In the finals, Reyes (29-4) continued to pile up the points, hanging a 16-6 major decision on Germantown Academy’s Max Berman.
Reyes led three Mahanoy Area placewinners at the high-powered event.
Junior Rory Dixon (152) and senior Kyler Quick (215) placed fourth at their respective weight classes, each posting a 5-2 record at the event. Both made the semifinals before dropping close matches. Dixon (33-4) lost a 5-4 decision to Central Dauphin’s Luke Hitchcock (31-0); later, Quick (33-3) bowed 4-2 to Pittston Area’s Brody Spindler (31-2).
Dixon and Quick rebounded with victories in the consolations to make bronze-medal bouts. There, Boiling Springs’ Ian Longenberger (33-1) topped Dixon 4-2, and Pleasant Valley’s Evan Gillespie (24-1) pinned Quick in 1:53.
Elsewhere, Blue Mountain senior Owen Woll went 6-1 to place third at 160. After bowing in the semifinals, Woll (33-4) responded by defeating Northwestern Lehigh’s Nolan Koehler in sudden victory and then pinning Salesianum, Delaware’s Chase Thompson in 2:21.
Tamaqua’s Rylan Reitz went 5-2 to finish seventh at 114 pounds.
Faith Christian won the team title with 265.5 points. Germantown Academy placed second with 166.5. Central Dauphin (162.5), Salesianum, Delaware (161.5) and Honesdale (156.5) rounded out the top five. Mahanoy Area placed 20th, Blue Mountain 25th, Tamaqua 39th, Williams Valley 42nd, Schuylkill Haven 53rd and Panther Valley 53rd.
Spartans place 6th at Bedford
BEDFORD — Freshman Bode Gates (145) had a runner-up finish, leading North Schuylkill to sixth place at the Thomas Chevrolet Wrestling Tournament at Bedford Area High School.
Thirty-one teams competed in the event. Perennial District 7 power Burrell won the team title with 180.5 points. It finished tight at the top, as Huntingdon placed second with three champs and 179 points; Chestnut Ridge claimed four golds to take third with 177.5. Greenville (153) and Clearfield (141.5) completed the top five. North Schuylkill finished sixth with 130.5 points. Tri-Valley (120) placed ninth, and Pine Grove (91.5) took 13th.
North Schuylkill compiled six placewinners. Gates took second; Stanley Padakowski (121) placed fourth; Gaige Mentusky (107) and Evan Miernicki (114) gained seventh; and Cadyn McGraw (215) and William Wysoski (285) placed eighth.
Gates (29-11) stopped Clearfield’s Cash Diehl 14-6 in the semifinals. Greenville’s Rudy Gentile topped Gates 19-3 in the finals.
Tri-Valley notched five placewinners. Owen Wolfgang (107) finished second; Easton Moore (114) took sixth; Parker Hatter (160) earned seventh; and Jaxson Bruso (133) and Hunter Updegrave (172) placed eighth.
In the semifinals, Wolfgang (27-6) pinned Conemaugh Township’s Carter Christ in 4:34. Chestnut Ridge’s Kooper Deputy pinned Wolfgang in 45 seconds in the finals.
