TIMES NEWS MAT RANKINGS
(Through Feb. 6)
106 - 1. Kenny Yanovich, Pleasant Valley, So. (31-3); 2. Jacob Hoats, Lehighton, Sr. (21-6); 3. Lenny Ogozalek, Panther Valley, So. (29-6).
Honorable Mention - Ryan Rubio, Northern Lehigh, Fr. (14-9).
Notes - Yanovich went 2-1 this past week with his loss coming to the state's No. 1 ranked wrestler at 106 - Parkland's Ethan Lizak. Yanovich, ranked ninth in AAA by Pennsylvania Wrestling Rankings, earned wins over Blue Mountain's Christian Gosch (15-5) and PM East's Mark Jordan (14-10). Hoats reached the 20-win plateau this past week and is 5-2 against opponents from the MVC. Ogozalek has posted eight straight wins and has accounted for 17 percent of his team's victories this season.
113 - 1. Sean Bianco, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (33-1); 2. Colin Mashack, Tamaqua, So. (27-1); 3. Josh Evans, Palmerton, So. (23-3).
Notes - Bianco won all three of his matches this week and is now tied for the most wins in the TIMES NEWS area this season. He boasts the best winning percentage (.971) and jumped from 15th to seventh in the lastest state rankings. Mashack won his only decision of the week and moved up a spot in the state rankings, now No. 12 at 106. He returns to 113 pounds in our ranking with 25 of his 28 decisions occuring at that weight class. Evans suffered his third loss of the season, but it came to the fourth ranked wrestler in AA - Pen Argyl's Matt Williams. Evans, ranked 13th, has lost twice to Williams and once to the top ranked 106-pounder, Becahi's Darian Cruz.
120 - 1. Sam Oberlander, Palmerton, Sr. (27-1); 2. James Felipa, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (27-7).
Notes - Oberlander was one of two Bombers to have a perfect 3-0 record this past week. Of his 27 wins, 22 of them have been six-pointers (15 pins, seven forfeits). He also moved up one spot in the state rankings, improving to No. 24. Felipa only went 1-2 this past week, with all three matches being decided by two points or less. His losses were by one and two points. Felipa owns a 6-1 decision win over Pen Argyl's Tyler Knapik, while Oberlander's victory over Knapik was 1-0.
126 - 1. Michael Dahlstrom, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (33-3); 2. Dillon Masington, Palmerton, Jr. (20-7); 3. Brian Ohl, Jim Thorpe, Jr. (22-15).
Honorable Mention - Zachary Glassic, Panther Valley, Fr. (14-13).
Notes - Dahlstrom dropped to No. 3 in the state in AAA. Of his three losses, two of them have come to No. 1 ranked Corey Keener of Blue Mountain. In his last loss to Keener, Dahlstrom had a lead before eventually losing 8-4. Both his wins this past week came at 132. He is tied with teammate Bianco for the most wins in the TN area. Masington went 2-1 for the week with his loss coming to Pen Argyl's Andrew Sutton (who is 9-2 in his last 11 bouts). He is the fourth Blue Bomber to reach 20 wins for the season. Ohl lost his only mat action, as he also fell victim to BM's Keener (who is 34-1 this season) for the second time this year.
132 - 1. Ernie Klingel, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (23-3); 2. Dylan Rynkiewicz, Tamaqua, Fr. (18-11); 3. Kyle Baumann, Northern Lehigh, Sr. (13-9).
Honorable Mention - Zack Christman, Palmerton, Fr. (14-7).
Notes - Klingel, who is battling a knee injury, managed a win against PM East's Gino Giunta (20-4) but had to sit out the district duals. His status is day-to-day. Rynkiewicz, who posted a fall in his only bout of the week, has five wins against wrestlers with winning records. Baumann and Christman each have three wins against opponents with winning marks but Baumann moves into third based on his head-to-head win last week.
138 - 1. Alex Yanovich, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (30-7); 2. Ethan Keichel, Northwestern, Sr. (19-8); 3. Joey Bubble, Palmerton, Jr. (11-8).
Notes - Yanovich went 2-1 this past week, dropping an 8-0 major to PM East's undefeated (21-0) Raymond Nicosia. Yanovich became the fourth Bear to reach 30 wins this season and his 37 matches are the most by a PV wrestler so far this year. Keichel won his only decision, defeating Northern Lehigh's Nathan Farber. He is 6-4 against Colonial League opponents and 13-4 outside the league. Bubble was 2-1 on the week. His loss was another one-point decision to Pen Argyl's Jarett Stoelzl. Bubble is 5-4 vs. CL opponents and 6-4 outside the league.
145 - 1. Ty Herzog, Northern Lehigh, Jr. (22-5); 2. Anthony Farole, Lehighton, Sr. (26-7); 3. David Gehr, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (22-13).
Honorable Mention - Zach Graver, Palmerton, Fr. (17-12); Nick Toth, Tamaqua, Sr. (13-8).
Notes - Herzog gained three more wins this week to run his unbeaten streak to 14 in a row, but dropped four spots in the state rankings to 11th. One of his wins was his second of the season against Catty's Rhaine Sziy (23-9). He now owns 11 wins against opponents with winning records. Farole earned 8-1 win over Graver at district duals and was 2-0 for the week. He, too, dropped in the state rankings, falling one spot to 12th. Farole, who was 8-5, before the new year is now 18-2 in 2012. Gehr went 2-1, with his loss a 2-1 decision to Parkland's Josh Ortman (23-8). He did defeat Blue Mountain's Alex Gosch (32-8) during the Bears' 32-29 win over the Eagles at district duals.
152 - 1. Cody Grohotolski, Palmerton, Sr. (21-4); 2. Dylan Hofmann, Northern Lehigh, Sr. (21-6); 3. Evan Mashack, Tamaqua, Sr. (21-8).
Honorable Mention - Joell Toledo, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (17-14).
Notes - Grohotolski went 2-1 but his loss was to Pen Argyl's Mike Racciato (30-1), ranked No. 2 in the state at 145. The combined record of the four wrestlers Grohotolski has lost to this season is 99-19. The Bomber owns a win over PA's Kyler Kutzler while Hofmann lost to the Green Knight. Hofmann did go 3-0 on the week and is now ranked (No. 21st) in the state. All three wins were against wrestlers with winning records, including Palmerton's Graver and Northwestern's Ortiz. Mashack, who earned a fofeit win, maintains third. His last 15 victories have been six-pointers (nine pins, five forfeits, one default).
160 - 1. Michael Ortiz, Northwestern, Jr. (18-6); 2. Zach Coleman, Lehighton, Sr. (20-5); 3. Brandon Silkowski, Tamaqua, Sr. (22-7).
Honorable Mention - Cody Baumann, Northern Lehigh, Jr. (9-5); Marcus Hardiman, Northern Lehigh, Jr. (9-5).
Notes - Ortiz suffered loss in his only action, but it was a 3-2 decision to NL's Hofmann. Ortiz is ranked 15th in the state at 152. He has not been pinned or suffered a tech fall this season, but has earned bonus points in 11 of his 18 wins. Coleman earned two more wins and is now 18-2 in his last 20 decisions. His five losses have all come to wrestlers with winning records, and they have a combined 110-15 mark. One of the losses is to Ortiz. Silkowski is 10-5 in his last 15 decisions. Of his 22 wins, 20 have been six-pointers (including 15 pins).
170 - 1. Mike Balliet, Lehighton, Sr. (24-4); 2. Kyle Greenawald, Northern Lehigh, Sr. (19-4); 3. Mitch Evans, Northwestern, Jr. (14-11).
Honorable Mention - Stephen Snyder, Panther Valley, Sr. (15-15).
Notes - Balliet didn't wrestle this week but did maintain his No. 13 ranking in the state. He is 5-0 against MVC opponents and also handed Greenawald one of his four losses this season. Greenawald was 5-3 before the new year and is now 14-1 in 2012. He is 8-1 against Colonial League opponents, including a 17-12 decision this past week against NW's Evans. The Tiger is 6-4 in his last 10 bouts. He is 7-5 against CL foes and 7-4 versus opponents outside the CL.
182 - 1. Levi Veppert, Northwestern, Sr. (26-2); 2. Joseph Smith, Lehighton, Jr. (14-8); 3. Richard Nase, Panther Valley, So. (18-9).
Honorable Mention - Jake Christman, Palmerton, Jr. (13-12); Theo Young, Northern Lehigh, So. (7-7).
Notes - Veppert's lone action of the week was a 32-second pin of NL's Young. He is still No. 7 in the state and is 9-0 in 2012. He has a 10-1 record versus Colonial League opponents with the loss coming against Saucon Valley's Ray O'Donnell. Smith went 2-0 this past week including a 12-8 decision over PM East's Mario LaMonica (18-7). Smith was 2-5 before the new year and is 12-3 since 2012 started. Half of his wins (seven) are by fall. Nase hasn't wrestled since Jan. 20. He does has six wins against opponents with winning records.
195 - 1. Hunter Deihl, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (20-15); 2. David Tirpak, Northwestern, Sr. (11-2); 3. John Horvath, Panther Valley, Sr. (16-15).
Notes - Deihl went 2-1 for the week, with his loss a major decision to Blue Mountain's Travis Moyer. Deihl avenged an earlier loss to Parkland's Omar Haddad with a 2-1 win at the district duals. Tirpak returned to the mat after a long absence and gained a pin in the Tigers' match against NL. Of Tirpak's 11 wins, 10 have gained bonus points with six of them falls. Horvath didn't see any action this week, but his last seven wins have all come via the pin.
220 - 1. Kane Kralik, Palmerton, Sr. (25-1); 2. Kyle Schomp, Northern Lehigh, Sr. (15-11); 3. Dominick Ammirato, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (14-14).
Honorable Mention - Rian Shubeck, Panther Valley, Fr. (16-14).
Notes - Kralik, ranked No. 12 in the state, posted a 3-0 mark this past week. One of the wins was a 1-0 decision over 13th-ranked Brady Mutton of Pen Argyl. That was his second win over Mutton this season. One of the other wins was a pin of NL's Schomp. Schomp's last four losses have been to Catty's Luke Garner (31-1), Kralik (25-1) and Mutton (26-7). Ammirato was 2-1 with one of the wins against Parkland's Joe Stephens.
285 - 1. Mike Benner, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (19-12); 2. Luke Matsago, Tamaqua, Jr. (14-8); 3. Skyler Rosenberry, Palmerton, Jr. (15-9).
Honorable Mention - Ryan Ruberto, Jim Thorpe, Jr. (13-10).
Notes - Benner only went 1-2 for the week but his losses were to PM East's Jeremy Candelario (16-1) and Parkland's Shaun Heist (28-2), who is ranked fourth in the state at 220. His win was a huge 1-0 decision over BM's Will Rich in PV's 32-29 victory at district duals. Matsago gained a win in his only bout. He edged Pottsville's Stanley Burke (22-11) by a 5-4 score. Matsago was 7-6 before the new year and is now 15-5 in 2012. Rosenberry was 2-1 with a pair of forfeits and a loss to Pen Argyl's Kirby Mutton (27-5 and ranked fifth in the state in AA).
(Compiled by Rod Heckman)
