Times News mat rankings

(Through Jan. 23)

106 - 1. Kenny Yanovich, Pleasant Valley, So. (21-2); 2. Jacob Hoats, Lehighton, Sr. (18-5); 3. Lenny Ogozalek, Panther Valley (23-6).

Honorable Mention - Ryan Rubio, Northern Lehigh, Fr. (11-9).

Notes - Yanovich had a perfect 5-0 mark at the Clearfield Duals and remains No. 9 in Class AAA in the Pennsylvania Wrestling Rankings. For the week, he was 6-0 with five pins. Hoats went 4-1 at the recent Bellefonte Duals with his lone loss a 7-2 decision to Quakertown's Collyn Dorney, the No. 15th ranked wrestler in AAA. The two may be meeting on Wednesday when Lehighton travels to Pleasant Valley. Ogozalek was 3-1 at this weekend's Schuylkill League championships and finished third, losing only to Tamaqua's Colin Mashack.

113 - 1. Colin Mashack, Tamaqua, So. (25-1); 2. Sean Bianco, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (22-1); 3. Josh Evans, Palmerton, So. (20-1).

Honorable Mention - Zach Leiby, Northern Lehigh, So. (11-11).

Notes - Mashack was 4-0 for the week including a 3-0 mark at the Schuylkill League championships, where he claimed the 106-pound title. Mashack did move down for the tourney and will probably stay at 106, but has wrestled 23 of his matches at 113 and stays here for at least another week. He is currently ranked No. 19 in Class AA at 113 pounds. Bianco, ranked 17th in AAA, was 6-0 for the week including five wins at the Clearfield Duals. Of his six wins, he had three pins and two tech falls. Evans didn't wrestle this past week, receiving a forfeit in the Northwestern match. He still holds the No. 14 spot in the AA rankings.

120 - 1. James Felipa, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (21-2); 2. Sam Oberlander, Palmerton, Sr. (22-1); 3. Nick Schaeffer, Lehighton, So. (9-9).

Notes - Felipa takes over the top spot based on a perfect 6-0 week including a 5-0 mark at the Clearfield Duals. His four wins (one was a forfeit) at the Duals were all against wrestlers with winning records who had a combined winning percentage of .704. Oberlander's week consisted of one forfeit win. He is now ranked 23rd in AA and should have a busier upcoming week as Palmerton is scheduled for three matches in the next four days. Schaeffer was pinned by ES South's Colby Ems, ranked 19th in AAA, in his only action but remains third as no other local wrestler in the weight class is at .500.

126 - 1. Michael Dahlstrom, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (24-1), 2. Dillon Masington, Palmerton, Jr. (16-6), 3. Brian Ohl, Jim Thorpe, Jr. (17-13).

Notes - Dahlstrom moved up to second in the state in AAA but has since suffered his first loss of the season. Dahlstrom went 4-1 at the Clearfield Duals, dropping a 4-3 decision to Ridgway's Corey Bush, who is ranked fourth in the state in AA. Masington's only action was a first-period pin in the NW match while Ohl, who is tied for the most decisions (30) by a TN wrestler, placed sixth at the Schuylkill League championships, going 3-3 at the tourney.

132 - 1. Ernie Klingel, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (21-3); 2. Zack Christman, Palmerton, Fr. (12-5); 3. Dylan Rynkiewicz, Tamaqua, Fr. (16-11).

Honorable Mention - Kyle Baumann, Northern Lehigh, Sr. (11-8).

Notes - Klingel registered six wins during the week, including a 5-0 mark at the Clearfield Duals. Five of his wins came via the pin while the other one was a tech fall. Christman just got past Northwestern's Cole Moyer in his only action to just hang on to the second spot. Rynkiewicz, who went 2-2 at the Schuylkill League tourney and finished fourth, stays just ahead of the charging Baumann, who was 4-1 at the Buckley Duals.

138 - 1. Alex Yanovich, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (21-4); 2. Ethan Keichel, Northwestern, Sr. (18-7); 3. Joseph Bubble, Palmerton, Jr. (8-6).

Honorable Mention - Nathan Farber, Northern Lehigh, Fr. (10-10).

Notes - Yanovich, like a few of his teammates, went 5-0 at the Clearfield Duals and had a perfect 6-0 week. Three of his wins came at 145, where he is a perfect 5-0 this season. Keichel stays ahead of Bubble after the Tiger wrestler gained a 7-4 decision in their head-to-head matchup last week. Keichel was still ranked 17th in AA but suffered a fall against Catasauqua's Pellechia, who has only one loss this season.

145 - 1. Ty Herzog, Northern Lehigh, Jr. (18-5); 2. David Gehr, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (16-8); 3. Zach Graver, Palmerton, Fr. (15-9).

Honorable Mention - Nick Toth, Tamaqua, Sr. (11-8).

Notes - Herzog is still stuck at No. 7 in the state at AA despite a productive 4-0 that included quality wins over Catty's Rhaine Sziy and Haverford's Vincent Bellwoar. Gehr went 4-2 on the week, dropping close decisions to quality opponents (General McLane's DJ Myers and Rodgway's Steven Mitchell. Graver only action was in pin last Wednesday. Toth took fifth place at 138 pounds at the Schuylkill League championships.

152 - 1. Cody Grohotolski, Palmerton, Sr. (17-3); 2. Anthony Farole, Lehighton, Sr. (23-7); 3. Dylan Hofmann, Northern Lehigh, Sr. (18-6).

Honorable Mention - Evan Mashack, Tamaqua, Sr. (19-8); Joell Toledo, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (13-11).

Notes - Grohotolski has been idle for nearly two weeks but the Bombers have three Colonial League matches this week. Farole is ranked 12th in the state at AA and went 5-1 this week. His only loss came to Bellefonte's Leo Wortman (18-3). Hofmann moves into the top three after a 5-1 week, including a win over state-ranked Eric Matz of Catasauqua. Mashack took fifth at Schuylkill League meet, where he went 2-2.

160 - 1. Michael Ortiz, Northwestern, Jr. (18-4); 2. Brandon Silkowski, Tamaqua, Sr. (20-7); 3. Zach Coleman, Lehighton, Sr. (17-5).

Honorable Mention - Marcus Hardiman, Northern Lehigh, Jr. (9-5); Cody Bowmann, Northern Lehigh, Jr. (6-5).

Notes - Ortiz moved up two spots in the state rankings and is now No. 18 in AA. The Tiger dropped to 152 against Catty, where he registered a major decision against state-ranked Eric Matz. Silkowski took second at the Schuylkill League championships, getting pinned in the finals by Tri-Valley's Sam Scheib, who is ranked fourth in the state. Coleman was 4-1 at the Bellefonte Duals with his only loss coming against returning state AAA champion Brian Brill of Central Mountain.

170 - 1. Mike Balliet, Lehighton, Sr. (23-4); 2. Kyle Greenawald, Northern Lehigh, Sr. (16-4); 3. Mitch Evans, Northwestern, Jr. (14-9).

Notes - Balliet, ranked 14th in AA, went 5-1 for the week with his only loss coming at the hands of Central Mountain's Nate Powers (14-5). All five of his wins were falls, including two of them at 182. Greenawald has won 11 of his last 12 matches with nine pins. Evans did suffer a closs loss, but it came at the hands of Catty's Zach Bradley (22-2).

182 - 1. Levi Veppert, Northwestern, Sr. (24-2); 2. Richard Nase, Panther Valley, So. (18-9); 3. Jake Christman, Palmerton, Jr. (12-8).

Honorable Mention - Joseph Smith, Lehighton, Jr. (11-8); Theo Young, Northern Lehigh, So. (7-5).

Notes - Veppert stays seventh in the state at AA after a 2-0 week, including a 5-2 decision over Catty's Luke Garner at 195 pounds. Garner had been 23-0 and is ranked 15th in AA at 195. Nase went 3-1 at the Schuylkill League meet and took third place. His lone loss came at the hands of Blue Mountain's Mitch Myers, who is ranked 20th in AAA. Christman takes over the third spot after a first-period fall in his only bout of the week.

195 - 1. Hunter Deihl, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (15-9); 2. David Tirpak, Northwestern, Sr. (10-2); 3. John Horvath, Panther Valley, Sr. (13-13).

Notes - Deihl posted a 3-2 mark with two of his wins being pins. His two losses were to wrestlers with a combined 31-9 record. Tirpak dropped due to his inactivity (he hasn't wrestled since Dec. 21). Horvath placed sixth at the Schuylkill League championships.

220 - 1. Kane Kralik, Palmerton, Sr. (20-1); 2. Kyle Schomp, Northern Lehigh, Sr. (14-9); 3. Rian Shubeck, Panther Valley, Fr. (14-11).

Honorable Mention - Colton Davidson, Lehighton, Sr. (12-11).

Notes - Kralik managed only a forfeit win this past week but is still ranked 12th in Class AA. He could meet Schomp, who moved up to second, this weekend when the two rivals meet Schomp went 5-0 with four pins and a forfeit win at the Buckley Duals. He did, however, suffer a loss to Catty's Luke Garner - ranked 15 in AA at 195. Shubeck was sixth at the Schuylkill League championships after a 1-3 tourney. Two of his losses, though, were by a point.

285 - 1. Mike Benner, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (14-6); 2. Luke Matsago, Tamaqua, Jr. (12-8); 3. Skyler Rosenberry, Palmerton, Jr. (12-7).

Honorable Mention - Ryan Ruberto, Jim Thorpe, Jr. (13-9).

Notes - Benner made a statement this past week after a 6-0 week with six falls. Four of his pins came in under a minute and five of them came in the first period. Matsago moves into the second slot after his third place finish at the Schuylkill League championships. Matsago swapped spots with JT's Ruberto (at honorable mention) after a 15-4 major in the third-place bout. Rosenberry's lone win leaves him in third place.

(Compiled by Rod Heckman)