Bears season ends at districts

BETHLEHEM — Pleasant Valley’s wrestling season came to an end Saturday morning at Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium when the Bears saw seniors Daneil Valdner (106) and James Gehr (132) bow out of the District 11 3A wrestling tournament.

The two seniors were the only wrestlers to advance from Friday’s action, but saw their runs end in second-round consolation defeats.

Valdner dropped a 2-1 decision to Central Catholic’s David Kreidler, while Gehr lost to Parkland’s Mason Lansenderfer 3-1.

With eight wrestlers competing for the Bears, PV came home with 18 points from the tourney, finishing third from the bottom, in what was largely a forgettable short weekend for head coach Justin Micklos and the team.

“With the type of young team we had, I think we performed to the level we expected,” said Micklos. “Obviously, it’s disappointing to not advance any guys to regionals, but I saw some good things out of our younger guys.”

Gehr was the Bears favorite from the participating group to advance, but the dreaded 132-pound bracket proved to be too much.

“He was our best chance this year to move on, but when you look at that 132-pound weight class, it was always going to be a tough task to advance,” said Micklos. “He wrestled his best and gave it his best shot, but it just didn’t work out for him.”

Now the focus shifts to working the program back out of a rebuild for Micklos. After electing to allow several wrestlers to compete in the JV district tournament this year, he hopes some of the sacrifices the team had to make will pay off in the coming years.

“We got a bunch of freshmen up next year and we should be looking for a rebound,” he said. “I saw some good things out of some of our younger guys like Anthony Mazzella (182), Chris Frable (170) and Chris Tartamella (138). I think a lot of our young guys were shell shocked wrestling at this level, but those are the bumps in the road we’ve had to deal with this year.”

Bethlehem Catholic ran away with the team title for a total of 246.5 points, as they had nine finalists and three champions. Nazareth (196.5) and Liberty (167) rounded out the top three in the team standings.

Nazareth’s Sammy Sasso (145) joined elite company by winning his fourth district title following a 15-6 major decision over Becahi’s Cole Handlovic. Sasso was also named the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

Liberty head coach Jody Karam was named Coach of the Year as well.

DISTRICT 11 CLASS 3A WRESTLING

Team Standings

1. Bethlehem Catholic (BC) 246.5; 2. Nazareth (Naz) 196.5; 3. Liberty (Lib) 167; 4. Easton (Ea) 143.5; 5. Northampton (Nor) 143; 6. Parkland (Park) 114; 7. Stroudsburg (Str) 110; 8. Pottsville (Pot) 100; 9. Bangor (B) 98; 10. Blue Mountain (BM) 96; 11. Freedom (F) 94.5; 12. Emmaus (Em) 83.5; 13. East Stroudsburg South (ESS) 79; 14. Southern Lehigh (SL) 46; 15. PM West (PMW) 37.5; 16. Whitehall (Wh) 32; 17. PM East (PME) 27.5; 18. Central Catholic (ACC) 24; 19. Dieruff (D) 20; 20. Pleasant Valley (PV) 18; 21. East Stroudsburg North (ESN) 14; 22. Allen (A) 6.5.

Finals

106 - Mayer (BC) dec. Brown (Em), 8-5.

113 - Onea (Pot) dec. Maloney (Lib), 4-3.

120 - Pierson (Naz) dec. Enriquez (Str), 10-5.

126 - Mason (BM) dec. Herrmann (BC), 2-1.

132 - Miers (Ea) dec. Gould (ESS), 3-2.

138 - Anderson (BC) major dec. Ortman (Park), 12-3.

145 - Sasso (Naz) major dec. Handlovic (BC), 15-6.

152 - Frinzi (BC) dec. Pinto (Str), 3-2.

160 - Wright (Em) by injury default over Lewis (BC), 1:34.

170 - Wilson (Naz) dec. Painter (Pot), 4-1.

182 - Moyer (Lib) dec. Banks (BC), 3-2.

195 - Stine (BM) pinned Spezza (BC) in 2:35.

220 - Bensley (PMW) pinned Saint Juste (Pot) in 1:48.

285 - Pineda (Ea) pinned Crouse (BC) in 2:16.