Indians post winning record

Wrestlers know the postseason is never too far away.

Every match is a chance to get better, an opportunity to fine tune skills in hopes of peaking when it matters most at the end of the season.

Lehighton and Panther Valley utilized Saturday’s Anthracite Duals to do just that.

The Indians had several strong performances and finished the day 3-2, while the host Panthers posted a 2-3 mark at the teams’ first tournament of the new year.

“Overall, we had a pretty good day,” said Lehighton head coach Floyd Brown. “We hit some tough AAA schools, so it was nice, the kids get to kind of feel the difference a little bit in some of those better AAA schools. There were a bunch of district and regional place winners on those teams, so we got that experience.

“And just the experience of a long (day). Everybody got five matches, so conditioning-wise, it was a good day.”

Lehighton went 2-1 in pool play, opening the tournament with impressive victories over Halifax (60-24) and Brandywine (49-21) before falling to Shikellamy 45-27. The Indians dropped a 57-22 decision against Midd West before closing the tournament with a solid 45-33 win over Panther Valley.

Brown liked the fight his team showed to end the day with a victory.

“We won two, and then we lost two in a row, so I was worried about us bouncing back,” Brown said. “We knew going in (to the match against Panther Valley) that it was going to be tight. I was hoping we could end with a win, and we did.

“It was nice. They’re a solid team. Just to comeback, and battle with them, and get a win, which was nice.”

Individually, Lucas Sangiuliano, Christian Rodriguez, Tyler Schock and Brett Gasker all had 4-1 days for the Indians. Nate Kemmerer, Logan Pagotto, Chris Whiteman, Jack Zimmerman and Alex Ziegenfuss all finished the day 3-2.

“We had a lot of good individual efforts today,” Brown said. “I was a little disappointed after our third and fourth match. But I was happy that we bounced back.”

The Panthers also went 2-1 in pool competition, opening with a 59-19 loss to Penn Manor before picking up wins against North Schuylkill (45-27) and Wissahickon (40-33). Panther Valley’s tournament ended with close losses to Pine Grove (36-35) and Lehighton.

“I think it’s a good tournament,” said Panthers’ head coach Tim Robb, who is often busy making sure the event is running smoothly while also guiding his team. “I think it’s good for us. We took three losses that weren’t terrible losses. We wrestled some really good matches.”

Like Brown, Robb loves the chance to get his team to see different competition – something the tournament is all about.

“It’s real good. A lot of the teams that we get, even the local teams that come, that’s what they come for, because there are so many teams from out of the area,” Robb said of the format. “It’s a big deal that we get a whole bunch of teams from out of the area.

“And I think the good part of it is, there are teams … that need wins, that get to wrestle teams they can compete with.”

Hunter Kennedy and Tanner Kennedy both posted perfect 5-0 records for Panther Valley.

And both did so in impressive fashion. Hunter Kennedy recorded two pins, two major decisions and a technical fall. Tanner Kennedy picked up two pins, two decisions and a forfeit.

With a 3-1 decision over Pine Grove’s Dillon Kintzel at 160 pounds, Tanner Kennedy secured his 100th career victory.

An escape early in the third period allowed Kennedy to tie it 1-1 before a late takedown helped him secure the victory, and join brother Hunter in the 100-win club.

“It’s awesome, especially for him today, he got it today and I got it the first week,” said Hunter. “All the hard work’s paying off and it should pay off more as the season goes on.”

Both accomplished in their own right, the brothers had no problem motivating each other to reach the milestone win total.

“We talk about it a lot,” Tanner said. “We’re really competitive; we talked about it before the season started, who was going to get 100 quicker, who’s going to break the record for wins. We’re just competitive at home.”

Robb was proud to see them check this one off the list.

“Those two kids have been wrestling for a long time,” he said. “They’re great for the program, they’re hard workers. I don’t have a bad thing to say about them.”

Derrick Beckham and Aaron Eidem both went 4-1 for the Panthers, while Miguel Santiago, Colby Newton and Alex Candelerio all finished the day 3-2. Kyle Rusnak went 2-2.

CHAMPS … St. Joseph’s Regional (New Jersey) defeated Wilson 50-22 to claim the team title. The Warriors topped Pine Grove to win last year’s championship.

ANOTHER ONE … Panther Valley will also be hosting the Coal Cracker Tournament on Jan. 26 and 27.