TIMES NEWS MAT RANKINGS

(Through Jan. 30)

106 - 1. Kenny Yanovich, Pleasant Valley, So. (29-2); 2. Colin Mashack, Tamaqua, So. (26-1); 3. Jacob Hoats, Lehighton, Sr. (19-6).

Honorable Mention - Lenny Ogozalek, Panther Valley, So. (28-6); Ryan Rubio, Northern Lehigh, Fr. (11-9).

Notes - Yanovich went 8-0 on the week, earning a 6-2 decision over Lehighton's Hoats and an individual title at the New Oxford Tournament. Yanovich remains ranked No. 9 in AAA by Pennsylvania Wrestling Rankings. During the New Oxford tourney, he defeated the No. 10 ranked wrestler in Class AAA - Spring Grove's Zack Clingan. Mashack finally finds himself in our 106 rankings after being at 113 all season. The Raider didn't see any action on the mat this week (although he did earn a forfeit win), but he did move up six spots to No. 13 in the Class AA rankings. Hoats lost to Yanovich while Ogozalek posted five wins at PV's Coal Cracker Tournament, but the Indian wrestler owns a win in head-to-head action.

113 - 1. Sean Bianco, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (30-1); 2. Josh Evans, Palmerton, So. (21-2); 3. Zach Leiby, Northern Lehigh, Fr. (11-11).

Notes - Bianco, who went a perfect 8-0 on the week, moved up two spots in the state rankings and is now 15th in AAA. He stands to continue climbing the list as he posted a 3-1 win against seventh-ranked Zach Fuentes of Norristown in the finals of the New Oxford Tournament. Evans, ranked 14th in the state, earned a 9-0 major over Bangor's Robert Lindsay before losing a 7-2 decision to Pen Argyl's Matt Williams, who is ranked No. 4 in AA. Leiby has earned wins in five of his last seven bouts to get to the .500 mark.

120 - 1. Sam Oberlander, Palmerton, Sr. (24-1); 2. James Felipa, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (26-5).

Notes - Oberlander moves back into the top spot after earning wins over Bangor's Nichols Patti and Pen Argyl's Patrick Guerro. He is ranked 25th in Class AA and hasn't lost since Dec. 30. Felipa went 5-3 for the week and finished fifth at the New Oxford Tournament. Two of his losses, though, came to state-ranked opponents (seventh-ranked Tom Traxler of Bellefonte and 16th ranked Dakota Minnich of Hempfield).

126 - 1. Michael Dahlstrom, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (31-2); 2. Dillon Masington, Palmerton, Jr. (18-6); 3. Brian Ohl, Jim Thorpe, Jr. (22-14).

Honorable Mention - Zachary Glassic, Panther Valley, Fr. (13-13).

Notes - Dahlstrom, the No. 2 ranked wrestler in AAA, suffered his second loss of the season. It came, however, to the No. 1 wrestler and a defending state champion in Blue Mountain's Corey Keener in the finals of the New Oxford Tournament. Dahlstrom did manage wins at the tourney against fifth-ranked TJ Brandt of Altoona and 18th-ranked Nate Musser of Bellefonte. Masington posted a pair of wins over wrestlers with winning records, gaining decisions against Bangor's Charles Sell (12-4) and Pen Argyl's Tyler Knapik (16-13). Ohl went 4-1 with three pins at the Coal Cracker Tournament. His only loss came to ACC's Michael Rodgers (18-4).

132 - 1. Ernie Klingel, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (22-3); 2. Zack Christman, Palmerton, Fr. (13-6); 3. Dylan Rynkiewicz, Tamaqua, Fr. (17-11).

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

Notes - Klingel maintains his top status despite not seeing any action this past week. He did gain a forfeit win against Lehighton. Christman went 1-1 with a pin against Bangor's Ramadan Krasniqi. His loss was a tough 3-1 decision to Pen Argyl's Andrew Sutton. Rynkiewicz won his only bout of the week, moving up to 138 and registering a pin. Rynkiewicz has a winning record at three different weight classes.

138 - 1. Alex Yanovich, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (28-6); 2. Ethan Keichel, Northwestern, Sr. (18-8); 3. Joseph Bubble, Palmerton, Jr. (9-7).

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

Notes - Yanovich went 7-2 this past week and took fourth place at the New Oxford Tournament. One of Yanovich's losses came to Norristown's Mikey Springer, the No. 6 wrestler in the state in AAA. Keichel has suffered falls in his last two bouts but as of now, he is still ranked 18th in the state in Class AA. Keichel holds the second spot thanks to a head-to-head win against Bubble. Bubble went 1-1 for the week, with his lone loss a 5-4 decision to Pen Argyl's Jarett Stoelzl.

145 - 1. Ty Herzog, Northern Lehigh, Jr. (19-5); 2. Anthony Farole, Lehighton, Sr. (24-7); 3. David Gehr, Pleasant Valley, Sr. (20-12).

Honorable Mention - Zach Graver, Palmerton, Fr. (16-10); Nick Toth, Tamaqua, Sr. (12-8).

Notes - Herzog, like all the Northern Lehigh wrestlers, didn't see any action this week. The Bulldog maintained his No. 7 ranking in the state in AA. He has won 11 straight, including five by fall. Farole moves into the 145 class after wrestling there in his last seven matches. He is 6-1 over that span including a 9-3 win over Pleasant Valley's David Gehr and is ranked 11th in the state in AA. The Bears' Gehr took fifth place at the New Oxford Tournament, losing three times. All three of his losses were to state ranked wrestlers - Bellefonte's Leo Wortman (14th in AAA), Line Mountain's Adam Kritzer (4th in AA), and Philipsburg-Osceola's Logan Walstrom (9th in AAA).

152 - 1. Cody Grohotolski, Palmerton, Sr. (19-3); 2. Dylan Hofmann, Northern Lehigh, Sr. (18-6); 3. Evan Mashack, Tamaqua, Sr. (20-8).

Honorable Mention - Joell Toledo, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (16-13).

Notes - Grohotolski won both his bouts this past week, with both occuring at 160. He majored Bangor's Austin Gold (5-5) and decisioned Pen Argyl's Kyler Kutzler (16-12). Hofmann didn't see action this week. He is second on the team in wins to Herzog. Mashack earned a 52-second pin in his only bout of the week. It came at 160, the first time he's wrestled there this season.

160 - 1. Michael Ortiz, Northwestern, Jr. (18-5); 2. Brandon Silkowski, Tamaqua, Sr. (21-7); 3. Zach Coleman, Lehighton, Sr. (18-5).

Honorable Mention - Marcus Hardiman, Northern Lehigh, Jr. (9-5).

Notes - Ortiz lost in his only action of the week dropping an 11-3 major decision to Pen Argyl's Mike Racciato, who is ranked No. 2 in the state at 145. Ortiz currently holds the No. 17 spot at 152, although 17 of his 23 matches have come at 160. Silkowski improved to 3-0 at 170 after registering a 27-second pin in his only action of the week. Coleman gained a pin against Pleasant Valley in his lone match. Coleman earned just one fall in his first 11 matches this season, but since then has recorded seven pins in his last 12 bouts (which also includes three forfeits).

170 - 1. Mike Balliet, Lehighton, Sr. (24-4); 2. Kyle Greenawald, Northern Lehigh, Sr. (16-4); 3. Mitch Evans, Northwestern, Jr. (14-10).

Honorable Mention - Stephen Snyder, Panther Valley, Sr. (15-15).

Notes - Balliet moved up a spot in the state rankings and is now 13th in AA. All four of his losses this season have come to state-ranked wrestlers, two in AA (No. 4 Scheib of Tri-Valley and No. 12 Swartz of Penns Valley) and two in AAA (No. 16 Powers of Central Mountain and No. 10 Seibert of Big Spring). Greenawald, like his Northern Lehigh teammates, are hoping to return to action this week after having to move a number of their matches. Only two of the Greenawald's matches have gone the distance this season. Evans is actually 9-8 at 170 and 4-2 at 160. He has dropped two straight, including the last one to Pen Argyl's JD Rabenold (13-10).

182 - 1. Levi Veppert, Northwestern, Sr. (25-2); 2. Richard Nase, Panther Valley, So. (18-9); 3. Joseph Smith, Lehighton, Jr. (12-8).

Honorable Mention - Jake Christman, Palmerton, Jr. (12-10); Theo Young, Northern Lehigh, So. (7-5).

Notes - Veppert is 23-1 at 182 and is still ranked No. 7 in the state in AA. He has 13 pins and hasn't lost since Dec. 28. Nase didn't wrestle this past week. He is 12-6 at 182 and 6-3 at 195. Smith moves back into the top three after pinning Pleasant Valley's Hunter Deihl. He is 5-1 in his last six decisions.

195 - 1. Hunter Deihl, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (18-14); 2. 3. John Horvath, Panther Valley, Sr. (16-15); 3. David Tirpak, Northwestern, Sr. (10-2).

Notes - Deihl took sixth at the New Oxford Tournament, competing at 170. One of his losses came to Blue Mountain' Mitch Myers, ranked 20th in AAA at 182. Horvath went 3-2 at the Coal Cracker Tournament with one of his losses coming to 17th ranked Luke Garner of Catasauqua. Tirpak's 12 decisions keep him in the rankings and his return, scheduled for Wednesday, could eventually get him back to No. 1.

220 - 1. Kane Kralik, Palmerton, Sr. (22-1); 2. Kyle Schomp, Northern Lehigh, Sr. (14-9); 3. Rian Shubeck, Panther Valley, Fr. (16-13).

Notes - Kralik is up one spot (11th) in the state AA rankings. The Blue Bomber edged Pen Argyl's Brady Mutton, ranked 12th, by a 2-1 score this past week. Kralik hasn't lost since Dec. 14 and is still undefeated (17-0) this season at 220. His only defeat came to Palisades' Mike Roszkowski. In Schomp's last 12 bouts wrestled, 11 of them have resulted in a fall including seven in his favor. Shubeck placed third at PV's Coal Cracker Tournament this past weekend. He went 2-2 there with two falls. Both of his losses came to North Schuylkill's Tanner Dean (25-8).

285 - 1. Mike Benner, Pleasant Valley, Jr. (18-10); 2. Skyler Rosenberry, Palmerton, Jr. (13-8); 3. Luke Matsago, Tamaqua, Jr. (13-8).

Honorable Mention - Ryan Ruberto, Jim Thorpe, Jr. (13-10).

Notes - Benner took sixth at the New Oxford Tournament, going 3-1 in the opening round robin action. One of his losses came to the No. 1 ranked wrestler in AAA - Susquehanna Township's Averee Robinson. Rosenberry moves up to second based on a big win against Bangor's Andrew Lumsden (13-3). Matsago, who defeated Ruberto at the Schuylkill League Tournament, beat him again at their dual meet and is now 7-2 in his last nine bouts.

(Compiled by Rod Heckman)