PV edges ACC in EPC Duals

EASTON — Last year’s performance in the EPC Wrestling Duals left a sour taste in the mouths of the Pleasant Valley wrestling team. So, the Bears wanted to earn some respect and show some pride a year later.

Fighting in the 17th-place match against Central Catholic, the Bears were able to do just that.

Pleasant Valley dominated the middle weight classes, a large factor in the Bears’ 44-33 win over Central Catholic on Saturday afternoon at Easton Middle School.

“Last year we just missed it, and a lot of the kids really wanted to win that last year,” said senior James Gehr, responsible for Pleasant Valley’s lone pin of the match. “So this year, they really came out battling to win.”

Whitehall defeated Pleasant Valley in last year’s 11th-place match, 59-21. This year, however, the Bears won the bouts head coach Justin Miklos expected them to, starting with Gehr.

Gehr’s pin over the Vikings’ Jacob Roma at 132 pounds late in the first period was Pleasant Valley’s first win in a contested bout. That brought the Bears within 27-12, and after a quick pin for Central Catholic at 138, the Bears wouldn’t look back.

“I felt loose and I was working my own moves, “Gehr said. “I was going out there to get the pin and get the win for the team. Overall, I think I wrestled well.”

“I think they wrestled tough,” Miklos said. “ACC has some great lower weights and some tough kids. Kudos to those guys, they wrestled well. But our guys wrestled well, too. Some of our guys came out big on top and got a couple of bonus points with pins and all that stuff.”

A forfeit victory at 145 pounds put the Bears within 33-18 with five bouts to go. Pleasant Valley wouldn’t lose any of those matchups, securing its first win against an EPC opponent this season.

Major decision wins for Edward Iandoli and Chris Frable at 152 and 182 pounds, respectively, proved to be huge in the final team scoring. Iandoli took down Central Catholic’s Ryan Walczak early and cruised to a 12-2 win, while Frable (who normally wrestles at 170 pounds) built on a 4-0 first-period lead to down the Vikings’ Joey Skrip, 9-1.

“We had the match coming pretty close, so we figured it was going to be a tight one,” Miklos said. “The kids wrestled well. We got a lot of freshmen on our team. Those guys coming up got a taste of varsity, so the future looks bright.”

LOOKING AHEAD ... The PIAA District 11 team duals will begin on Thursday. Pleasant Valley did not qualify for the team duals, but plans to have plenty of grapplers in the individual tournament Feb. 23 and 24. Class 3A action will be held at Liberty High School. Miklos anticipates a number of Bears will have the opportunity to medal at districts and advance to regionals, headlined by Gehr at 132 pounds.

YOUNG AND UPCOMING ... Miklos has 10 freshmen on the team. While all do not start or wrestle on a regular basis on the varsity stage, the future looks bright for the Pleasant Valley program despite finishing the regular season 4-12.

Pleasant Valley 44, ACC 33

220 - Kevin Falcon (CC) pinned Richard Rodriguez in 1:33; 285 - Yan Tavarez (CC) won by forfeit; 106 - David Kreidler (CC) dec. Dan Valdner, 3-1; 113 - Hannah Hunter (PV) won by forfeit; 120 - Chris Clifford (CC) pinned Gentry Knapp in 1:30; 126 - Attikos Clifford (CC) pinned Matt Smith in 2:53; 132 - James Gehr (PV) pinned Jacob Roma in 1:51; 138 - Jack Yander (CC) Dillon Anderson in 1:44; 145 - Chris Tartalmela (PV) won by forfeit; 152 - Edward Iandoli (PV) major dec. Ryan Walczak, 12-2; 160 - John Feldman (PV) won by forfeit; 170 - Gavin Dorn (PV) won by forfeit; 182 - Chris Frable (PV) major dec. Joey Skrip, 9-1; 195 - Anthony Mazzella (PV) won by forfeit.