Saucon Valley’s Jonah Zych (126) is now a District XI Champion
If anybody in the District XI area had any hopes of getting a little payback from the Saucon Valley wrestlers for their outstanding dual meet season, they were out of luck this year. The Panthers dominated the tournament, crowning four champions and advancing nine wrestlers to Regionals.
Jack Hill does it again!
Jack Hill (120), Jonah Zych (126), Nate Harka (152) and Devin Fontanez (220) all claimed first place Saturday night. Hill, a senior, was impressive, running up a 12-2 major decision over Colton Rex of Northern Lehigh. Jonah Zych, also a senior, controlled Northwestern Lehigh’s Quentin Barhardt for a 5-4 decision. Senior Nate Harka won a 5-2 decision over Chase Schaeffer of Tri-Valley. Panther junior Devin Fontanez slugged it out with Allentown Central Catholic’s Joe Gladish and won 3-1 in overtime. All four champs will advance to the PIAA Southeast Regional tournament next weekend with the hopes of qualifying for a trip to Hershey.
Nate Harka is congratulated by Coach Don Rohn
Saucon senior Dylan Yonney (160) came up just short of a District title tonight, dropping a 1-0 decision to Northern Lehigh’s Ryan Farber. For his efforts, Yonney ended up finishing second and will look to get his 106th win next weekend at Regionals.
Junior Devin Fontanez is now a District XI Champ after gutting out an exhausting overtime victory.
The Panthers will also advance third place finishers Nick Rosengrant (106) and Jason Jones (138). In addition, Josh Jones (132) and Blayne Hirschbeck (182) qualified with their fifth place finishes. Rosengrant and Josh Jones are both freshmen and Jason Jones is a sophomore. Hirschbeck is a senior.
With such a strong showing and advancing an amazing nine wrestlers to the PIAA Southeast Regional tournament at Wilson-West Lawn High School next weekend, the Panther program finished first, easily taking the team title.
It seems as though the Panthers continue to ride the wave of success. With plenty of momentum behind them, look for these grapplers to make some more noise next week. Good luck at Regionals, Panthers! The Source is with you.
Coach Chad Shirk caught up in the moment
