Saucon Valley “Hurricane” medalists Jason Jones, Justin Kyra and Josh Jones after a tough, grueling tournament.
The holiday break brought wrestling fans a variety of tournaments in and around the Lehigh Valley. From youth on up through high school, there was plenty of competition for the Saucon Valley wrestling faithful to choose from. Here is a summary of all the Panther wrestling action.
Saucon Valley High School Wrestling
As a team, Saucon Valley finished 8th overall out of 32 teams at the Bethlehem Hurricane Holiday Wrestling Classic with 128.5 points. Champion, Northampton completed the two-day tournament with 184.5 points. Of the PIAA-“AA” schools participating in the event, Saucon finished second behind Northern Lebanon (133 pts.). Colonial League wrestling rivals Northwestern Lehigh earned 58.5 points and finished 24th while Pen Argyl (54.0) and Northern Lehigh (32.0) finished 26th and 31st respectively. It was a great showing for Saucon Valley as they once again proved that they can hang with Pennsylvania’s wrestling elite.
2016 Hurricane Holiday Classic Top 10 Team Scores
- Northampton: 184.5
- Easton: 159.0
- Stoughton (WI.): 156.0
- Nazareth: 142.0
- Central Dauphin: 139.5
- Northern Lebanon: 133.0
- Liberty: 130.0
- Saucon Valley: 128.5
- Phillipsburg (NJ): 127.5
- Stroudsburg: 106.5
Individual Panther Place-winners
2nd Place Panthers
Sophomore Nick Rosengrant
113 Pound Finals: (So.) Cameron Enriquez, Stroudsburg 11-3 DECISION over (So.) Nick Rosengrant, Saucon Valley
Senior Devin Fontanez
220 Pound Finals: (Sr.) Robert Melise, Phillipsburg 3-2 DECISION over (Sr.) Devin Fontanez, Saucon Valley
5th Place Panthers
Sophomore Josh Jones
120: (So.) Josh Jones, Saucon Valley, 15-0 TECH FALL over (Sr.) Tristan Jenny, Stoughton, WI. 4:27
Sophomore Justin Kyra
132: (So.) Justin Kyra, Saucon Valley FORFEIT over (Jr.) Ian Pulli, Nazareth
Junior Jason Jones
145: (Jr.) Jason Jones, Saucon Valley 4-3 DECISION over (Jr.) Brian Meyer, Philllipsburg, NJ.
Saucon Valley Junior High Wrestling
It was an impressive performance for the junior high team as they travelled to Blue Mountain for their holiday tournament on Tuesday, Dec. 27. As a team, the Panthers finished 3rd overall behind Nazareth and Bethlehem Catholic.
Junior High Place winners:
- 8th grader, Nick Bortz 8th Place
- 9th grader, Bobby Yovish 8th Place
- 8th grader, Ermal Duka 7th Place
- 9th grader, Matt Moran 4th Place
- 7th grader, Connor Nicholas 3rd Place
- 7th grader, Ty Csencsits 2nd Place
- 7th grader, Dante Mahaffey 2nd Place
- 7th grader, Cael Markle 2nd Place
- 9th grader, Braydyn Lugardo 1st Place
The Saucon Valley junior high wrestlers finished 3rd overall at the 2016 Blue Mountain junior high wrestling tournament.
Saucon Valley Youth Wrestling
Even with a few holes in their lineup, Saucon Valley had a good day at the Stroudsburg Youth Winter Duals on Monday, Dec. 26. The Little Panthers had a 3-2 record for the day. Saucon finished second in their division losing to Whitehall 45-44. Overall, the depleted Panthers were good enough for 4th Place.
Up Next: Saucon Valley Varsity and Junior High wrestling will be at Northwestern Lehigh on Wednesday, Jan. 4. for a big Colonial League showdown. The Tigers and Panthers are both undefeated. Saucon is in pursuit of their 5th consecutive Colonial League title.
The youth wrestlers get back to league action as well with their VEWL varsity duals at the Chrin Center in Palmer on Saturday, Jan. 7. Saucon will take on Palmer, Pocono Mtn, Lehighton and Palmerton. The Little Panthers are also on a mission to defend their 2016 VEWL title. The youth wrestlers will then head to Lancaster on Sunday to defend their tournament title at the “Tornado Strong” youth wrestling team duals at JP McCaskey High School.
Good luck to all wrestlers, the Source is with you!
