Kevin Dyer was the Panther’s silver lining.
For the second straight year, the Saucon Valley Panthers could not advance to the third day of the PIAA wrestling championships. After a hard-fought loss to the Muncy Indians earlier in the day, Saucon Valley quickly fell behind to the Harbor Creek Huskies and just could not generate enough momentum to overcome the early deficit.
Both Jarrett Hirschbeck (182) and Dane Csencsits (195) looked strong to start their bouts, but both ended up getting pinned. The bad news got a little worse after Jared Harka (220) took the mat. Harbor Creek’s Domonic Viscuso was able to get in on Harka’s legs in the third period for three consecutive takedowns to finish the bout with a major-decision. At heavyweight, sophomore Nick Warnke lost a heartbreaker 1-0 for a third straight Panther defeat. Then, Dane Druckenmiller (106) got caught, cradled and pinned in the second period. In a totally unPanther-like display, Saucon Valley gave up bonus points and dug a deep 25-0 hole after five bouts.
Jarrett Hirschbeck was this close to getting the Panthers off to a great start.
Kevin Dyer (113) took the mat for Saucon and scrapped his way to a win. Trailing 9-5 after two periods, Dyer was able to finally get his Panther teammates on the scoreboard with a fall. However, Saucon Valley was forced to forfeit two of the next three weight classes (120 & 132).
Josh (126) and Jason Jones (138) were able to win decisions for Saucon; each without giving up a single point. But, they had trouble turning their opponents for near-fall points and had to settle for three-point decisions.
With the score 37-12 in favor of the Huskies and four bouts left to wrestle Harbor Creek conceded forfeits to Justin Kyra (145), Angelo Mahaffey (152), Thomas Spirk (160) and Kyle Malone (170). The Panthers were eliminated from the tournament.
Jason Jones won a decision for the Panthers, but they needed more.
Harbor Creek Huskies 37 – Saucon Valley Panthers 36
182 Huskies Nick Bille (Fr.) won by Fall, 2:10
195 Huskies Lucas Folmar (Sr.) won by Fall, :42
220 Huskies Domonic Viscuso (Jr.) won by Major-Decision, (11-3)
285 Huskies Collin Askins (Sr.) won by decision, 1-0
106 Huskies Joe Gabler (So.) won by Fall, 2:25
113 SV’s Kevin Dyer (So.) won by Fall, 4:19
120 Huskies Mike Gabler (Sr.) won by Forfeit
126 SV’s Josh Jones (Jr.) won by Decision, 5-0
132 Huskies Matt Stenger (Fr.) won by Forfeit
138 SV’s Jason Jones (Sr.) won by Decision, 5-0
145 SV’s Justin Kyra (Jr.) won by Forfeit
152 SV’s Angelo Mahaffey (Sr.) won by Forfeit
160 SV’s Thomas Spirk (So.) won by Forfeit
170 SV’s Kyle Malone (Sr.) won by Forfeit
UP NEXT: The Panthers will regroup and hit the practice mat in preparation for the District XI individual tournament Feb. 23 and 24th.
Good Luck Panthers, the Source is with you!
